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Engaging Faith

Practical Lesson Ideas and Activities for Catholic Educators
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Advent Prayers for Teens

Here are some prayer suggestions you might consider using with your teens during the Advent season. Also, consider having the teens create their own Advent prayers (see below) as a part of this liturgical season. Advent Prayer During Exams Come, Lord Jesus. You bring joy and salvation into the world. Give us the strength to find joy amidst the stress of semester tests And the wisdom to find truth in our studies. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Advent Prayer for the Poor Gracious God, You bring glad tidings to the poor. Create in us this Advent season, the desire to help those in need That we may recognize in them the face of Christ We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. Advent Prayer of Reconciliation Merciful Father, You have given us your Son as your loving presence in this world. Create in our hearts the room for your love to grow. Forgive our shortcomings and prepare our hearts for your coming. We ask this in the name Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, one God, forever and ever, Amen. Advent Prayer of Light Son of God, You are the light of the world. Shine your light on all our choices this day. Create in us the ability to let your light shine forth for others. We ask this in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Prayer from The Unsheltered Heart for the Third Week of Advent (abbreviated) Jesus, Only you help me not to find my identity amid people’s misfortunes. You are the one I seek because I no longer trust my own thoughts and reactions. Your life teaches me to live amid the shackles of people’s sufferin In these Advent days, I slowly find my heart awake and singing. Faith creeps out of the cracks of my soul from my uncertainty. Gratitude lights up the morning inside me and relaxes my silence in my still body. Amen. Advent Prayer Activity Consider providing students with the opportunity to create their own Advent prayers. Give them the opportunity to share these prayers with the class or divide the students up according to the number of meetings leading up to Christmas. These prayers need not have the structure of the examples above, so invite students to speak from the heart

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Thanksgiving Guided Meditation

This guided meditation is based on Luke 17:11–19, Jesus' healing of the ten lepers. Use the meditation with your students to help them to reflect on what gratitude means to them.Quiet down.Relax.Let go of all your distractions.Settle.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Be still.Relax.Let all your worries fly away.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Breathe in.Hold.Breathe out.Imagine . . .It has been a long journey.You are tired.You have been walking with Jesus and all his disciples for awhile.You have learned a lot.Allow yourself to feel exhausted.As you approach the town you see men—in looks like ten of them—yelling at your group from a distance.Look over at them.They are lepers.Hands, mouths, noses, ears have seemingly disappeared.Look at them again, but do not stare.It is an ugly sight.They cry, "Jesus have pity on us."When Jesus seems them he walks over to where they are gathered.You follow, but at a distance.Are you scared you will catch it?He tells the lepers, "Go present yourself to the religious leaders."They all depart.A little while later a man who is a foreigner comes up to your group, knees before Jesus praising God.You recognize the man as one of the lepers that Jesus cured.Watch his jubilation!Share in it!Jesus says to the man,"Didn't I heal all ten of you?Where are they other nine?Why is only the foreigner here to give thanks to God?"Think about Jesus' words.Jesus tells the man,"Stand up, and go your way; your faith has been your salvation."The man gets off his knees and continues to give praise to God.Jesus looks at you and asks, "Why didn't the others not come and thank God?"He continues, "Have you thanked God lately?"Answer him.It is time to renter this space.Say good-bye for now.Ask Jesus to lead your way into the rest of the day.Say "thank you."Come back gently.Open your eyes.Remember.Sit up.This meditation was written by Patty McCulloch and originally published in Touching Jesus: 20 Guided Meditations on His Care and Compassion.

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Social Justice Lessons and the 7th Commandment

Ask students to name the Ten Commandments and more than likely after “thou shall not kill” they will remember “thou shall not steal.” It is an important commandment that has broad implications in both one’s personal life as well as society at large. “The Seventh Commandment rests on the foundation of justice. Justice requires that God’s gifts of food, clothing, and shelter are meant for each of God’s children and that it is wrong for one person to have an abundance while another lacks what is needed to live in accordance with human dignity” (Eileen Flynn, The Ten Commandments: Case Studies in Catholic Morality, p. 93). Consider discussing the following case studies with students: Buying Stolen Goods Rights of Illegal Immigrants Clear-cutting a Rain Forest Pose these issues to the students and have them discuss/debate the various perspectives. Ask a few students to play “Devil’s Advocate” and argue for the unjust side (some of them may volunteer to do this). For the debates on these issues you might consider the following: Ball Toss Debate: Divide the class into two sides. Explain that only the person with the ball may speak during the debate. When the person holding the ball has made their argument, they must throw it to a person on the opposing side who is raising their hand. If no one on the opposing side has anything to say, they may throw it to another student on their side. Fishbowl Discussion: Have a group of five to six students sit in the front of the room in a semi-circle facing the rest of the class (the shape could resemble a fishbowl). These students should have a debate/discussion about the topics. Discussion Board: Consider making the debate a homework assignment. Require that students post new comments or respond to comments at least three times. If you use a course management system like Moodle, you can host it there. Otherwise consider using website such as Wikispaces, Wallwisher, Edmodo, Google Docs, or Stixy.

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Thanksgiving Service Project

As a class or youth group service project, use the weeks before Thanksgiving to collect packaged food items that make up part of a Thanksgiving meal such as cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie mix, boxes of dressing, cans of corn and other vegetables, boxes of gelatin mix, boxes of flour and sugar, and paper items like napkins and paper plates.You may solicit donations from school or parish families or randomly in a neighborhood. There are two main ways to handle the collection.One that works very well is for the teens to hang shopping bags with a letter explaining the project (e.g., where the items will be donated, who they will benefit, the kinds of items needed) on the doors of homes you have designated. The letter should also tell when the teens will return to pick up the bags with the person's donation. In conjunction with this method, the teens should approach the managers of local grocery stores to solicit the store's donation.A second way to run this collection is as a scavenger hunt in which teens are given the list of needed items and asked to go in pairs or small groups to homes of designated school families or parishioners to ask for any item they have on hand. If this is the chosen method, you may wish to award a prize of some kind to the group that brings back the most items.

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E-textbook and Laptop Teaching Strategies Webinar Recording

Thank you to all of you who participated in the E-textbook Teaching Strategies Webinar. We are happy to provide you with both a video recording of the webinar as well as a downloadable version of the slide show presentation. Here is the agenda of the presentation: 1. Teenage Digital Natives 2. How Teens Use Technology to Learn 3. Details on E-textbooks 4. Additional Tools that Students Can Use 5. Tutorial of Xplana.com 6. Sample E-textbook Teaching Strategies The video will show more specific advice and application to teaching with e-textbooks. In it Jared covers: – Modeling note-taking and highlighting – Answering Review Questions – Pre-reading strategies – Responding to Engaging Mind, Hearts, and Hands activities Here is the video, hosted on Vimeo.com. (Click here if you cannot see it): Here are the slides to the first part of the presentation (Click here if you cannot see it): Etextbook teaching strategies  

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Married Couple Panel Discussion

As part of a unit or lesson on the Sacrament of Matrimony, invite two or three married couples of various years of marriage to form a panel and speak with your class of their experiences, history of their marriages, and relationships with their spouses. Have the students prepare questions to ask the couples. Collect and preview the questions prior to the presentation. Choose questions you can present. Also allow time for additional questions. Instruct each couple using the following format:Introduction (5 or 6 minutes per couple) Briefly introduce yourselves. Tell how you met. Tell something about your courtship. Tell how you became engaged. Tell something about your marriage preparation. Share one memorable part of your wedding day. Issues (4 or 5 minutes per couple) How does God play a part in your relationship? What is the most difficult part of marriage? What is the most joyful part of marriage? Sample Questions (the remainder of the session) How did you know you had met the "right" person? How was the subject of marriage first brought up between the two of you? How do you handle serious arguments? Do you think there is an ideal age for two people to be married? Why is it important for you to get along with in-laws? Do you think your marriage reflects your family upbringing? How or how not?

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Old Testament Timeline Activities

There are many events in the Old Testament for students to keep track of in a course on Scripture. Consider using the following activity suggestions for creating timelines and the websites that might provide helpful information.   Timeline from The Old Testament: Our Call to Faith and Justice     Old Testament Timeline Activities • Have students survey their Old Testament textbooks by checking the chapter titles, section headings, and pictures. Have them record the most important events and compile them into a timeline. • Have students choose one particular Old Testament figure to focus on in a timeline. Have them do research online or pull key events straight from the Bible. If dates are imprecise, make sure the events are at least put into chronological order. • Have students focus on a particular theme in the Old Testament and trace its history in the form of a timeline. Themes might include: Old Testament battles, idolatry, God’s providence, infidelity, music, angels, the kings, the prophets, forgiveness, water, light, the Temple, the Ark of the Covenant, etc. This may take a little more time than the other variations, but it is a great opportunity to highlight important themes and to encourage students to take particular perspectives on the Hebrew Scriptures. • One possible variation to a written timeline, is to have students create an illustrated timeline using colored pencils, markers, magazine clippings, or Internet photos. This may require some poster board, but these offer great items to decorate the classroom walls.     Old Testament Timelines Online Timeline of the Old Testament (BibleStudy.org)—This site has a comprehensive timeline with many links to quality information. History of Israel (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs)—This information was developed by the national of Israel and provides some extensive information about the Jewish people up to the present day. History of ancient Israel and Judah Wikipedia’s version of the history of Ancient Israel. Chronology of the Bible Wikipedia’s version of the chronology of the Bible. I it quite extensive and includes both the Jewish calendar and Julian Calendar. Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Israel (Fordham.edu) Information and historical dates of the documents and historical artifacts surrounding the Old Testament.

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50 Top Catholic High Schools Honored for 2010

The Action Institute, an independent international research and educational organization, has named in its biennial selection of 50 Top Catholic High Schools in the United States. The Institute lists as the primary goal of the Catholic High School Honor Roll "to acknowledge those schools that maintain high academic standards, uphold their Catholic identities, and prepare their students to actively engage the world."The Honor Roll is produced in consultation with an advisory board comprised of Catholic college presidents and scholars. Advisory board member Very Rev. David M. O’Connell, President of Catholic University of America, said of the process: “Catholic schools must examine themselves on a regular basis using a well-rounded approach that assesses adherence to the Church’s educational calling. The Honor Roll strengthens schools by encouraging high standards and vibrant Catholicism.”Congratulations to the 50 high schools honored for 2010 and the ten other schools named for honorable mention.ArizonaSeton Catholic Preparatory High School ChandlerCaliforniaSaint Augustine Academy VenturaSaint Michael's Preparatory School SilveradoColoradoHoly Family High School BroomfieldDelawareSaint Thomas More Preparatory School MagnoliaSalesianum School WilmingtonFloridaArchbishop Edward A. McCarthy High School Ft. LauderdaleBelen Jesuit Preparatory School MiamiBishop Verot Catholic High School Fort MyersSaint Thomas Aquinas High School Ft. LauderdaleGeorgiaHoly Spirit Preparatory School AtlantaPinecrest Academy CummingIowaBeckman High School DyersvilleWahlert Catholic High School DubuqueIndianaSaint Joseph's High School South BendSaint Theodore Guerin High School NoblesvilleLouisianaMount Carmel Academy New OrleansMassachusettsTrivium School LancasterMarylandMount de Sales Academy CatonsvilleMichiganFather Gabriel Richard High School Ann ArborGrand Rapids Catholic Central High School Grand RapidsSaint Francis High School Traverse CityWest Catholic High School Grand RapidsMinnesotaProvidence Academy PlymouthMissouriNotre Dame de Sion High School Kansas CityNotre Dame Regional High School Cape GirardeauSpringfield Catholic High School SpringfieldSt. Pius X High School Kansas CitySt. Vincent High School PerryvilleMississippiSaint Patrick Catholic High School BiloxiMontanaBillings Central Catholic High School BillingsNew YorkAll Hallows High School BronxCathedral Preparatory Seminary ElmhurstPennsylvaniaAquinas Academy GibsoniaBishop Carroll Catholic High School EbensburgOakland Catholic High School PittsburghSaint Joseph High School Natrona HeightsSouth CarolinaSaint Joseph's Catholic School GreenvilleSouth DakotaO'Gorman High School Sioux FallsTennesseeNotre Dame High School ChattanoogaSaint Cecilia Academy NashvilleTexasAntonian College Preparatory High School San AntonioBishop T. K. Gorman Catholic School TylerSaint Thomas High School HoustonSacred Heart Catholic High School MuensterSaint Ignatius College Preparatory School Fort WorthStrake Jesuit College Preparatory HoustonThe Highlands School IrvingWisconsinCatholic Memorial High School WaukeshaXavier High School AppletonHonorable MentionThe honorable mention lists include the top performing schools that did not place on the overall Top 50 list. There are six schools listed for each of the three criteria that the Honor Roll examines.AcademicsSaint Joseph High School Lakewood, CAChristopher Columbus High School Miami, FLSt. John Villa Academy High School Staten Island, NYDominican Academy New York, NYThe Lyceum Cleveland, OHBishop McGuinness Catholic High School Oklahoma City, OKCatholic IdentityPope John Paul II Academy Lafayette, LAMonsignor Hackett Catholic Central Kalamazoo, MIBishop Grimes Junior/Senior High School East Syracuse, NYQuigley Catholic High School Baden, PAGreensburg Central Catholic High School Greensburg, PAFaustina Academy Irving, TXCivic EducationSaint Monica Academy Pasadena, CASaint Joseph Academy San Marcos, CACardinal Gibbons High School Fr. Lauderdale, FLLadywood High School Livonia, MIHoly Cross Academy Oneida, NYSaint Thomas More High School Rapid City, MO

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