4th Grade Week 1: God’s Providence
Next week, at the beginning of class, parents will come to your classroom to meet the class and join in opening prayer. 10 minutes into class parents will be asked to come to the Assembly Room for the Parent meeting. 45 minutes into class, you will bring the children to the Assembly Room for Praise and Worship—parents will be joining in. If you send out a message or a newsletter to parents, please invite them next week.
Catechist Background:
Alive in Christ Catechist Edition: Chapter 1: “God’s Providence” pp. 53A-62
Objectives:
- Recognize that the first creation account teaches the goodness of all God’s creation
- Define providence as God’s loving care for all things; His will and plan for creation
- Describe Divine Revelation as the way Good tells humans about Himself and makes His plan known
- Recall that God reveals Himself through Sacred Scripture and the Sacred Tradition of the Church
Bible Verses: Psalm 32:28; Psalm 33:9, 11-12; Genesis 1:1-31, 2:1-3; Jeremiah 1:4-8
Classroom Lesson:
Welcome / Getting to know you:
Make name cards
Write at least 2 things about yourself on the back, share later with the class
Invite
Prayer Space / Let Us Pray p. 53
Scripture
What Do You Wonder?
Discover / Getting to know you activity – see ice breakers on website
Read the story of Creation pp. 54-55, Share Your Faith p. 55
“Make your own prayer space” pp. 58-59
Bible Charades(See alternate plans attached)
Live / Invitation to pray – RSVP God (see below)
Chapter 1 Activity Master: Caring for Creation
Song: ”I Sing the Mighty Power of God”
People of Faith / Saint KateriTekekwitha p. 59
Going Forth / Psalm Prayer of Praise p. 60
Materials: Green = provided by CRE / Blue = on website / Purple = Optional, catechists provide
Additional Activity: R.S.V.P. God
Multiple Intelligences: Visual/Spatial
Supplies
- Sheets of white paper (one per child)
- construction paper (variety of colors)
- markers
- glue
- safety scissors
Steps
- Introduce the activity by saying: God invites us to pray to know his plan. When you are invited by someone to a party, or for a visit, you let him or her know if you will attend. That is called an R.S.V.P. Let's not pass up the invitation from GOD! Let's R.S.V.P God's invitation of prayer.
- Give each child a sheet of paper. Invite the children to copy down the "Invitation to Pray" (as seen below), and fill in the blanks.
You Are Invited to Pray!
Who:
What:
When:
Where:
R.S.V.P. God!
- Distribute construction paper, markers, glue, and scissors. Have children write their own prayer on the bottom or the back of the invitation and decorate it. Encourage creativity and the use of many illustrations so it can be kept and used often. Stress that God wants us to pray anytime and anywhere about anything!
ALTERNATE ACTIVITIES:
Welcome / Prayer
Materials Needed
- Prayer music (Ex: Where Do I Go, or a song on the 4th Grade CD in supply cabinet)
- Prayer Cloth
- Bible Charade Cards
- Video “Awesome God” on youtube.com
ACTIVITES:
Awesome God
- Explain that people, who cannot hear, use sign language to communicate.
- Teach hand motions to “Awesome God” (Watch youtubevideo to learn the motions).
- Play the song “Awesome God” and do the motions.
Prayer “Field Trip” (They learn they can pray anywhere)
- Each table goes with a catechist to pray at one of 3 locations for about 5 minutes.
- One location is a place the children would perceive to be a typical place you would pray (e.g. the Chapel).
- The second location would be a place that doesn't seem that typical for prayer (e.g. the benches in the tree area in the NE corner of the St Ann property or in the Assembly room).
- The third location would be the classroom itself.
- After 5 minutes each group would shift to another one of the 3 locations.
- After each group had been to 2 locations all of the children would return to the classroom.
- Lead a discussion back at your table about their experience.
- Ask if their prayer experience was different depending on where they had prayed.
- Typically they say it had been very similar.
- Talk about other places and times they might be able to pray.
- Reinforce the concept that we can "talk to God" anywhere, anytime.
Play Charades
- Ask if anyone has ever done something with a friend in which neither friend talked very much. Fishing, sharing some sadness, working on a project.
- Explain that when we communicate with someone we don’t always have to use words.
- What are some silent ways of communicating with others? Letters, gestures, silence.
- Play Charades with Bible Charade cards or simply let the students choose their own phrase.
- With God, we don’t need words either and He doesn’t have to guess what’s wrong with us. Just finding time to be with Him is the important thing.
Prayer Time
- Help each student find a secluded place in the room.
- Tell them they can talk to God or just listen to Him.
- Play some music.
- Give them about 3 minutes or the length of the song.
Other Options: Go to the Chapel or the Children’s Garden and say a Hail Mary around the Statue.
Making a Prayer Cloth
This activity may be utilized during another lesson if time does not permit during this class. It really is a powerful tool to focus the children onprayer. Many different approaches can be used to decorate the prayer cloth…one is suggested below.
Have the children outline their hands (both hands if they fit) with sharpie markers on the prayer cloth, being careful to leave room for all of the students. Handprints should be kept close to the edges and side by side.
Write the children's names and the date beside their hands.
It can be used during each class for Prayer. Lay the cloth out and have the children place their hands onto the handprints before praying as a class. Discuss how it unites them in prayer.
At the end of the year, make a ceremony out of cutting apart the hands and sending each student's handprints home with them on the last day. They can continue to use it at home in their room.