Lesson for Sunday, Oct. 9th

Now that the students know that change is coming to our Mass, this week I am going to get a little bit specific about some of the changes.


Opening song: Your Life Will Change (see blog last week for link)


Minute to Win It Game: I decided after last week's lesson that I am going to actually hold off on doing the MITWI game until the *end* of our group gathering time. I discovered that the kids are so excited about it, that to do the MITWI first is sort of like putting the climax of the group gathering time at the beginning. Beginning this week, I am going to let the children earn the MITWI by being good listeners, participating in the lesson, etc. In other words, it is the carrot I will dangle in front of them to get cooperative behavior! :-) Anyway, this week I promised them we would do the "Face the Cookie" challenge, wehreby a student will be selected to move a cookie from the forehead to the mouth without using hands. There are two videos to use with this, one being the typical blueprint video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBqnIJV8dws and the other being a video of a young man actually accomplishing the task: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X21KGnaeJS8 (Note: I am only going to require one cookie instead of three, and will use Nilla wafers.) Again, this portion of the gathering time will be at the end.


After our opening song, I will quickly remind the students that our last lesson told us that change was coming. Today we will be getting more specific about that change, and I'd like to start by having two of my friends explain it to you a little bit! (Show video from Life Teen's web site called ismasschanging.org . The link is: http://www.ismasschanging.org/ and you will download the video for middle school youth. It works fine for the elementary students!


After the video, I will tell the students that we are going to look a little bit more specifically at some of the words that WE will be saying differently. To do this, I will utilize and talk through a power point presentation which I have created. The power point link is here: https://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AcXPFwPkrCrJZHN3MjkzOF8yNWIyODMyZms&hl=en_US Please email me if you'd like me to send it to you directly. My email is jtruitt@stolivers.com .





There will not likely be time for a closing song this gathering, so after Minute to Win It, I will dismiss the children with our standard "GOD IS GOOD.... ALL THE TIME" echo!

Group Gathering for Sunday, Oct. 2nd: Begin New Roman Missal Prep

Now that we have a couple of weeks of classes under our belts, it is time to start preparing the children for the switch to the New Roman Missal coming in November! I am taking several weeks to try and break down the "why" we are changing and the "how" we are changing into the most basic, kid-understandable elements. This is how this week's group gathering will go:

Opening song: Your Life Will Change http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwTTU7eIw5Qv=CwTTU7eIw5Qyoutube.com/watch?v=CwTTU7eIw5Q This is a great song from an old VBS that has very easy motions to learn.

Minute to Win It: We will review last week's lesson about the parable of the two brothers. I will seek an audience member who can summarize the lesson, and especially the point that it isn't what we SAY that really matters, it's what we DO and how we ACT that shows we are Catholic Christians. The person who summarizes last week will be invited to play the game called "Penny Hose." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXb2rY_Zv9M As usual, if the task is successfully completed the contestant will win a "big" prize, but will win a small prize for at least trying.

Mini-Lesson: This lesson is strictly going to focus on "change." I will begin by having teachers give each student a sheet of paper on which I have pre-printed the Staples Easy Button image on one side and the Mr. Yuck Green Frown Face on the other side.

. I will tell the children that I am going to talk to them today about CHANGE, and we are going to think about and decide whether or not we think change is easy or difficult. I will proceed as follows:

Boys and girls, I am going to say a kind of situation that involves CHANGE. If you think that making that kind of change is easy, I would like you to hold up your sign with the EASY BUTTON showing. If you think that the kind of change that I mention is not too easy, then I want you to hold up the Mr. Yuk face. Everyone ready? Ok! Here we go! First of all, it just changed seasons last week from Summer to Fall. Was that change to Fall last Friday an easy change or a hard change? (pause - comment on signs, which will most likely all say 'easy'). Yes, I think changing seasons is easy, but there is something that happens along with seasons changing sometimes, and that is the Daylight Savings Time change, where we either lose an hour or gain an hour. What do you think? Is Daylight Savings Time an easy change or a hard change? You've got the idea, now! Let's go through a bunch of them. I want you to vote by holding up your signs, and you can look at each others', but let's keep our voices out of it so we can hear each question. Here we go:

Eating your favorite food?

Giving up your favorite food for Lent?

Learning a new language?

Getting a haircut?

Outgrowing your clothes to a new size?

Finishing school in May and going to the next higher grade?

Going to a new school?

Getting a new coach for your sports team?

Moving to a new state?

Moving to the North Pole?

Getting a new pet?

Having a pet run away or die?

VERY GOOD! We saw lots of examples of EASY changes and lots of examples of tough changes today. Some changes we know are coming, don't we? Like we know the seasons are changing; we know that we'll be going to the next grade, etc. But some changes we can't prepare for, like if our pet suddenly ran away from home? I want you to use your sign and answer this question for me. If you think it is easier to deal with changes that you know are coming, show me the easy button, but if you think it is easier to deal with unexpected changes that come, like a tornado wiping out a house, hold up the Mr. Yuk. I agree with all of you who think change is easier to handle when we know it is coming and can plan for it!

I want to ask you another question. If you like to deal with change by having others who have to deal with it too, like if you get a new coach on your team and everyone who plays on the team has to get used to that coach, you will show me the easy button. If you would rather be all by yourself to deal with change, and have nobody to talk about the change with, show me the Mr. Yuk button. I agree with everyone who is holding up the easy button: I think it is much easier to deal with change when we have others that we can talk about it with.

WELL... there is a reason that we are talking about change today. It's because there is a big change coming to our Mass! It is something that has been planned for a long time, and the change is going to start in November, so we have some time to get ready for it. I want to show you a video clip about the changes coming, and so get ready to read along with what it says...

(The Words of the Mass Are Changing Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScmuCNMsG5Q

So, you just heard all of those people talk about the change that is coming, and whether or not they like change and how they get redy for it. Whether we like change or not, we ARE having a change to Mass, and so we ARE going to get ready for it. And I am counting on you, boys and girls, to help your parents to prepare for the change by talking to them about everything that YOU learn about the changes. Since most of your parents don't go to a religous ed. class, it will be up to you to help your family prepare. Can you do that?! Can you DO THAT??!! All right!!!

Next week we are going to have a look at what is changing about the Mass, and we are going to start to learn some of the new things. This week I want you to start to prepare your minds for the change that is coming, ok?

Since you are going to be messengers of these changes, helping others get ready for it, I think that is kind of like letting your light shine before man, and doing a good deed. So let's close with our Let Your Light Shine song! GOD IS GOOD!

Sunday, Sept. 25th Group Gathering Lesson

Parable of the Two Brothers: Sunday, Sept. 25th - 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Opening Song: Ha La La La (Same as last week - see 9/18 blog notes for link)

Review of Last Week: I will start our class by asking who remembers what Jesus taught us last week about what is fair and what isn't fair... if they can summarize for us the Gospel that we talked about. The first student who is able to give some sort of a synopsis of last week's class will be invited up to play a "Minute to Win It" type game. Today we will play "Sharp Shooter", where a student takes aim with rubber bands at playing cards set up with clothes pins. You can find and download the blueprint for this game at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksr2JPk2MnM . I use a 60 second timer for the countdown that can be downloaded at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq25cELZozU . If the student completes the task in 60 seconds, he will win a "big prize" of a notepad and pen... if not, the "small prize" is a fun-sized bag of M&Ms.

Mini-Lesson: I will have pre-chosen two children from among the early arrivals to be my helpers for a skit that we will present, and will assign them their roles. The stage will be pre-set with a television and video game. Both children will be sitting in front of the TV, pretending to play the video game. On the opposite side of the stage I will have a broom set up, along with some random objects (toys, papers, etc) to make the area look messy. The skit will proceed as follows, with me playing the mom:

Mom: Kids, the playroom is pretty messy! I need for the toys to be picked up and for you to sweep up the floor of all of the cookie crumbs. Will you please take care of that?
Child 1: Ok, mom! I'll be there in a minute!
Child 2: Awwww, come on, Mom! I am in the middle of a good game! Why do you always make me stop my FUN and do work for you?! I don't WANT to pick up right now! I'm staying right here!
Mom: (Shrugs shoulders and walks away)

Children continue to play for a few seconds.
Child 2: Come on, Mom needs us to clean up. We'd better do it!
Child 1: No way! If I stop now I will lose the high score! I'm not going to do it!

Child 2 gets up, goes and picks up the mess and starts sweeping.
Child 1 continues to play the video game.

That will end the skit, at which point I will summarize what happened and ask the students what they think: which child did the better thing? The one who was polite to the mom and said he'd do it, but then didn't ... or the one who back-talked his mom, but then did what she asked? I will point out that neither one of them was a really good example, but that Jesus has something to say to us about that. I will then read to them the Gospel for 9/25, which can be found at http://www.pflaum.com/readings/sept_2011/sept_25.pdf . We will teach that Jesus is telling us that it is fine to say you are a Christian, to say that you love God, etc., but if you don't ACT like it, you're not doing the right thing. It's much better to ACT like that Christian person and to let your good deeds shine.

Closing song: Let Your Light Shine Before Man - found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZMMz5uJKkQ&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PLAA76858E183053E1


The kids love this song! The motions are very easy.

If you have any questions about this lesson, please feel free to contact me at jtruitt@stolivers.com !

Sunday, Sept. 18th Group Gathering Lesson

Ok! Here we go!

As promised, this blog is going to primarily chronicle what I do as a group gathering mini-lesson for students to help kick-off weekly PSR classes in a fun way. If you are new to the idea and/or the blog, please take a look at the side-bar on this page and read the introduction to the book I am working on. That will bring you up to speed on what I am doing and why I am doing it.

In my parish, we have classes on Tuesdays and Sundays. We use the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies curriculum, which prepares children for Mass by centering the lesson around the Gospel. Therefore, when we have class on Tuesday, we are preparing for the upcoming Sunday. When we have our gathering on Sunday, we are addressing the Gospel for that very day.

So... this first post addresses the Gospel for Sunday, September 18th. (Note: The group gathering mini-lessons will not always focus on the Gospel, even though class always will).

This week is our first class. The gathering time will be as follows:

Opening Song: Ha La La La (A Welcoming Song). Find this song on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ba94WT7Uxk This is a great song for the intro, because the children get to shake hands, pat backs, and slap high-fives to each other during the song. It's also super catchy and fun to sing!

Of course I will be welcoming the children back after a long summer with no PSR classes, and will take a few moments to see what fun things they did over the summer.

We will then move into a mini-lesson on the upcoming Gospel, which is the parable of the workers in the vineyard. You can find a child-friendly copy of this Gospel at http://www.pflaum.com/readings/sept_2011/sept_18.pdf .

I am going to start by seeking a volunteer, saying, "I would like three volunteers to come up to the stage and do a task for me. If you do the task, I have a prize for you. Who would like to come up?" When the volunteer is selected, I will ask him/her to please do 25 jumping jacks. When he is starting, I am going to ask a second volunteer to do 10 jumping jacks, and while that one is starting I will ask the last volunteer to do one single jumping jack. When they are all done, I am going to announce that they have each earned a prize, and I will give each of them the same prize: a kid-sized bag of M&Ms and thank them for what they have done.

I will then turn to the audience and re-cap what has just happened, then ask if it is fair that each of the children got the same prize. I will solicit responses from the audience, finding out why they think it is or isn't fair.

I will then continue, "In the Gospel this coming Sunday, Jesus has a story to tell about what is and isn't fair, and I would like for you to listen to the story." The Gospel will then be read to the children.

When the Gospel has been read, I will continue with the lesson based on the suggestion from a wonderful web site called www.sermons4kids.com . The basic script is as follows: "What is the point of the story that Jesus told? The point is that there are some people who trust in Jesus and serve him all the days of their life. What is their reward? Their reward is eternal life in Heaven. There are other people who live most of their life in sin. They don't serve the Lord at all. Then, just before their life comes to an end, they put their trust in Jesus and accept him as their Savior. What is their reward? Their reward is the same as one who as served the Lord all their life -- eternal life in Heaven. We all think of Saints as people who were just perfect and behaved exactly the way God would want them to behave every single day of their lives. Some Saints did really live close to that good, but did you know that some of the great Saints were actually pretty bad sinners before they turned their lives around and became Saints? We might not think it's fair to those who were good all the time, but if we got what was fair, none of us would go to Heaven. The Bible says, 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.' That means that every single one of us in here today has sinned, and if God was only being super fair and taking people who never sinned to Heaven, lots of people would never get there! I don't know about you, but I am glad that God doesn't give me what is fair, but gives me His love and forgiveness, even if that might not be what I deserve! You know what this means... this means that GOD IS GOOD! (And the children at my parish know to call back: ALL THE TIME!)"

Normally I include a closing song, but I know that we will be running late today since it is our first class and it takes children a while to find their spots, so I will simply conclude the lesson by dismissing each grade level.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments on this lesson! jtruitt@stolivers.com

Peace!!!