Grade 6

Title/theme

Materials

Believing- Deeper Understanding of Gospel by Writing a Homily

Bibles
Computers

Religion Curriculum Expectation

Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations

Fundamental Concept: BL1: Gods SelfRevelation in the person of Jesus Christ, Sacred
Scripture and Tradition

A discerning believer
An effective communicator
A reflective, creative and holistic thinker

BL1: Demonstrate an understanding of the

Churchs teaching on how the human person
comes to know and believe in God (from the
created world through the natural light of
reason, through Gods self-revelation in Sacred
Scripture and through the handing-on of the
faith by the Church).

Guided Questions
What is a homily? Brainstorm a list of points collecting as much information as possible.
How does scripture reveal Gods teaching to us?
How is Scripture relevant for us in 2015?
Teachers and students may develop additional questions to guide their learning inquiry

Learning Goals
At the end of this lesson, students will:
Have a deeper understanding of some scripture passages.
Understand what a homily is and why it is important.

Lesson Plan
Teacher Information: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website lists the daily readings,
visit: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/010615.cfm and select the appropriate date/ Sunday on the
calendar.
A brief summary of information about the liturgical cycles of church and the lectionary cycle can be found at:
http://www.loyolapress.com/liturgical-year-liturgical-cycles.htm

Lesson:
Have a conversation about the Homily that is said during a mass. Have students try and define it and
brainstorm what they know about homilies overall. Create a chart with their responses. NOTE: if this can
done just before/ after a school mass it might help with conversation and context. Inform students that
the purpose of the Homily is to take the information from the scriptures and make it relevant to our lives
today. There is a connection between all the readings, but the gospel is usually the most important.
Option- read the appropriate scripture and then read a homily, listen to the audio of a homily or view it
online. Try: St. Gabriels Passionate Parish (Toronto) for written homilies http://stgabrielsparish.ca/homilies/
OR This link is to the text of Pope Francis concluding homily at World Youth day 2014
http://wydcentral.org/message-of-pope-francis-for-the-29th-world-youth-day-2014/
Next assign students a particular date and have them locate their readings in their bibles or go online to
the USCCB site listed above to print their readings. They should read through the scripture first and decided
what the overall meaning is. Once they have done that, they are to write a one page homily that would help
people understand how that message can help us in our daily lives.
Extension: students may be grouped or work in partners, they might have visual images to go with their
homily that could be presented to the class. This homily may be audio recorded with a slide show playing or
they may read them to eachother.
Consider concluding with a reflective journal about how Scripture is relevant for us in 2015.
Faith Fair Display Ideas- clips of the homilies, images, audio of discussion, segments of journals etc.

Assessment
Use Faith Fair Oral Presentation Rubric

Faith Fair
Oral Presentation Rubric
Student: _______________________________
____________________________
Oral Presentation
Knowledge and
Understanding
Information & Ideas
- Understanding
- Answers
questions
Thinking and Inquiry
Organizing
- Opening and
closing
- Sequencing of
ideas
Communication
Presentation Skills
- Voice, style, eye
contact
Application
Creativity of Ideas
- Use of gestures
- Interesting tone
and facial
expression

Grade: _________

Topic:

Level 1
Demonstrates
little
understanding of
topic

Level 2
Demonstrates
some
understanding of
topic.

Level 3
Demonstrates
considerable
understanding of
topic.

Level 4
Demonstrates a
thorough
understanding of
topic.

Limited opening
and/or closing
statements.
Limited coherence
and sequencing of
ideas.
Demonstrates
limited
presentation skills.

Adequate opening
and/or closing.
Some coherence
and sequencing of
ideas.

Effective opening
and/or closing.
Coherent
sequences of
ideas.

Well-developed
opening and/or
closing. Coherent
sequencing of
ideas.

Demonstrates
Demonstrates
some presentation considerable
skills.
presentation skills.

Demonstrates
excellent
presentation skills.

Little evidence of
creativity and
originality.
Demonstrates
limited use of
gesture, tone and
facial expression.

Some evidence of
creativity and
originality. Some
use of gesture,
tone and facial
expression.

Highly creative
and original.
Excellent use of
gesture, tone and
facial expression.

Considerable
evidence of
creativity and
originality. Good
use of gesture,
tone and facial
expression.

Grade 6
Title/theme

Materials

St. Francis of Assisi A Call for Peace

-internet access (youtube, research)

-Copies of the Prayer of St. Francis
-supplies for student plays (to create
props)

Religion Curriculum Expectation

PR1: Understand how our prayers must be
reflected in the lives we live as Christians, i.e.
call to justice, peace and reconciliation, struggle
to form the habit of prayer.
PR1.3: Explain how praying the psalms and
prayers of the Catholic Tradition (e.g. Prayer of
St. Francis, St. Ignatius of Loyola) transforms
the hearts of persons (teach and form us
through the gift of Gods grace) and apply the
messages of justice, peace and reconciliation
found in these prayers to issues of injustice,
peace and reconciliation young people face
today (e.g. cyberbullying, vandalism, poverty,
inequality, exclusion).

Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations

A discerning believer
A caring family member
A responsible citizen

Guided Questions
How can we relate the Prayer of St. Francis to our daily lives?
What can St. Francis of Assisi teach us through his example?
Teachers and students may develop additional questions to guide their learning inquiry.

Learning Goals
At the end of this lesson, students will:
Have gained knowledge of St. Francis, his life, work and example.
Have a deeper understanding of the Prayer of St. Francis.
Apply the messages of St. Francis to the modern world and make connections to their actions.

Lesson Plan
Introduce the Prayer of St. Francis have students read it independently and then listen to it being read
aloud. Listen to the prayer sung, try: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agPnMxp5Occ for Sarah
McLachlan signing it with students or search youtube for other options.
Next: Unpack the prayer- have the students in pairs translate the prayer in their own words. They will need
to use dictionaries to discover some of the religious words. Use lords-prayer-words.com to learn the

meaning of the prayer by stanza and then explain this translation to the students. Or you can give the
students a handout so they have the information to refer to for the rest of the activity.
Who is St. Francis of Assisi? Brainstorm with students what prior knowledge they have about St. Francis.
Try and pull out a connection to our current Pope. Option: students or teacher (prior to lesson) could
research about St. Francis. Try: http://www.holyspiritinteractive.net/kids/saints/1004_francis.asp OR
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/who-was-st.-francis-of-assisi-12-things-to-know-and-share many
options are available online.
Reply the song version of the prayer. Consider what it means to be an instrument of your peace (the Lords
peace). Have some class discussion around this.
Called to be Peacemakers Student Activity
Students will apply their knowledge of the Prayer of St. Francis and the life of St. Francis to real life
situations or issues where they are called to be peacemakers.
This can be done by brainstorming ideas on the board together. Try to steer them to the issues named in the
above curriculum expectation. However, other issues can be used as well.
In small groups students will write an original play script based on own of the issues. The script must
demonstrate the difficulty encountered in the issue and how the actor(s) are called by the Lord and through
the example of St Francis, to be peacemakers. A positive resolution should be demonstrated at the end.
The students should be encouraged to practice the plays, and to plan set and costume/ props for their play.
They can be performed for the class or recorded and played on digital media. Allow time for discussion
about peacemaking and our call by the Lord.
Teacher may decide on alternate activities for students as appropriate for their class.

Assessment

Media/ Display Rubric

Media/ Display Rubric

Student Name: _________________________________
Topic: __________________________________________
Media / Display

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Knowledge and
Understanding
Content of
information presented

Content presented in
a limited capacity.

Some content
covered through the
media.

Content is
appropriately
covered.

Content is thoroughly
covered.

Thinking and Inquiry

Detail and design

Limited detail and

design.

Some detail and

design.

Considerable detail
and design.

Thorough detail and

design.

Communication
Expression and
organization of ideas
and information in
media form

Expresses and
organizes ideas and
information with
limited effectiveness.

Expresses and
organizes ideas and
information with
some effectiveness.

Expresses and
organizes ideas and
information with
considerable
effectiveness.

Expresses and
organizes ideas and
information with a
high degree of
effectiveness.

Application
Originality and
imagination

Shows little or no
evidence of
originality and
imagination

Shows some evidence

of originality and
imagination.

Shows considerable
originality and
imagination.

Shows a high degree

of originality and
imagination.

Grade 6
Title/theme

Materials

Our Call and Call Stories Working with Scripture

Bibles
Materials for book making (paper, pencil crayons
or computers)

Religion Curriculum Expectation

LS1: Understand that each person is
responsible for participation in society, to
discern, to freely choose their vocation and to
make a contribution in the world.

Ontario Catholic Graduate Expectations

A discerning believer
An effective communicator

LS1.1: Identify and compare the call stories in

Scripture which reflect conversion and fidelity to
God as the foundation of our vocation and which
can transform the lives of others (e.g. Moses
3:7-10; Jeremiah 1:1-10; John 1:35-42; Mary
Luke 1:26-38).

Guided Questions
What does it mean to be called. Work through a conversation (the phone, by a teacher, parent etc. by God)
How are we called by God?
What does God call us to do?
Vocabulary word vocation.
Teachers and students may develop additional questions to guide their learning inquiry

Learning Goals
At the end of this lesson, students will:
Grasp the meaning of being called to action.
Understand that God calls us to act and behave in a certain way.
Produce advertisements or books that depict Scripture and/or calling.

Lesson Plan
Have a class discussion about being called. Brainstorm the meaning of the word and the different contexts
and avenues it has. Lead the class to God, examples of people that were called by God and ultimately to
them.

Divide the class into groups and give each group a scripture passage (listed in the curriculum expectation).
Have the groups read the passage and create a timeline of what happened in the story. The groups should
also identify the call in the story and the response/ actions. Share as a class.
Individually students should write a paragraph about one of the Scripture stories discussed. The paragraph
should explain the call, the response/ actions and why it is so important for them.
Next, have students create a Modern Calling story suitable for a primary reader. The story should reflect
current life and be inspired by scripture (for example a gr. 6 being called to lead the school souper bowl
campaign: what happens, how do they do it, do they struggle, etc). Students can work alone, with partners
or in groups. Use computers or paper to create the stories, make sure to make them visually pleasing for
primary eyes.
Arrange a class visit to a primary class for reading buddy time. Share the stories with the class. Teachers
should talk about calling with the group afterwards.

Assessment

Rubric

Grade 6
Faith Fair Ideas Listed by Curriculum Strands
Praying
Activities: Prayer Participation and Corporal Works of Mercy Prayer
* Students will participate in and take turns leading morning prayer, as well as various school wide prayer
services. These include Mass, Rosary, Advent assemblies, and Stations of the Cross.
* Students will write a prayer about the Corporal Works of Mercy (Unit 7)
Living in Solidarity
Modern Day Representation of the Two Greatest Commandments
* Using the two greatest commandments: Love God and Love thy neighbour create a modern day visual
representation, i.e. watercolour, mosaic.
Living in Communion
Make Your Own Rosary
* Create your own rosary using materials that you have the students bring in or that you can collect.
Living a Moral Life
Easter Season Board Game
* Have students create a board game that answers questions about Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, the
Easter Vigil and shows the meaning of each symbol based on the Easter season in general.
Celebrating
Liturgical Seasons and the Sacraments Slideshow
* Students will create a slideshow presentation detailing the Liturgical Seasons and Sacraments and how
they are marked by specific rituals, prayers, signs, images and colours throughout the Tradition of the
Church.
World Religions Brochure
* Students will create a brochure of one of the major religions in the world today and will show the bonds
they have to Christianity.