Dr. Pat's Orthodox Super Sunday School Curriculum

EPISTLES, FEASTS, AND SACRAMENTS

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Sample Schedules are provided for the convenience of the Church School director; feel free to substitute your own dates and teachers.

Teachers:      

Schedule of Classes:

GENERAL NOTES:

Classroom supplies: Middle School is supplied with the following items in a box you can carry each week to your classroom; if you use the last of something, please either replace it or let me know so I can replace it.  If you need special craft supplies for your lesson, just submit the receipt to me for reimbursement:

            Paper, plain and lined.                        Tape and dispenser

            Stapler and staples                              Scissors

            Glue                                                    Colored Markers

            Pencils                                                 Large black marker and large pad of paper

            Bible for each student                         Set of color icons for 12 major feasts

            Squares of felt/pre-cut banners           Map of ancient world

Teaching schedule: I have tried to accommodate any scheduling needs that you have communicated to me ahead of time in the schedule.  However, we all know that there will be last-minute needs; please trade with someone if you cannot teach on your assigned day and then call me and let me know who’s traded with whom so I don’t panic at Liturgy when I don’t see you there!

Paperwork and insurance regulations:  Each of us must “apply” each year for our volunteer position; our references will be checked as per diocesan regulations.

Opening Exercises: Pat Disharoon will supervise this or delegate it when she will not be in church.  Church School children and teachers are dismissed first from liturgy; children come straight across for snack during opening exercises and teachers can take 10 minutes to eat before coming over.  We will review material from previous weeks, teach songs, rehearse plays, play games to augment lessons, or hear memory lessons during opening exercises.

Curriculum: While the theme of the lesson should be adhered to, the actual ideas in the curriculum are suggestions; if you have a creative idea for a craft or game or discussion (along the appropriate topic), please follow your own drummer.  There should be enough here for you to work with; in fact, if discussion gets hot and heavy, there may be entirely too much here and you may have to pick and choose. There are basically 3 types of lessons which are quite different in material and approach – epistles, feasts, and sacraments. Some learning games would be appropriate with any type of lesson – for example, “Bible Jeopardy” or “Who Wants to be a Bible Scholar”. 

For the benefit of the entire parish, when you teach a feast day lesson, please have the students design and make a felt banner. There are plenty of 12x12 pieces of felt in the closet to make letters, doves, people, etc.; just refill the bin if you finish off a color or let me know to purchase that color. We have 13 background banners with dowels attached. There are also adhesive felt letters for lettering. If you make these for each feast, we’ll have an entire set at the end of the year to decorate the Social Hall or Church School rooms! Parish doesn't have Church School rooms or Social Hall? Meeting in a closet? Use the tiny icons provided, copy and print the size you want, and have students mount on cheap plaques (painted? stained?) with Mod Podge. Too messy? Print the icons on shipping labels and just stick to the plaques; spray with polyurethane if desired.

2 class- learning ideas you can use all year long for feasts:

1. Put the lines of the Troparia on cards, give each student a card, and see if they can line up in order and
2. Have the first student tell the first line of the story, the next has to pick up where he left off, and so on until the whole story is told.

For epistle lessons, there are several games that could be used any week to aid in memorizing the verses. On the week a verse is being introduced, write a few words on each of several index cards, give one to each student, and see if they can put the whole verse together. As more verses are learned, you can review your class’s verses (These are different at different age levels and therefore cannot be done at opening exercises.) with one of several games:

1. Epistle Bowl – make 2 teams, the first player from one team begins a verse; can the first player from the other complete it? Give points to one or both teams.
2. Bible Advance – students line up against one wall; mark a finish line about 15 feet away. Each player in turn must either finish a Bible verse you begin or recite a verse from your reference.  If he is successful, he may advance one giant step toward the line. First player to reach the finish line is the winner.
3. Musical Bible – Players are seated in a circle. A Bible is passed from player to player as music is played. When the music stops, the player must recite a verse of Scripture or he is out. No verse may be used more than once. The last player remaining in the circle is the winner.
4. Missing part – Write each verse learned so far on an index card. Cut the cards in half. Hide the second half of each card all around the room. Hand out the first halves to the students and ask them to find their missing half (or halves). The first to find his portion of Scripture is the winner. When all are found, have students read them all out loud to review.

For sacrament lessons, one effective tool any week is to write the parts of the service on index cards. Can the students put the service in order?

Workshops: We have 5 workshops planned this year learning traditional Orthodox ethnic “skills” that coordinate with our curriculum: baking prosphora, making koliva, decorating holy water jars, making kneeling cushions, and decorating Palm Sunday candles. These will take place after Church School in the Church Hall.

Movie Nights and Parties: We will have supper after vespers on Saturday night while showing a small children’s movie. Older children should bring a sleeping bag for a lock-in with “feature” presentation; we must have at least 2 adults at each overnight.