Class 12-4 Chapter 9

So far we have covered Chapters 1-9. Tonight we completed Chapter 9 and learned all about how God is responsible for the creation of the whole wonderful world, including the multitude of birds, bees, flowers, and plants. God wants us to take care of all of his creation. But the most important thing we learned is that God loves all of us even more than the number of all the birds, bees, flowers, and plants!

Every week we have homework. The homework is collected at the beginning of class. We have a sticker chart that helps us keep track of our homework. Please make sure you are taking time as a family to complete the religious ed homework. In addition to completing the review from the Chapter we completed that week, the homework involves preparing as a family for the next chapter. 

Additionally, we begin each class by collecting bulletins from those that have attended Mass. Attending Mass is an important part of First Communion preparation. Attending Mass in the midst of our busy lives can be difficult to fit it, but it is important to show your First Communion student that you value this special and important sacrament. 

Homework for this week is the chapter review of Chapter 9 and the beginning review of Chapter 10. 

10-23 Chapters 5 and 6

We focused on Chapters 5 and 6 this week. Chapter 5 is We Can Choose What is Good and Chapter 6 is We Celebrate God's Forgiveness. 

In Chapter 5 we talked about conscience and making choices. We know that we have "free will" to make choices. We compared it to a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other. 

We talked about how choices can sometimes be hard to make. But it is important that we make the right ones. Some things we thought of: finding money on the ground, standing up for someone who is getting picked on, and telling the truth instead of a small lie. 

We worked in small groups to make up our own role playing situations. 

9-25 Chapters 1 and 2

We spent our second class focusing on Chapters 1 & 2. 

In Chapter 1, we learned about Our Church welcoming us. 

In Chapter 2, we learned about belonging to The Church. 

We learned that The Church means more than just The Church of the Holy Spirit in Schaumburg, IL. We talked about the Pope being our head of the Church all over the world. 

We also learned about how Baptism welcomes us to the church. We acted out a baptism and each of us played an important part: Mom, Dad, Godmother, Godfather, Priest, and family. Important symbols in baptism: oil, water, and white clothing. 

Check out the Chapters about baptism. Take some time showing your child pictures of his/her own baptism and remembering these important pieces. 

At the end of class we drew a picture about what we learned. We are going to do this at the end of every class. It will be a great opportunity to look back during the year at the important things we have learned.

Acting out the Baptism

9-18 Welcome

We had a great first day of class! We started with a family Mass and the went to our classroom. 

We started by praying around our prayer table. We start each class by praying around the prayer table. We say a prayer thanking God and praising God for everything in our lives. Then we ask for prayers for people in our lives that need our help. After we have said names of people we would like to pray for, we have a moment of silence to think about those whose names were not said aloud. 

We each drew a map to share information about ourselves. We wrote our names in the middle and then drew pictures to represent ourselves around the outside. 

Miss Stephanie and Miss Anita did it too so our students could learn about us!

We ended class by praying an M&M prayer. Each color stood for something specific we prayed for. 

VBS Wrap-Up

We had a great time celebrating with our families and friends at the end of VBS today. 

(To see the videos bigger, click on the name of the movie at the top of the box and it will open in YouTube)





Check out our singing here:

 
Check out the slideshow that wraps up all of our fun from this week. AND don't forget to watch all the way through because at the end it tells you the theme for next year!
 

VBS Day 5

Though it doesn't seem possible, today was the last day of VBS 2013

We had another fantastic year and I am so not ready for it to be over. 

Today we learned that The Bible helps us STAND STRONG with the help of Victoria the Fox.

We made flashlight snacks (cupcakes in an ice cream cone) that remind us that the Bible is our guide just like a flashlight. We wrote with invisible markers and our drawings were only visible with a special light! Jesus is the light of our world! At the Finale we saw how the leaf blower just blew the balloons away, but then the Bibles held down all the knowledge we learned this week....they couldn't be blown away! The Bible helps us STAND STRONG!

Make sure to join us at 9:15 Mass on Sunday while we show the parish all the singing and learning we did this week!

Check out our slideshow here:
(To see the videos bigger, click on the name of the movie at the top of the box and it will open in YouTube)

 

And what we did in Bible Adventures here:

VBS Day 4

Day 4 of Vacation Bible School was filled with discussion of Jesus dying for us and celebration when he rose again. Our snack (a bagel with fruit on top) represented the crown of thorns Jesus wore when he died on the cross. We sang "Here is Our King" to celebrate and remember all Jesus did for us. Our science experiment taught us all about trusting! We didn't believe the water wouldn't fall out when we turned over the bottles. But it didn't! It stayed inside even when the bottle was upside down (as long as it wasn't on an angle!)! In Bible Adventures we each took turns praying at the cross and surrounding the cross with our names.

Sir Valiant taught us the Trusting God helps us STAND STRONG!

Check out our slideshow here



And see what we did in Bible Adventures here

VBS Day 3

 

Today at VBS we learned from Swift the Falcon that "Prayer helps us STAND STRONG!"

In Imagination Station we were wow-ed by an experiment that we didn't think was possible. In Chadder, we saw the crazy adventure Chadder was up to and got our Bible Buddy dog tags. In Games we learned how to joust and even Father John joined us! Check him out in the video! In King's Kitchen we ate a trailmix that reminded us about prayer. In Bible Adventures, we learned about the wall Nehamiah built by relying on the power of prayer. At Fanfare Finale Lady Sarah was struggling with all of her burdens and worries. With our encouragement she prayed and gave them to God. She felt much better and was able to lead us again!


See what we did here!




And check out some of our Bible Adventure activities here:
(Coming Soon)

Tomorrow is Royalty and Superhero Day!

VBS Day 2

 

VBS Day 2 was another success!

We met Duke, the horse, and learned that Friends and family help us STAND STRONG!

 

We also learned the story of Esther, the young Jewish girl who was made queen!  At first she couldn't tell anyone that she was Jewish, because she might be killed. But she stood strong and told the king the truth. He listened and saved other Jewish people because of her bravery!

You can see some activities about this story with a Veggie Tales activity sheet here.

(If you would like to see the videos larger, click on the title of the video on the top and it will bring you to YouTube). 

Check out our slideshow of all of our activities today :

You can also see another video that just has clips from Bible Adventures where we learned more about the story of Esther.

Make sure you spend time as a family looking over the Coloring Sheets that came home. Also, each child came home wearing a bracelet that is supposed to be shared as a family. Make sure you do it together!

VBS Day 1

We had a fun and fabulous first day at Kingdom Rock VBS today!

 

We started off in Sing and Play Rock where we met Truman the bulldog and learned the Bible Point for the day: "God's love helps us.....STAND STRONG!"

We played fun games, ate tasty snacks, watched Chadder's adventure, acted out the Bible story, made fun experiments and sang and danced our socks off!

Check out the slideshow below to get a little glimpse of what we did! You will notice our famous VBS prayer in the middle. This prayer might be a great way to start praying at the dinner table at home! 
(Click on the top of the video where it says "Day 1" to watch it bigger on YouTube)

First Communion Jeopardy

For our last class, we played "First Communion Jeopardy". 

I created a Jeopardy PowerPoint game to play with our class for the last day. 

If you would like to use the game, you can click on the link and it will open up in Google Docs. Click to "open". Click save in the upper left corner. Save to your computer. 

First Communion Jeopardy

It would be a great way for families to practice before First Communion!

Stations of the Cross and Practicing Communion

On Saturday we did Chapter 14. We also did the Stations of the Cross in the Worship space.

During Stations of the Cross:

We talked about what was happening in each one and read our papers (that we brought home).

You can go through the Stations of the Cross with your child right here:

Stations of the Cross for Kids

Why Stations of the Cross?

From the website:

Stations are places where people wait while they are going from one place to another. A school-bus stop is like a station. People wait at train stations or bus stations or airports. Think of some stations where you have been.

Stations are also places where people take time to think about Jesus as he went to die on a cross. They are “Stations of the Cross.” They show us how much Jesus loved us.
You do not have to think of all of the Stations of the Cross on one day. You may want to stay at one Station with Jesus for a few days before you move to another Station. Whatever you decide, Jesus is with you and he loves you.
As you "visit" each station on the website with your child, look at the picture and ask him or her "What is happening here?"
At church we looked at each painting around the church and talked about what was happening.

The most anticipated part of the class today was having the chance to taste the bread and wine before our first communions. EVERYBODY tried the bread AND the wine. Miss Stephanie was very proud of us.  She said we were her first class ever that were respectful the WHOLE time. No one said "gross"!

We practiced the important parts of taking communion:

-stand quietly in line thinking about Jesus
-hold your hands together in front of your chest (left over right)
-bow your head before you receive communion
-say "Amen" after the minister says "The Body of Christ"

-pick up the host with your right hand and put the WHOLE thing in your mouth.
-say "Amen" after the minister says "The Blood of Christ"

-take a small sip out of the chalice
-sit down in your seat quietly and say a prayer

We encourage everyone to take the wine during the First Communion. Everyone did great during class! We talked about how some people "dip" the host in the wine, but technically that isn't allowed. Some people are worried about germs, but it is actually less santitary to dip because a lot of people accidentally get their fingers in the the cup, and fingers are proven to be more filled with germs than mouths! (Just something to think about!)

Pictures of us practicing here:

Homework:
169-172 in the book
Finish Reconciliation books

Wishes and Prayers

This week we did Chapter 12 about prayers for others.

O God, hear me and answer my prayer. 
Based on Psalm 17:6

We took time to think of wishes we had. We thought of wishes we would want for ourselves, wishes we would want for our neighbors and family, and wishes we would want for the world.

Here you can see us sharing about our wishes. The kids did a great job being creative and thoughtful. What a caring group of kids we have!





When we pray we can tell God about the needs of other people. We trust God to bring them comfort.

After reading the chapter, we broke into groups of 4. Each group came up with a prayer scenario. They worked together in their groups to think of the situation, write out notes, and decide parts. Then we all sat down to watch the performances. There was a lot of thoughtful discussion about when people need prayers and how we can pray for them.

Make sure to let your kids see the video! They were so excited about their performances!



We learned about Jesus and prayer. We also learned about the Prayer of the Faithful: the last part of the Liturgy of the Word at Mass, when we pray for the needs of people everywhere.

Now we know...
Jesus is with us when we pray for others. 
Jesus asked God to help his friends tell others about God's love.

Homework
Pages 147-148 (review of chapter 12)
Pages 151-152 (preparing for chapter 14)

Chapter 10 and Prayers

In class on Saturday, we did the short chapters on Ash Wednesday and Lent.

Then we also did Chapter 10.

While doing the chapter on Lent, we each wrote our own special Lent prayer. We practiced on scratch paper and then wrote on nice paper. These prayers would be perfect to say at dinner as a family during lent.

We talked about writing prayers and parts to include.

First, we said we should start with the Sign of the Cross.

Then we brainstormed openings.

After that we each wrote a:
praise (telling God we know He is wonderful)
thanks (thanking God for something he has done)
ask (asking for special prayers for someone in need)

Then we talked about various closings.

And then ended with the Sign of the Cross.

We put a lot of thought into our prayers and we hope they are used throughout the season of Lent.

Here you can see us working on our prayers and also see a few of us reading ours.

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We also passed out Operation Rice Bowl bowls. They are to be put together at home and change can be collected in them throughout the week. Bring the bowls to Mass every week during Lent and there will be a time for the kids to bring up their change and dump it in a basket.

I explained to the kids that Operation Rice Bowl is important to me because my sister works for Catholic Relief Services (she is stationed in Cairo, Egypt but is in Turkey right now working with Syrian Refugee Camps) and sees first hand what they money does. CRS is an amazing organization and is usually named one of the top charities that gives the highest percentage of it's income to charity instead of as overhead costs.


Watch this video about Operation Rice Bowl. It is kind of long but it is a great opportunity for you to sit with your kids and talk about the difference between our lives and the lives of the people Operation Rice Bowl is helping. 

Homework: Chapter 10 Review

John the Baptist and The Lost Sheep

Today we went over chapters 8 and 9 in our book.

Here we practice the story of John the Baptist. Others question John about what it means to repent and he answers!

Today we also heard the story of the shepherd and the lost sheep. 
“Then Jesus told them this parable: ‘Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent’” (Luke 15:3-7). 

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We broke into groups of 3 and drew pictures of this parable. We worked really well together to decide who would draw what and how we wanted it to look. 

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Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Blaise. Ms. Barb came in to speak to us about St. Blaise and then she said a blessing over each of us. 

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Homework:
 Pages 105 and 106 in the book
The Word of God paper in our folders

Don't forget how important it is to get the homework completed each week! It shouldn't take more than 10-20 minutes at the most! It is a great chance to show your child that you value religious education and this special first communion year!   

Top 10 Commandments

We began the class by reviewing parts of Chapter 7 from before break. Then we watched a movie called "The Original Top Ten".

It is Miss Stephanie's movie from when she was our age! We loved watching the movie and it was also funny to watch Miss Stephanie sing along with all the songs. She said that when she was little she would watch it with her sister all the time. They loved the songs. We thought it was a great way to learn about the 10 Commandments.

After that, we took 10 minutes and everyone tried to write down all of the commandments that they could think of by themselves. We thought about what we talked about in the book and saw in the movie.Then we worked at our tables and tried to come up with the rest. A few of the tables got stuck and sent a representative to another table to ask someone who had all 10 of them. We worked really well together to try to come up with them all without adult help!

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Then Miss Stephanie read from the Bible and we checked them off as we went along.

20 And God spoke all these words:

2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20%3A1-17&version=NIV

The Ten Commandments
-Do not covet. Don't want what belongs to someone else. Be glad for what you have!
-Do not lie. Tell the truth!
-Do not steal.
-Be loyal to the ones you love. That means people you are married to, your family, and friends.
-Don't kill.
-Honor your father and mother.
-Keep Sunday holy. Pray, rest, go to church.
-Use God's name respectfully. Only say the Lord's name when praying. Don't swear with it.
-Do not have idols. Don't put anyone else above God.
-Have only one God.

Here are some clips from the movie!




Homework: 
Chapter 7 Review and Beginning of Chapter 8
95, 96, 97, 98

Everyone should have received their First Communion books by now. There is a letter from Mrs. Barb inside with more information. If you did not get the letter, please contact the Religious Ed office.