RE teaching report.
Oct. 19th, 2008 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rivkaRE was a family affair today. I taught, Alex was in the class as usual, and Michael was my classroom assistant. His first time teaching Sunday School, and he picked an incredibly chaotic day to do it. All went more-or-less well, though.
We had Special Visitors in class today. We've been talking about helping people for the past few weeks, and this week I invited three older members of the congregation who volunteer at church or in the community. The lesson title was "Old And Young Make Good Friends," and there were two purposes: (1) to introduce the children to helping work that adults do, and (2) to help the children form bonds outside the RE program by getting to know some adults who are neither teachers or parents.
I was kind of hoping for a smaller group today, but we had eight kids again. (We now have a Mara and a Maya, both with long blond hair. How am I supposed to call them by their right names?) We formed our circle, sang the "welcome song" for each child, teacher, and visitor, and then lit the chalice. The kids are really starting to learn the chalice lighting words: We light this chalice to celebrate Unitarian-Universalism. This is the church of the open mind, this is the church of the helping hands, this is the church of the loving heart.
I reminded the kids of some things they do to help people, and some things we'd discussed before about adults in helping roles. Then I invited each visitor to explain things she does to help people. Two of them were great at explaining to little kids, and the third needed some translation. The visitors talked about cooking for church meals and for for the local soup kitchen; helping homeless families; and organizing social justice opportunities for the church. I was particularly pleased that the one who volunteered with homeless families talked about how children can help with that project.
The kids were getting wiggly, so we played a game to get to know each other, and our new grown-up friends, better. One person would volunteer something they liked to do and act it out, and everyone else would copy them. ("That's Alex, and she likes to eat sushi," pantomiming eating.) Then periodically I would ask a question about a past matchup ("Who likes to play with cars?"), and everyone would point to the right person and say their name.
We had a cooperative craft project which adults and kids helped each other complete. We put construction paper in a shoebox lid or plastic basin and squeezed big dots of tempera paint on the paper. Then we dropped a golf ball into the box lid. The adult held one end of the lid and the child held the other, and together they tilted it back and forth to roll the golf ball through the paint and make mixed-up tracks. This was fun, chaotic, and noisy.
After we washed our hands, wiped off the tables, and took a few kids to the bathroom, it was snack time. The Special Visitors sat at the table with the kids and talked to them while they ate. There was much enthusiastic discussion of Halloween.
We finished a little early, so we had one or two kids pair off with each Special Visitor. They read stories together or did puzzles until the parents came. At the end of class, the kids presented each Special Visitor with a pencil holder they'd made in class last week, out of decorated empty cans.
I don't think it was the most successful class ever, but it was fun. Next week all the kids will be together for a special Day of the Dead children's chapel service, so we won't have Sunday School.
We had Special Visitors in class today. We've been talking about helping people for the past few weeks, and this week I invited three older members of the congregation who volunteer at church or in the community. The lesson title was "Old And Young Make Good Friends," and there were two purposes: (1) to introduce the children to helping work that adults do, and (2) to help the children form bonds outside the RE program by getting to know some adults who are neither teachers or parents.
I was kind of hoping for a smaller group today, but we had eight kids again. (We now have a Mara and a Maya, both with long blond hair. How am I supposed to call them by their right names?) We formed our circle, sang the "welcome song" for each child, teacher, and visitor, and then lit the chalice. The kids are really starting to learn the chalice lighting words: We light this chalice to celebrate Unitarian-Universalism. This is the church of the open mind, this is the church of the helping hands, this is the church of the loving heart.
I reminded the kids of some things they do to help people, and some things we'd discussed before about adults in helping roles. Then I invited each visitor to explain things she does to help people. Two of them were great at explaining to little kids, and the third needed some translation. The visitors talked about cooking for church meals and for for the local soup kitchen; helping homeless families; and organizing social justice opportunities for the church. I was particularly pleased that the one who volunteered with homeless families talked about how children can help with that project.
The kids were getting wiggly, so we played a game to get to know each other, and our new grown-up friends, better. One person would volunteer something they liked to do and act it out, and everyone else would copy them. ("That's Alex, and she likes to eat sushi," pantomiming eating.) Then periodically I would ask a question about a past matchup ("Who likes to play with cars?"), and everyone would point to the right person and say their name.
We had a cooperative craft project which adults and kids helped each other complete. We put construction paper in a shoebox lid or plastic basin and squeezed big dots of tempera paint on the paper. Then we dropped a golf ball into the box lid. The adult held one end of the lid and the child held the other, and together they tilted it back and forth to roll the golf ball through the paint and make mixed-up tracks. This was fun, chaotic, and noisy.
After we washed our hands, wiped off the tables, and took a few kids to the bathroom, it was snack time. The Special Visitors sat at the table with the kids and talked to them while they ate. There was much enthusiastic discussion of Halloween.
We finished a little early, so we had one or two kids pair off with each Special Visitor. They read stories together or did puzzles until the parents came. At the end of class, the kids presented each Special Visitor with a pencil holder they'd made in class last week, out of decorated empty cans.
I don't think it was the most successful class ever, but it was fun. Next week all the kids will be together for a special Day of the Dead children's chapel service, so we won't have Sunday School.
