twentythirdpublications.com is the website for the company that publishes Religion Teachers journal and they have a link for catechists, also RTJ has a page each month with links for catechists, so if you can access it online it might help.
generations is supposed to have a plan for each age group for the theme, what did they give you?
when I get to work tomorrow I will check out other sites
also: go to
catholicity.com, click on Best Catholic Links on the left, and then go to the topics, there is one for family and children, also for catechesis, education, evangelization, which should direct you to some great sites.
for your first class, since you are probably in a rush
give each child a piece of regular white printer paper
fold it in 4s, so you end up with a little booklet.
have bibles with the Psalms ready, which are great for this exercise. somewhere if I can find it in the next few minutes is a list of what psalms are praise, thanks, petition, sorrow, etc. Find at least one example of each and mark it in your bible.
on the first page write and illustrate a prayer of praise. First you will of course talk about what praise is, give examples, then pray the praise psalm you have chosen. then give them time to write their praise prayer.
the next page is a prayer of thanksgiving,
the next page is a prayer of contrition or sorrow
the last page is a prayer of asking or petition.
Psalms are great, but another alternative is to choose hymns or praise and worship songs which are used in your parish that illustrate each type of prayer.
this little booklet becomes the beginning of a prayer journal they will keep through the year. get some cheap folders, the kind with prongs and pockets. they can decorate the folders with markers and religious stickers.
during the year at the appropriate time you can add mysteries of the rosary, stations of the Cross etc.
also build in quiet prayer time (start with 5 minutes, which can be an eternity to kids this age, but the idea is to learn to like silence)
Give them a chance to make up prayer services, and sometimes you direct it. Liturgy of the Word with the Sunday readings and the children’s lectionary is also prayer.
Find a book like Romano Guardini’s short book on the Our Father, and read it yourself, and from it you can teach a whole class on the Our Father.
100 Activities Based on The Catchism from ignatius press (link on CA homepage) has a lot of prayer based activities for middle grades.
also the prayers of the Mass, especially the responses, will take several lessons. have them write petitions for the prayer of the faithful, perhaps they can read them at the children’s Mass in your parish.
October is the month of the Rosary and Right to Life Sunday is the first Sunday, perhaps they can organize a living rosary for the whole GOF group, or each class can take a mystery. a living rosary is where participants stand in a circle and every person is a “bead” and leads the appropriate prayer for their “bead”, a leader directs and introduces the mysteries.
