For All Saints Day, I created an hour-long activity called Meet the Saints. Here is my lesson plan: Each child was given a Bingo card...
Next week's lesson will consist of teaching the Holy Trinity so I have a new worksheet to share with you friends. You can get it HERE ! I s...
This is one of my very favorite worksheets that I've ever made! It allows students to be creative and share with the class, along with opening up the conversation about God and his gifts to us, such as our talents. Get it for free HERE!
A blog about children's books, story time, library service, and literacy activities written by a children's librarian turned stay-at-home mom.
A complete, one-year program for 2nd level CCD kids who are preparing to receive First Holy Communion.
Hello fellow religious educators! I have a back-to-school deal for you today! I am now offering all of my prayer worksheets on TPT (previously over $1 each) in a bundle pack for only $3! They are available HERE! My kids love these worksheets and get a lot out of using them. They are great for memorization. I make a large copy and fill in the blanks along with my student, but you can get creative and do whatever works for you! I hope you enjoy! God Bless!
Because of last year's success and growth of my firsties in writing, Writer's Workshop has become the favorite part of my day. We have ...
Students circulate through the classroom and meet new friends! Here's a great team building activity I like to have on hand for the first week of school! Use "Find a Friend" for a quick structure to allow for student interaction, to model classroom expectations for movement in the room, and to review and practice classroom manners. With the recording sheet in hand, students circulate through the room to pair up with a new friend. Students greet each other and take turns to ask a question related to the grid. For example, student A will say say to student B, "Do you like to read?" Student B will reply, "Yes, I do like to read." Student B will then sign his name in the corresponding box on Student A's paper. (If the student replies with a "no", I encourage my first graders to try again and to ask about something else on the paper. After all, we have different likes and dislikes.) Before rotating, students thank each other. Students mix and pair again with a new partner to complete the grid as time allows. I do remind the children that they may only sign someone's paper one time. These activities promote positive interaction, movement, and community. It also allows for me to model (...again) how to stand up and carry the paper/pencil, how to find a partner quietly (by making eye contact), how to say "please" and "thank you", and how to speak using an inside voice. Click here to download this "Find a Friend" activity. link Here's One for Color Words. Click on the image below to download this "Find a Friend" activity. (Some children may need to have support with recognizing and reading the words.) Like Those? Here's one for number words, too! Click on the image below to download this "Find a Friend" activity. Happy Holiday Weekend!
Help kids understand why sin entered the world and what it means for all of us with this fun game and snake craft for kids.
It's hard to believe, but we are moving right on into the heart of the Holiday Season! I know it's a super busy time of year, but it's my absolute favorite. I'm one of those people that breaks out the Christmas music in October, so don't be alarmed that I'm posting a Christmas packet today! As y'all know, I have children at a variety of learning levels, so I'm diligently finding and creating resources for our Christmas School. This set of Nativity Worksheets will be just right for my Early Kindergartner and a few pages for my First Grader! Note:
Hello fellow catechists! I have another set of resources available for you today! A set of fill in the blank worksheets to help young children memorize prayers! Download below! Your first worksheet, the Our Father, is available for FREE and the other are available for just around a dollar! My kids love these, and I bet yours will too! Our Father Hail Mary Glory Be Guardian Angel Prayer
One of my Adam and Eve quiz type worksheet is now available Here on Teachers Pay Teachers! Go check it out and download!
There is a new scavenger hunt activity available on my TPT right HERE! It is a great way to have some fun with your students before the year ends, as well as teach them about different parts of the church! I did this with my students a few weeks back and they had so much fun! They were begging to go back and learn in the church again! Here is a preview of page 1: To see page 2, go and check out my Teachers Pay Teachers account! Happy Teaching!
Hello fellow catechists! I have another set of resources available for you today! A set of fill in the blank worksheets to help young childr...
The first day of CCD this year went rather smoothly. After watching a brief video downstairs, I escorted students upstairs to our classro...
I can hardly believe that we are almost back to school for another school year. Summers go by way too fast but I'm hopeful for another amazi...
A complete, one-year program for 2nd level CCD kids who are preparing to receive First Holy Communion.
Teach the 10 commandments for kids with these fun 10 commandment craft ideas with free printable template, catchy song, craft, and more.
Hello fellow catechists! I have another set of resources available for you today! A set of fill in the blank worksheets to help young children memorize prayers! Download below! Your first worksheet, the Our Father, is available for FREE and the other are available for just around a dollar! My kids love these, and I bet yours will too! Our Father Hail Mary Glory Be Guardian Angel Prayer
1st Grade Math Catholic Themed Worksheet Fill in the Missing Numbers on the Rosary Beads.
This post has moved: http://ccdlessonplans.blogspot.com/2015/11/god-is-powerful-and-loving-third-grade.html
As I prepare to start school (on Tuesday), I decided to revisit/rethink my assessment recording forms from the previous years. Unlike most ...
A free printable Holy Communion word search puzzle, perfect for Catholic kids preparing for First Communion or those studying about the Seven Sacraments.
Yahoo!!! WE are so excited about beginning our next science unit on Rocks and Soil. Seriously!!! Every year (before NOW) we really did kinda dread, hate, loathe, our unit on rocks and soil. But guess what???? We just finished creating, what we THINK will be a super, awesome science unit on Rocks and Soil that will not make us want to poke our eyes out! This unit will not only be rigorous and fun for our kiddos but will also be PRETTY DARN CUTE and easy to look at (if I do say so myself)!! Click any picture to head on over to our tpt store to grab this pack! This unit is jam packed with Learning Stations for Rocks, Exploration Activities for Soil, 2 Non-Fiction readers, and an Experiment on Soil. The kiddos will have the opportunity to brainstorm what they know, ask questions about things they want to know, hunt for rocks and soil, measure, weigh, compare, write about and read about rocks and soil! We can't wait to get started! Click the images below to grab some FREEBIES :). When your not busy enjoying this fall weather or watching Survivor or FOOTBALL, check out all the cool things in this pack!! As always, if you leave us a comment about what you think, you may be the LUCKY WINNER !! We will give 1 AWAY!!
It’s “Time To Go Back” Tuesday! Let’s celebrate! Today I’m talking all about my back to school favorites. Tried and true ideas and activities that have helped me start my year off on the right foot. If you’re anything like me, you love to mix it up and try new …
Most of us are back in the classroom again, or will be soon. Here are a couple of things that make the start up in my room a little smoother! Get to know your students and help them feel more comfortable with this U Survey. Send it home or have them work on it individually, then collect them and read for your reference (always good to know a few tidbits about the kiddos early on) or have them share a few answers with the class. Also, they will love it if you actually answer the questions they ask in that box on the left! Click here for a printable: Also, I am a big fan of using folders well to help keep kids organized. I like to put these labels on the inside pockets of a folder to help the kids know when papers should be left at home (put them in the LEFT pocket) and when they should come back (put them in the RIGHT pocket). Click on the picture below for a printable that will give you full sheets of 30 labels on standard sized mailing labels (2.625" x 1"). (it is a two page document, fyi, one will all the lefts and one with all the rights)
I feel like this is the fastest my classroom has ever come together. For once I will NOT be going to school on the Saturday before the first day of school. I feel ready, anxious, excited, and happy. That last one is important. I don't remember feeling happy much last school year, and I was worried that I wouldn't get that happy feeling back again this year. Thankfully due to selective memory loss :P I am ready to start my 6th year teaching second grade! Thursday was Open House and I had a really good turn out. Usually I expect 50% or less of my families to show up. But this year I had 17 families come to meet me and check out their new room. I can already tell I have a few big personalities that I am going to just eat up! I have mostly boys. Again. I guess that just means I won't have as many girl fights to deal with. Girl problems are always so complicated. A few of my past students stopped by to see me, although there were less than I hoped for. When one of my absolute-favorite-I-would-take-you-home-in-a-heartbeat- little guys walked in and gave me his signature bear hug, I actually started crying and had to shoo him out of the room before I made a fool of myself. A former mom also made my day when she came in to say "You teachers are amazing. You really do work miracles and I can't thank you enough." Enough of the sappy stuff. Time to show off my space. I made a few layout changes and tried a few new decorating techniques (thanks to Pinterest). There are a few classroom signs from TPT but everything I used was either a free download or reinterpreted by me so I am going to say upfront that I don't remember where everything came from. My bad. Welcome to Room 104! Free sign I downloaded from someone... They also had Kindergarten and First Grade. This is probably the last year for these "Best Work" signs. The paper is faded and I had to do many clothespin repairs. But I love these for the hallway. It gets me out of doing creative time-consuming stuff here. Free daily schedule cards from TPT. Minutes for my clock. I made these and used a round paper punch to cut them out. View from the door looking right. View from the door looking straight ahead. View from the door looking left. Kids mailboxes, recycling box, and calendar I decided to put the window topper in this door frame so I could hide the extra months underneath. Listening station with crate seats. I'll probably have to change out the fabric next year. Table caddies. I got these large caddies from IKEA to replace tons of grimy smaller ones that I hated. Click HERE to see the ones I bought. Each Gladware container holds a student's crayons. HERE is the link for the crayon containers. The cups with scissors are velcro-ed to the caddy to keep them from sliding. I'm planning to tape a copy of this picture to the side of the caddy so the kids can reference it when cleaning up. My built-ins and the kids book baskets. The green bins on the top shouldn't be there, they are too close to the ceiling. I threw them up there before Open House and haven't gotten around to figuring out what to do with them yet. Promethean Board. LOVE. End of story. My job chart. I will take pictures of the students, cut out their heads, and attach velcro. The clipart is from Lettering Delights and is called "Grown Up Boys." Encore chart and covered mirror. I really should have added a border and laminated the paper covering the mirror so I don't have to measure it out again next time but I got lazy. I HEART my library. Yes, I managed to snag the infamous Chevron rug from Big Lots. Although our school is pretty strict about additional classroom rugs so hopefully I can slide under the radar this time. You'll have to ignore the duck tape on the bookshelf. It was coming apart and my dad decided that was the best way to fix it. Love my flamingo shower curtain. My school is also iffy about shower curtains but I think it's OK as long as it isn't in the window. All those big books came from my teammate Heather who had TONS to give away. My area. The birthday board in action. I always hang up class photos from years past. Like the scrunchy border? Thank you Pinterest. My sign-in from Open House. The computer nook with Pinterest pom poms. I like to cover the cabinet doors and this year I wanted it to look like another bulletin board. I made these Hand Signals signs but they were inspired by The Clutter-free Classroom. More teacher area. Eventually this will be where the writing materials will be but right now I've taken it over with all the back to school paperwork. Still haven't finished my teacher tool box... More goodies from Heather! She gave me a class set of these decorative letter trays. Another teammate suggested putting them in the desks and I love it! They will use this to store their pencil box, STAR files (inspired by Tattling to the Teacher) and any other loose items. I hate papers and things rolling around in the desks. More desks. The inside of the STAR files. Reading/Math small group table. The boxes on the table are all ready to collect supplies on the first day of school. More school supplies I need to put away. My dad made me those cool marker stands. I was super excited about them but the glue he used ruined about half the markers :(. He used foaming Gorilla glue which holds really well, but apparently the marker lids have tiny holes in them so the glue seeped into the marker. Boo. They are still mostly functional so I will use them until they become a problem. I threw away about half of my poster collection so I could use this top drawer for guided reading storage. Reading materials. More reading stuff and my upcycled chalkboard. Math Workshop bulletin board inspired by The Clutter-free Classroom. I really liked her idea of having the different stations spell out the word MATH. I'll use push pins to hang up directions for each station. Guided reading books Math manipulatives and books. Whole brain teaching-ish rules. I changed a few to fit in more closely with our school initiatives. I plan to let the kids generate appropriate school behaviors (we call it the Quality Student) and then group the kids ideas under these five headings. I used this free product from Miss Nelson to make them. Chevron wrapping paper. I wanted to do the brown scrunchy border here too but I got tired of the scrunch and staple routine. These are the SUPER BORING LAME-O abc cards we have to use. I really wanted to use these from Ladybug's Teacher Files :( My Chevron ruler storage. This used to be a wine bottle gift box. View from the alternate corner. Well, it's not finished (when is it ever??) and it's certainly not perfect but I'm ready to fill it with brand new second graders on Tuesday! Can't wait!
We have had wonderful experiences presenting the idea of the Holy Trinity to first graders. It is not presented in many first grade texts,...
Howdy! Welcome back! Today we read one of my favorite beginning of the year books, Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. It has become a fav of the kids too. Many of them said they have the book at home or their kindergarten teacher read it to them. I told them that's why books are so special. No matter how many times you read a book, each time is like opening a gift. This time we were going to really think about the main character's feelings and the author's message. As we read the book, I passed around a large paper heart. Each time Chrysanthemum was teased because of her name, we crumpled up the heart. Every time someone did something nice to her, we tried our best to smooth it out. By the end of the story, the heart was a wrinkled mess that could not be smoothed out perfectly. The kids got the connection that our own hearts feel wrinkled and crumpled sometimes when we don't like what someone says. Words do hurt. We then tried to put bandaids on the heart as a way to show that we can own our mistakes and apologize. The heart will probably still be wrinkled, but it is healing. I, then had the kids do a mini version of this in their Reader's Response Journal. Always Use Kind Words! You can find this activity along with a few other things to do with this amazing book if you click here! Including the little heart poem in the center: Before you speak, Think and be smart. It's hard to fix a wrinkled heart. Here's to Happy Hearts! Joyfully! Nancy
Coloring and handwriting page for Baptism, the first of the seven sacraments.
Architecture has been the theme for many of my lessons this quarter. My first graders reviewed what an architect is. We looked at Frank Lloyd Wright's "Falling Water," and as with most art works that we look at and discuss, the kids were blown away with this design. During that lesson, the kids looked at the many parts that make up the exterior of a house and then designed their own. We also discussed that architect considers the land where a building will be built and so the kids drew their landscapes as well. This lesson was an extension of the Falling Waters lesson. They designed a 3D model of a house using a paper bag. It was fun seeing the extra goodies they added that made the house their own. ***Here is another architecture related lesson from my TeachersPayTeachers shop. It is based on the paintings and painted buildings by pop artist, James Rizzi. Though it says "art sub lesson," it is written so that anyone can teach it. Here are other architecture related lessons that are completely ready to be taught. All a student needs is paper, pencil and crayons. A Treehouse for Me and Captivating Castles
See how these Catholic school kindergartners learned about the sacrament of baptism and pick a FREE baptism writing response activity!
As many of you know, I teach at a Catholic school in York Region (about 20 minutes north of Toronto). Religion is the foundation for our school board so of course we integrate lessons around our faith throughout the day. We gather formally on the carpet at least once a week for a Religion Circle. I originally got this idea from my good friend and colleague, Mrs. Linigari, who teaches grade 1. We post the Religion Circle picture on our Daily Schedule so students know what is planned for the day. You can read all about our Daily Schedule here. We all gather on the carpet in a large circle. We start by passing around a rosary and saying intentions (i.e. "I pray for my sister who is not feeling well today."). Once everyone has had a turn, we read a story from the Children's Bible. There are many versions of the Children's Bible available to purchase. This is the one I use in my classroom and I find it's simple enough for even the youngest children to follow along. I discovered a You Tube channel, The Beginner's Bible, that offers amazing videos of many of the stories found in the Children's Bible. Here's an example of the story of Moses and the Ten Commandments: We have great discussions around the story in the Bible as well as the video we watch. I also like to post it to our class D2L (website) for parents to see and continue those discussions at home. "Teaching Religion" is not simply a subject though - we often refer back to stories we have read in the Children's Bible or ask how Jesus would feel to our students when we see conflict arise in the classroom. Of course, when special holidays are close (such as Christmas or Easter), it's a great opportunity to also combine art and drama in our lessons. Here are a few examples: After reading about the birth of Jesus, students were invited to retell the story using the felt board. I made these props myself - and it's really easy to do! You can read all about how to make your own felt board pieces here. Leaving out loose parts for students to retell or make up their own story is also fun! There's a beautiful song we sing (found on the In God's Image CD which is our Board's Religious Ed. program). Here's the song with the lyrics if you don't use this program. I made these printable pieces of the Nativity this past winter that go along with the song. Students choose different roles and hold the props while they walk around the carpet. You can find these props as a FREE download here. We also make a card and several crafts (which vary each year). Here's what we did this past Christmas. I've started making Religious educational materials on my TpT site. This is one of our class favourites - a write the room activity based on the Nativity. You can find this activity here if you are interested. At Easter, we also make a card and craft. We tend to focus on the stories leading up to Easter also, such as Palm Sunday. Each student also made this palm branch to take home. After reading stories from the Bible, we invite children to draw and paint their favourite part. Using various materials, students are invited to retell the Easter story. One of our favourite apps is called Chatterpix Kid, where students can "cut" part of the picture they have taken of their work and record their own voice. We place the Easter Write the Room activity around our class for those interested in doing this fun centre. We left out a provocation after reading the book The Giving Tree, at the beginning of the Lenten season. It's a great book to introduce the idea of giving up so much for others, even though it's not religious. Every time students did something for others they were invited to write/draw it on a leaf and place it on our classroom door. We all know Christmas and Easter are the two biggest celebrations, but what about religion the rest of the year? During the month of May, our school prays the Hail Mary regularly. So we teach it to our children too. We also read and discuss who Mary was and how she is very important. We did a directed drawing of Mary too and left out these pictures of beautiful and famous paintings of Mary from around the world for students to draw. Provocations can be left out at any time of the year that focus on feelings, inclusion, and treating others like Jesus preaches. At the beginning of the year, when we focus on "All About Me", we invite students to look closely in the mirror and draw themselves. We discuss how God made each of us unique and special, as well as what we love most about ourselves. You can make these self portraits in any size and certainly extend this activity in many ways. We hung ours up in the hallway outside our classroom on a branch and on the reverse the children told us what makes them special. During the month of February, our emphasis is more on treating others with kindness and respect, since it ties in so well with Valentine's Day. Students choose a name from the bowl and, for one week ("Friendship Week") they have to do kind things for that friend (i.e. help them log into computer, paint a picture together, etc.) We also invite them to make a bracelet as a sign of friendship. We spend a large chunk of time during the week outdoors, where we search for items in nature and observe seasonal changes. We discuss how God made our beautiful Earth and how we can be stewards of the Earth. There are even times when we (or our students!) bring in special guests to our classroom, such as these snails. We learn that God made all living creatures and it's our responsibility to take care of them and show respect. After many daily discussions about "loving our neighbours" (or friends) and reading lots of books, such as How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids, there are lots of provocations you can create. Here our students are encouraged to write/draw how they can be kind to their peers. Afterwards we turned these pages into a class book. How do you incorporate religion in your classroom?
Learn the days of creation with a FUN 7 days of Creation BINGO for your sunday school lesson on the creation story for kids.
How can you help kids learn at Mass? I created Catholic Kids Bulletins to teach about the Mass and I hope they help your kids to learn at Mass!
Teach 10 Commandments to kids with FREE printable cootie catcher! This easy Bible craft allows kids to practice with a fun activity!
A FREE Cain and Abel worksheet is now available on my TPT page which can be found right Here! Please go download and use with your CCD classes! This lesson is so much fun to teach!
