Para la versión en español, haga clic aquí.
We have come to the final Sunday of Unit 1 of the Gospel Weeklies. We hope that the adage “Time flies when you’re having fun” is true for you as well as the children in your care. Children learn best when they are engaged, and the Gospel Weeklies offer stories and activities that are designed to engage both the minds and hearts of young people.
Every week in the GROW newsletter, you will find helpful tips for teaching your Gospel Weeklies lesson, a reflection on the Sunday Gospel, and information about our online resources and seasonal activities. Here are tips for teaching the Gospel Weeklies lessons this week:
Videos of Sunday’s Gospel
Use these videos as you discuss today’s Gospel. Please preview all videos you plan to share with your class:
Holy Heroes
Matthew 25:1–13 – Better Get Ready – Kids’ Bible Talks
Parable of the 10 Virgins
The Kingdom of Heaven
Seeds
Lesson Theme: We want to be ready for God all the time.
For this lesson, you will need scissors, glue, crayons or colored pencils, and a Church Year calendar. This week’s lesson helps the children reflect on how sometimes they miss out on the fun and life around them. Seeds interprets Sunday’s parable as a call to the children to enjoy the life around them. We encourage families to take a walk outside with their child or to plan a fun activity together.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
Extending Activities
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Word of the Week
Seasonal Resources
Videos
Gospel Reflection and Saint of the Week with Miss Heidi
Bible Bag: Kid-Sized Lessons on the Sunday Gospel with Mrs. Cole
Promise
Lesson Theme: God helps us make loving choices.
For this lesson, you will need scissors, tape or stapler, crayons, a children’s story of Adam and Eve, the story of The Little Red Hen (library or YouTube), craft sticks (four per child), and a Church Year calendar. We suggest that you prepare one set of the puppets and separate pages 1–2 from 3–4 in all the student lessons in advance.
For this lesson, you will be telling the story of The Little Red Hen. You may need to adjust the story characters to match those shown on pages 3–4 of the Promise lesson (hen, pig, cat, duck). A different approach is to give the children a chance to be creative as they share the story using their puppets. For example: If no duck is in the story you share, the children may add their own words and actions for the duck. The same would apply to other characters.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
Word of the Week
Seasonal Resources
Videos
Gospel Reflection and Saint of the Week with Miss Heidi
Bible Bag: Kid-Sized Lessons on the Sunday Gospel with Mrs. Cole
The Little Red Hen Fairy Tales
Good News
Lesson Theme: God helps us make wise choices.
For this lesson, you will need pencils, scissors, a Church Year calendar, and a Bible with Wisdom 6:12–16 marked.
This Good News lesson supports your parish’s preparation of children to celebrate the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation—whether they will soon celebrate it for the first time or did so last year. This lesson also includes a suggestion for children to use three fingers to help them remember some important groups of threes—conditions for sin, what relationships sin hurts, and who the Great Commandment tells us to love.
Find the Good News end-of-unit assessment for Unit 1 here.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
Seasonal Resources
Videos
What Is Sin?
Kids Explain the Sacrament of Reconciliation
Kids Explain First Reconciliation
Venture
Lesson Theme: We await Jesus’ coming in glory.
Gather game pieces and dice for playing the Wise and Foolish Choices Game (pages 6–7). Every young person will need a game marker, and every group of four will need a die. You will also need a Bible for each child. Before class begins, mark Wisdom 6:12–16 in the classroom Bible; this is Sunday’s First Reading, which you will read aloud as part of the Our Catholic Faith feature.
Note the activity in the students’ What the Church Believes and Teaches handbooks. It is a review of the Liturgy of the Word. Challenge the children to identify each part the next time they attend Mass.
This is the final lesson in this unit. Find the Venture end-of-unit assessment for Unit 1 here.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
Seasonal Resources
Videos
Book of Psalms Summary
St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
Visions
Lesson Theme: What’s wise? What’s foolish?
For this Visions lesson, we suggest that you prepare in advance a set of wisdom cards so you can demonstrate “The Wisdom Game” on pages 7–8. On page 6, there is a puzzle activity that you may use with the students use as a unit review, a pacing activity, or assign it as homework.
Find the Visions end-of-unit assessment for Unit 1 here.
Teaching Guide
Parent Teaching Pages
Parent/Grandparent Assistance for Home Study
The Gospel at Home
Weekly Review Template
Online Assessment
Seasonal Resources
Video
The Parts of the Mass: The Liturgy of the Word
Image credit: Igor Negovelov/stock.adobe.com
