A Dash of Creativity (January)

In spite of our best intentions; our class sessions can sometimes become predictable. We might tend to follow the exact same teaching steps each week, in the same humdrum order. While children need a good dose of consistency to learn, they often respond enthusiastically when we vary the routine and add a dash of creativity to a lesson.

Use the ideas below to liven up your lessons plans:

Incorporate Group Work

Kids enjoy working in groups. Extroverts enjoy the give and take, and more introverted children often find it easier to contribute in a small group setting. Sadly, some catechists avoid group work because they worry that the increased noise level in the room will somehow poorly reflect on their ability to “manage” the class. It’s true that group work is louder than having children work independently, but that doesn’t mean you’ve lost control. During group assignments, roam about the teaching space, checking in with each group frequently. That will keep the children on task and guarantee that the conversation is productive.

Experiment with a variety of groupings—pairs, threesomes, and small groups of three to five children for different activities. Help the children discover creative ways to present the main concepts. Be sure to use a variety of cooperative learning strategies, scaffolding, and graphic organizers to help add and aid in the creative learning process. The Be My Disciples Web site provides many activities and strategies that relate to the main concepts taught in the program.

Try Something New

As catechists and teachers, we all have a certain comfort level. If we are unsure about how an activity will work with our class, we may avoid it. Fear of failure is a powerful force in convincing us to stick with the same thing. However, variety can spice up lesson plans and help you find different strategies to engage the children. Here are some ideas to try something new:

• Invite children to role-play for an activity when it calls for them write or draw their responses. For example, they can role-play how they can live a specific commandment, how a sacramental rite is celebrated, or how a child of their age might respond when faced with a moral choice.
• Introduce your class to different types of sacred music throughout the year—familiar hymns they can sing together, instrumental songs for reflection, traditional seasonal songs, sung Mass responses, even Gregorian chant. Have a music selection that relates to your chapter theme playing to greet children as they arrive.
• Create word games or puzzles for the children to solve that preview or reinforce chapter concepts. Write the puzzle on the board or duplicate a copy for each student.
• Use a variety of prayer formats from week to week—traditional prayer, spontaneous prayer, meditation, “echo” prayers in which the children repeat phrases after you, or alphabet prayers in which the children name things they are thankful for that begin with different letters of the alphabet. Encourage children to write and read aloud original psalms based on the chapter theme.

And remember: If an activity isn’t a roaring success, take heart. There’s always next week!