Help! I'm teaching Confirmation to teenagers - need resource material ideas

  • Thread starter Thread starter Prairie_Rose
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
P

Prairie_Rose

Guest
Hi friends

I’m teaching Confirmation to 8th & 9th grade students as part of our Parish religious ed program. (Not a Catholic School setting) The previous teacher has moved to another town, so contacting her isn’t an option.

I’m in charge of decorating our classroom and I need ideas or suggestions on what to put on the walls & the bulletin board. The room is as barren as the desert and I mean that literally - the walls are newly painted in a sand color and the carpet is much the same - it needs some eye-catching and/or informative posters or charts - but I haven’t had much luck with just general searching on the Internet.

What links or recommendations does anyone have??

Thanks so much…
Prairie Rose - newbie catechist
 
write three notes on different subjects and copy one of them in your own best handwriting.
Then tear them up in different size pieces, Mix them into kity litter (if you want to make it more realistic, let kittie use it.). Have the students try to re-assemble the notes as a lesson in textual criticism.
 
There are posters of the 10 commandments and the mysteries of the rosary available through Catholic Child magazine, I bet you can get them through Amazon too.

Do you have to pay for it yourself? If so you might want to have groups of the kids responsible for a bulletin board once a month or so… using construction paper and other craft items because pre made posters can be expensive…

Good luck! Hope your class goes well, and the kids learn a lot.
 
HouseArrest said:
There are posters of the 10 commandments and the mysteries of the rosary available through Catholic Child magazine, I bet you can get them through Amazon too.

Do you have to pay for it yourself? If so you might want to have groups of the kids responsible for a bulletin board once a month or so… using construction paper and other craft items because pre made posters can be expensive…

Good luck! Hope your class goes well, and the kids learn a lot.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the advice - I will look for those posters and see if I can find some inexpensive ones. I have access to a laminating machine and it’s low cost to use - so that would help the posters last longer!!

As a Mom of a CYO student, I previously would give an annual cash donation to the rel. ed program - but this year I think I donate the posters instead 🙂

Thanks for the encouragement 🙂

~~PR
 
if like most of us you have a collection of back issues of Catholic magazines, try making 8x12 or larger “flash cards” or posters using interesting art and illustrations, just cut, paste, letter the word on the back, and laminate (I use clear contac to save money). you can use these for games, relays, quick reviews, contests or bulletin boards. greeting cards and catholic or other religious calendars also make great art and are cheap this time of year–I get dozens of religious calendars which I save for the art.

I have sets on topics such as
saints
sacraments
parts of the mass
mysteries of the rosary
stations of the cross
bible verses or CCC quotes
vocabulary words
gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit
titles of the Lord
order of creation

you can also challenge the students to work in team to make such poster sets, making sure they do the research and are accurate, some kids who have creative gifts can do great on a project like this where they are shyer and more reluctant to either answer in class or journal in writing.
 
Why not make a list of each of those items and have have the kids design a poster for each?
 
Thanks everyone for all the great ideas!!

The reason I’m doing some of the creative work ahead of time is because we only have 1 hour a week for our class and there’s so much curriculum we** have** to cover that I don’t want to spend too much our precious limited class time on making decorations for the walls.

But I like all the suggestions and I appreciate everyone taking time to reply!!
 
=Prairie Rose;8314163]Hi friends
Click to expand...
I’m teaching Confirmation to 8th & 9th grade students as part of our Parish religious ed program. (Not a Catholic School setting) The previous teacher has moved to another town, so contacting her isn’t an option.
Click to expand...
I’m in charge of decorating our classroom and I need ideas or suggestions on what to put on the walls & the bulletin board. The room is as barren as the desert and I mean that literally - the walls are newly painted in a sand color and the carpet is much the same - it needs some eye-catching and/or informative posters or charts - but I haven’t had much luck with just general searching on the Internet.
Click to expand...
What links or recommendations does anyone have??
Click to expand...
Thanks so much…
Prairie Rose - newbie catechist
Click to expand...
***If the classroom has a Crucifix, a staute or Picture of Mary and a Good Bible along with the “United States Catholic Catechism for Adults” and a Catholic Bible, that is ALL the decoration you need.

I taught this same group for four years. KEEP IN MIND the END GOAL… 🙂

Confirmation is a Sacrament Instituted by Jesus Christ that creates a “personal Coenant realtionship with the Confirmed and God.” VERY SERIOUS stuff.

It is critical that thye understand the Nature of this sacramnet and just what the committment IS [in some specific detail] that they are commiting to before and with God.
  1. To Actually Know what it is we believe and practice
  2. As much as time permits to understand why we believe these truths
So they should KNOW the Commandments [Catechism Reference]

The Marks of the CC

Exacly in detail what we profess to beleive in the CREED [Catechism reference]

Prayer forms and what the Lords prayer means and the Biblical foundation for the 'Haul Mary [Luke ch.1]

The Seven Sacraments and what they do, require and WHY [Catechism reference] ESPECIALLY Confession Eucharist and Confirmation

The Mass: What is is and how to participate and WHY the Mass

IF you can accomplish this, you will have been successful in at least pointing souls towards heaven 👍

A final topic, time permitting is how to ue the Bible; bible history and how to understand what it is your reading.

Feel free to contact me if you have further questions. [PJM]

God Bless you, and thank you for your ministery.

Pat***
 
PJM, Thank You so much - you have given me some important “points” that need covered during the class year. As a first year teacher I was in desperate need of a “list” of what’s MOST important for the students to learn - I’ve asked for help from my Priest, but he just told me to let the Holy Spirit guide me…Ok, great, but not exactly the answer I was searching for!!

Anyway - Thanks again 🙂
 
=Prairie Rose;8339602]PJM, Thank You so much - you have given me some important “points” that need covered during the class year. As a first year teacher I was in desperate need of a “list” of what’s MOST important for the students to learn - I’ve asked for help from my Priest, but he just told me to let the Holy Spirit guide me…Ok, great, but not exactly the answer I was searching for!!
Click to expand...
Anyway - Thanks again 🙂
Click to expand...
I taught for about 20 years in total so if you have questions or any needs just send me a PM:)

God Bless you and thank you for your Ministery!

Pat
 
PJM - Pat…

Thanks so much for the offer!

This week I’ve been downloading and printing images of stained glass that depict the scenes of the all the Mysteries of the Rosary. The web is full of beautiful stained glass images from Churches around the world.
I plan to have these scenes laminated and will use them in the classroom like oversized flash cards. Teenagers seem to respond well to visual aids, and I’m hoping as we say the Rosary, they will get a better picture of what they’re meditating on.

One website that I visited about the Rosary, had references to the different gifts of the Holy Spirit connected to the Rosary. For example, the Annunciation symbolizes the gift of humility. The Visitation of Elizabeth symbolizes the gift of charity towards a neighbor, and so on…

Since we’re teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I’m hoping this will tie in quite well.
And when I’m not using these cards as a teaching aid, they can be used as Christian artwork on the walls or as a lesson on Christian Art History.

Well, I’ve rambled on long enough - sorry if I’ve bored you with my plans - LOL

~~PR
 
Prairie_Rose said:
PJM - Pat…

Thanks so much for the offer!

This week I’ve been downloading and printing images of stained glass that depict the scenes of the all the Mysteries of the Rosary. The web is full of beautiful stained glass images from Churches around the world.
I plan to have these scenes laminated and will use them in the classroom like oversized flash cards. Teenagers seem to respond well to visual aids, and I’m hoping as we say the Rosary, they will get a better picture of what they’re meditating on.

One website that I visited about the Rosary, had references to the different gifts of the Holy Spirit connected to the Rosary. For example, the Annunciation symbolizes the gift of humility. The Visitation of Elizabeth symbolizes the gift of charity towards a neighbor, and so on…

Since we’re teaching about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, I’m hoping this will tie in quite well.
And when I’m not using these cards as a teaching aid, they can be used as Christian artwork on the walls or as a lesson on Christian Art History.

Well, I’ve rambled on long enough - sorry if I’ve bored you with my plans - LOL

~~PR
Click to expand...
It sounds like you’ve got everything well in hand. Those kids are lucky to have you! 🙂
 
Prairie_Rose said:
Thanks everyone for all the great ideas!!

The reason I’m doing some of the creative work ahead of time is because we only have 1 hour a week for our class and there’s so much curriculum we** have** to cover that I don’t want to spend too much our precious limited class time on making decorations for the walls.

But I like all the suggestions and I appreciate everyone taking time to reply!!
Click to expand...
even though the end result is something you can hang on the wall, the project is a learning activity to teach the concepts you are illustrating.
 
puzzleannie said:
even though the end result is something you can hang on the wall, the project is a learning activity to teach the concepts you are illustrating.
Click to expand...
Right - and kids also seem to learn a lot more through their hands and eyes than they do through their ears, which is why it is often more effective to have kids do a hands-on project about their lesson of the day, than to simply sit and listen to a lecture.
 
Great points to consider - Thank You 🙂

I think I’m finished printing the stained glass scenes for the Rosary lessons, but I’m still finding more Catholic stained glass scenes and people - LOL I’ll have an entire folder full of stained glass artwork 🙂

In the classroom I decorated the one bulletin board with a variety of Rosary beads and the scenes from the Joyous mysteries, since they tie in with where we are at in the liturgical calendar. We’re past the Annunciation and the Visitation, but the Nativity will be here before we know it, followed by the Presentation and the Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple. Then I will switch the bulletin board scenes to the Sorrowful mysteries.
I’m hoping the students will be able to understand and appreciate the Rosary better and realize what a beautiful collection of prayers it is 👍

Thank You all for your great suggestions and support!!
~~PR
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top