Gr. 2Religious Education Program Year Plan/Time Lines

Growing in Faith, Growing in Christ

Woven throughout this program are the Six Strands of Catechesis: Believing, Celebrating, Living a Moral Life, Living in Communion, Living in Solidarity and Prayer. Each unit has a wide variety of activities to choose from to help students understand what the six strands are in a meaningful way to learn about our Catholic faith while building a relationship with Jesus.

Months / Unit / Liturgical Year + Color / Overview of Learning
September, October, November:
11 weeks / 1: We Belong to God’s Family / Ordinary Time, green (exploring the mission of Christ) / Learning about the Mass will be a key area that will be explored throughout the year. The Blessed Trinity, prayer and the Sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation are also areas of focus throughout the year.
In Unit 1 students will learn about community by getting to know each other and building community in the classroom. They will also learn about All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. They will be introduced to the key topics of Mass, Eucharist, Reconciliation that will be further explored throughout the year. Students will also begin to explore the Beatitudes as well as the Creed.
November
December, / 2: The Road to Bethlehem / Advent, purple + Christmas, white / The first Sunday of Advent is Dec 2
Students will begin the season of Advent by exploring the changes in liturgical colours, as well as the symbols associated with Advent. They’ll revisit that Advent is a time of waiting and preparing to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Students will explore Advent and Christmas through several scriptural passages: the Annunciation, the Visitation, the birth of Jesus, the Epiphany, and the Baptism of Christ.
Students will continue to examine the Beatitudes and study a number of saints who teach us that when we say “yes” to God, great things can happen.
January, February: / 3: Jesus Guides Us / Ordinary Time, green (exploring the mission of Christ) / Students will learn about Jesus as a boy in the story of Jesus in the temple. They will also learn about the healing power of Jesus in the stories of the official’s son and the paralyzed man.
Students will discuss and discover ways to share God’s word, love one another, celebrate God’s blessings, and love like Jesus wants us to.
More learning on the Mass, the Eucharist, the Blessed Trinity and a few more Saints will also be part of Unit 3.
Instruction in this unit is put on hold and preparation for the sacrament of Reconciliation begins.
February, March (lessons should begin mid February in order to have ample time to complete preparation) / Reconciliation Preparation / Ordinary Time, green (exploring the mission of Christ) Then moves into Lent, purple / *Please see the suggested Reconciliation Unit found in GPCSD website
Reconciliation in GP is March 17, 2019
Ash Wednesday is March 6, 2019
March, April, May
7 weeks / 4: The Story of Lent and Easter / Lent, purple + Easter, white / Students review and build on the Lenten topics covered in Gr. 1 in preparation for Easter, recallingthat Lent is a season of repentance and as followers of Christ we take responsibility for our sins and ask for forgiveness.
Students will discover how the two meals of Passover and the Last Supper relate to the Eucharistic prayers of the Mass. They will also learn how Jesus’ example of washing others’ feet calls us to serve. More scripture stories will be explored to learn how Jesus is a model of faith, hope and love for us all.
Unit 4 concludes with an overview of Holy Week and a story about how Easter is a time for joy and hope.
The allocated time, in the resource, for this unit is 5 weeks, however the unit will coincide with Holy Week and our Easter break. Therefore, two weeks has been added on to accommodate for other activities that may be going on in the schools. It is also appropriate to continue this unit when coming back from Easter break as the last lessons are focused on the Resurrection of Christ.
May, June: 8 Lessons / 5: We Are Blessed in Faith / Easter, white + Ordinary Time, green / In this final unit, students will study the Feast of the Ascension and Pentecost and relate this to how we are called to have faith and follow Jesus. They will also grow in their knowledge about Mary.
Students will also continue to learn about the parts of the Mass, the Holy Trinity and prayer. Students will increase their awareness of the many blessings in their life and conclude their learning with how they can go forth to love others and spread the Good News.