Reviewing the Itinerary - A Day of Review

Sunday February 24th was our twentieth session together. This week we had a review for Unit 3 and also for Sacrament of Reconciliation. In preparing for the session, I decided we would focus on the forgiveness received during Reconciliation and for the Unit 3 review we would focus on the relationships between the topics of the Unit... in both activities I reused pictures and phrases that we have used throughout the lessons. The lesson plan for the session includes the topics discussion and the activities. There is no activities worksheet for this week.

Packing Light: The whole session was "light" so just check out the online activities at Blest Are We.


When we met in the common area for the whole group activity, we learned that Fair Cheetah and Pragmatic Tiger would not be joining us. We seem to be having a hard time getting everyone together this year!

Once we were settled into our room, we started with our usual discussion of Mass: what color was Father wearing? Did we say the full "I confess to Almight God" or did we say the "Lord Have Mercy"? Did we sing or say the Gloria? What about the Holy, Holy, Holy? What about the Our Father?

The children continued to be enthralled with the concept that we are not singing or saying the Gloria or Alleluia... they cannot wait for them to allowed to 'come out of the box' (as Rocking Horse says)!

On to the topics of the day...

I started by indicating that we were going to review the sacrament where we receive forgiveness. I asked - did anyone remember what it was called? As the children called out various answers, we discovered that we knew lots of names for it. I asked Rocking Horse if she wanted to make a list of them on the white board. Here is what we came up with:




So then we talked about what happens when we go to Confession: how we have to say our sins to the priest, how we have to say the prayer to show we're sorry, and then Father will give us the forgiveness. We talked a bit about the forgiveness. It was confusing for us why we had to tell him our sins and then get the forgiveness. We know that God can hear our prayers and knows if we are sorry for our sins. We learned that God always forgives us if we are really sorry, so how come we have to go to Confession?

So we talked about how God's forgiveness is like a gift. It is like a birthday gift from grandma. We know that grandma has a gift for us, but we can't receive it until we go and see her in person. Confession is the same way - even though we know God has forgiveness for us, we need to go and then we can really receive it. ("I hope it really is like when I get a gift from my grandma and I feel wonderful and never want to return it" said Rocking Horse. I love the amazing things these kids say!).

So then I mentioned that once we go to Confession and receive God's forgiveness and grace, then we are ready to go to Communion. I asked if anyone knew anything about it? Once again we discovered that there were a bunch of names for it, and Rocking Horse again wanted to write it on the white board. Here is what we came up with:




Other than that, the children didn't really know a whole lot about the sacrament. So I told them that was OK - because that is exactly what we would be learning together next!

After a bit of gabbing, I moved us on to the Unit 3 review...

We've been talking a lot about God's word. Where can we find God's word?

"Bible!"(in unison)

We can always read the Bible at home with our family. Where else can we hear the Word of God read to us?

"Church?" (asked Sweet Pea Elephant tentatively)

Exactly. And that was our first lesson for this unit - 'We Listen to the Word of God' - remember all the Bible stories we talked about?

(various expressions of assent)

Since Rocking Horse was in 'writing mode', she asked if she could write this down on the white board, I said 'sure!'.

OK, then... what did we talk about after that?

(various strains of "uh?")

You know... with the helping hands?

"Oh yeah! Those works of mercy or something like that"(said Sweet Pea Elephant)

You got it... we listen to the Word of God, then we act on it by serving others. What is the third piece of the puzzle?

"Praying using those finger reminders!"(said Courtly Polar Bear with GREAT enthusiasm! She was so happy she remembered ALL the fingers and who to pray for!)

Yes - so you see there are 3 pieces we studied, and they work together like a triangle. Do you see it?

"Hey, it IS like a triangle!" said Rocking Horse, "First you listen to the Bible, then you have to serve others and pray for others". And so she drew it on the white board that way!

So then I handed out the two activities: The first was for the Unit Review. It was a little triangular-shaped booklet for the topic: listening to God's word, Serving others, Praying for Others. The children carefully cut out the triangle and folded along the lines to create their booklets. When I asked whose booklet I could photograph, they ALL wanted theirs photographed. So they worked as a team to make a design out of their booklets:

Finally, I handed out a little Reconciliation activity I found at catechiceticalresources.com. The children had quite a time trying to follow the instructions and comparing their results.






Next week we will be having a starting Unit 4, We Celebrate the Gift of Eucharist.

Side Trips: if you want more information, activities, and games...

• If you just have a bit of time, go for any of the online or printable activities for the chapter if you missed them the first time - they can be found at Blest Are We
• If you have two-bits of time, check out the check out the lent activities at CatholicMom.com
• For more in-depth activities, check out some of the links in the lesson plan from Unit 2, Chapter 6 there are many activities related to forgiveness and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

The World in Our Hands - Learning to Pray for Others

Sunday February 17th was our nineteenth session together. This week we covered Unit 3, Chapter 12 "We Pray for Others". In preparing for the session, I established the focus as ways to pray for others. The lesson plan for the session includes the topics discussion, the activities worksheet, and craft activity.

Packing Light: If you just want the activity sheet for this session, you can find it here. It has a dot-to-dot activity, decode activity, and coloring activity.

We really didn't have an activity with the whole group, so we went directly to our room. We started off with our usual discussion about Mass. The children noticed Father was still wearing Purple, and that we are still singing those 'old' versions of the Holy, Holy, Holy and the Our Father. They miss singing the Gloria, and we talked once again how the Gloria and Alleluia are 'put away' during Lent.

We tried to remember those "7 service things" from last week. We didn't really remember too many of them... but at least they remembered that they existed (and that there were 7 of them!).

We talked again about the petitions that we hear after we listen to the Gospel during Mass. We tried to remember the kinds of things that the reader lists. We remembered ones like praying for the sick and the Pope and the soldiers. We definitely remembered the "Lord, hear our prayer" that we say.

Then we created a "prayer web". I then asked the children to volunteer ideas of ways we could pray for others. As each child volunteered, she or he was handed the ball of yarn... then he or she would wrap the yarn loosely around his/her hand. So as we went around - which was in whatever order the children were ready to volunteer - we created a "web" with our prayer ideas. So then I reminded them:

See, we are all connected. We remember that God is the Father of everyone in the world, so we need to care about others because they are like our brothers and sisters.

The children had great fun with this and wanted to be able to give 2nd and 3rd ideas so they could really be connected!

So then I asked if anyone knew how we could remember who we should pray for? I told them it is hard sometimes, and I forget how to do it too sometimes. So I asked them to hold their hands like they were praying. Using the "5 finger prayer" that I found at sermons4kids.com, I walked them through it:

What finger is closest to you as you hold your hands that way?

"Thumbs!"(in unison)

Since the thumb is closest to you, you use it to remind you to pray for people who are close to you. Who are some people that are close to you?

"Parents" "Brothers" "Sisters" "Grandma"

...and so we continued for each finger... the children were quite engaged with this activity! When we finished, I handed out the coloring page and asked them to label each finger on the page with the "who we should pray for" reminders and then they colored them and decorated them. It was great to see them working together to figure out what hint they should write on each finger.














Next week we will be having a unit 3 review.

Side Trips: if you want more information, activities, and games...

• If you just have a bit of time, definitely go for the online activity for this chapter
• If you have two-bits of time, check out the prayer card activity at We Believe.
• For more in-depth activities, check out some of the links in the lesson plan

All Hands On Deck - Learning How To Serve Others

Sunday February 10th was our eighteenth session together. This week we covered Unit 2, Chapter 11 "We Act On God's Word". In preparing for the session, I established the focus as ways we show our love for God by helping others. The lesson plan for the session includes the topics discussion, the activities worksheet, and craft activity.

Packing Light: If you just want the activity sheet for this session, you can find it here. It has a coloring activity, word search, word tumble, and matching activity.

When we met in the common area for the whole group activity, we started by joining with the First Graders in saying the Our Father, which they had worked hard to learn. Way to go First Grade!

Then we learned that each class was going to have a Prayer Bag that the children could take turns taking home to share with their families. The bag has prayer books, crucifix, holy water, cross to decorate and other stuff. Wow!

The first thing we did when we gathered in our classroom was to discuss the Mass. There were big changes to notice!

Did you notice anything different at Mass today?

"Father is wearing purple again! And who is that guy that was up there with him?" (said Rocking Horse)

You are right, he is wearing purple because it is Lent. The other man up there was a deacon. He is a friend of Father's and is visiting us this week. Was there anything else different?

"We sang the Our Father again, and the Holy, Holy - even though it was different. But I guess I missed the Gloria." (said Rocking Horse)

Oh no, you didn't miss it, we didn't sing it!

"Did we say it?" (said Sweet Pea Elephant)

Nope. We didn't say it either. During Lent we don't sing or say the Gloria. And you know what else? We don't sing or say the word "alleluia" either!/div>

(much amazement)

It's like we put them in a box and lock it up.

"Yeah, like we hide the key until Easter!" (said Fair Cheetah)

And so we talked a bit more about the happenings at Mass during Lent.

OK. Remember how we've been learning that the Bible is the Word of God and we listen to it at Mass? What happens after we hear the Gospel at Mass?

"Father talks for a while" (said Fair Cheetah)

... and after that?

(no takers)

And what does Father say at the end of Mass?

(again, no takers)

After the sermon, we hear what is called the petitions. We pray for our leaders, we pray for the sick, we pray for the parish...

"Oh yeah! Lord hear our prayer!" (said Rocking Horse)

And at the end of Mass, Father says 'The Mass has ended, go in peace to love and serve the Lord.' What do you think that means?

"That we can go!" (pretty much said in unison... duh!)

Well, yes... But he is saying that we need to SERVE the LORD! That means we can't just go away, we have to go and help others so we can show our love for God!

(much dramatics)

So then we read Isaiah 58:3-9 and Matthew 25:31-46. In both cases, whenever we read the part about "clothe the naked" there was a great uproar: "That's disgusting!" I had to calm them by adjusting it to explain that it could just mean the poor who don't have any money to buy any clothes.

Once we got past the clothing crisis, then there was great concern over "whatever you did for these least brothers of mine...". "Jesus didn't have any brothers!" Rocking Horse was quite emphatic on this matter! It took some convincing, but I think I was able to make the point that Jesus meant whenever we help others, we help Him. Tried to make the whole "Jesus is in all of us" point, which at least eased Sweet Pea Elephant's concerns.

(Maybe it would have been simpler if I just read the 'kiddie' version of the Bible verses, but then I would have missed all their wonderful questions and comments. And don't we all learn more by asking questions and solving problems than by sleeping through something that's easy for us?)

I went on to explain that we call these actions that Jesus taught us the "Seven Works of Mercy". I handed out the workbook pages, and Rocking Horse volunteered to read the section that talks about those works.

After she read the one about sheltering the homeless, Rocking Horse observed, "Well, it's not fair for people to be homeless. If someone lives in a gigantic house, it just isn't fair for someone else not to have any house at all." (she'll be ready for bear when we have the social justice discussion!).

We talked about how doing the works of mercy was being helpful to others. We talked about ways we could do some of those works: how we had brought food in at Thanksgiving time to give to the poor, how our moms save our clothes that are too small to give to others, how we visit our grandmas and friends when they don't feel good, how the priests go and visit people who are sick every day!

Then I described our craft for the day - that we were going to make a wreath out of the 7 Works of Mercy but tracing our hands and cutting them out and gluing them on. Construction paper! Tracing! Cutting! Gluing! Oh the joy! We got out our construction paper and scissors and got going!

Alas, I had forgotten my camera and even my cell phone and could not get pictures of all the wonderful designs the children created. But I did catch up with Rocking Horse on Monday and was able to snap a picture of her design. She had gone for the minimalist approach this time, choosing to use only white and green.




Time was so short it seemed... our session was over even as the children scrambled to finish the wreaths.

I handed out the worksheets, as well as the pages from the chapter in Blest Are We, and also the Family Time pages.

Side Trips: if you want more information, activities, and games...

• If you just have a bit of time, definitely go for the online activity for this chapter at Blest Are We
• If you have two-bits of time, check out the activities at MSSS Bible Lessons
• For more in-depth activities, check out some of the links in the lesson plan

Community Bonfire - Learning About Lent

Sunday February 3rd was our seventeenth session together. Having spoken to the DRE earlier in the week about the plans for the day, I realized that I wouldn't be able to start a new lesson from our workbook. Instead, I prepared materials to support the lesson on Lent that the DRE was going to cover with the entire group. As such, I did not prepare a lesson plan for this week.

Packing Light: I didn't prepare a worksheet of activities for this week, although I did put together a package of Lenten activities, they are listed below

When we met in the common area for the whole group activity, we were all so happy to see Pragmatic Tiger and Fair Cheetah back with us! Rocking Horse and Courtly Polar Bear were not with us though, so we were not a complete team.

We gathered outside to prepare some ashes just like the ones used on Ash Wednesday. We put some palms from last year in the bin and one of the teachers lit them. As they burned we talked about Ash Wednesday and how it is the start of Lent, and why the priest will put the ashes on our forehead. Once they were finished, since it was also the feast of Saint Blaise, we listened to a little history about the saint and how he healed the child who was choking on a fish bone. We all went over to the church and had our throughts blessed by Fr. C.

By the time we returned, the ashes had cooled down. A small amount was placed in a cup for each class. As we adjourned to our separate classrooms, I distributed a Lent Activity Pack to each of the children. These little kits contained

• a bag of pretzels, along with an activity to do with the pretzels as a symbol of prayer and penance from CatholicCulture.com, which you can find here


• a calendar spanning the season of Lent, with a sticker for each day, which you can find here.

We found we would be having the third and fourth graders joining us for the remainder of the day. The first thing we did was to talk a bit more about the ashes. I dipped a finger in the ashes and drew a "+" on the back of each child's hand. We talked about why we used ashes, and we noticed how each "+" looked different - just like each of us is different! I asked the children to be sure to listen to what Father says as he puts the "+" on their forehead and tell me next week what he said.

Since there was not much time left, we spent our remaining time playing a quiz game about Lent. The questions we used were from a game called "Journey Through Lent" posted at the OTHER_Creative_Kingdom Yahoo! group. I knew there were too many children (and not enough time) to play the full board-version of the game, so we simply split into two groups, engaged a score-keeper, and started reading questions. The children seemed to have a good time taking turns reading the questions, and several of the questions - especially those about fasting and abstinence - were source for quite a bit of discussion among the group.

Next week we will will the next lesson, Unit 3, Chapter 11, "We Act on God's Word".

Side Trips: if you want more information, activities, and games... check out some of the Lenten activities at catholicmom.com