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Justice Educators' Bulletin
Board
We invite you to send us your
ideas for infusing Justice into the classroom. We will post your projects,
curriculum ideas, etc. If you'd like, we will include your email address
so that other teachers can contact you directly for further information.
If you have lesson plans that you would like to make available, please
attach them as a file to your email. We will place them on our server and
make them available for download. Simply email us: JUSTeach@paxjoliet.org
We look forward to your participation
in this project.
 In the Footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi
One of the
best-known Saints of the Church whose feast we celebrate in October is
Francis of Assisi. Francis
has long been revered as a model of non-violence and love for the poor
... both key principles of Catholic Social Teaching.
But also, Francis has increasingly been upheld as a protector of
God's creation, and inspiration for our efforts toward environmental
justice, and stewardship of all God has made.
This is especially true since the publication of the U.S.
Catholic Bishops' pastoral letter, Renewing the Earth, in the
early 1990's.
To
help commemorate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi during October (the
actual feast is October 4th), we offer the following prayers
and simple activities for classroom use, or as suggestions sent home for
their families.
May
Francis’ spirit of love and compassion for all people, the earth, and
all living beings permeate your lives and experiences with your students
throughout the year!
In
God’s peace,
Mary
Jeanne Lindinger-Olsen
Associate
for Parish Outreach
Sample Prayers
Prayer for the Earth¹
“Eternal God, we believe that our worship draws
us to You and toward our neighbors on earth.
We pray for the whole creation.
May we all learn before it is too late to respect the uniqueness,
fragility, and beauty of the earth and all its creatures ….
We pray because Jesus is our Lord, and your kingdom is in our
midst. Amen.”
Blessing of the Animals²
The animals of God’s creation inhabit the
skies, the earth, and the sea. They
share in the ways of human beings.
They have a part in our lives.
Francis of Assisi recognized this when he called the animals –
wild and tame – his brothers and sisters.
Remembering Francis’ love for these brothers and sisters of
ours, we invoke God’s blessing on these animals, and we thank God for
letting us share the earth with all the creatures:
“Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends
the animals, your creatures. We
pray especially for all that are suffering in any way … for the
underfed or ill-treated, the hunted, lost, or hungry.
For those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion, gentle
hands, and kindly words. Make
us all true friends to animals, and worthy followers of our Savior,
Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Sample Activities
Let Us, ALL of Us, Pray³
The
Bible speaks of all of creation praying and worshiping.
Read the following Bible verses.
Identify what parts of creation are praising God in each:
Psalm
69:35 Psalm
96:11-13 Psalm 98:7-9 Isaiah 43:20
Isaiah 55:12 Revelations
5:13
Evergreen
Wreath (craft)⁴
Children
will: feel and shape clay;
feel and smell evergreen pieces; compare texture of
evergreens and clay; make an ornament
Materials:
self-hardening clay; 2” pieces of evergreen; ribbon
Procedure:
Roll a lime-sized piece of clay into a “snake.”
Attach ends to form a circle.
Push evergreens into clay to make a wreath.
Let dry. Tie on a
ribbon for hanging.
Sunny
Day Plate
(craft)⁴
Children
will: feel and observe
dried plants; identify things God made; draw and arrange a
nature scene; make a sun catcher
Materials:
markers; glue; tape; dried plants; pre-cut pictures of animals
and plants; for each child … paper plate, 3” square of yellow cellophane
Procedure:
(Teacher prep: Cut a 2” diameter circle near the top of each plate.)
Turn the plate to the back.
Cover circle with cellophane and tape in place.
Turn plate to the front.
Draw in the sky and grass.
Glue on dried plants and pre-cut pictures to complete a sunny day scene. Tape
in a window and see the sunlight come through!
God’s
Gifts
(echo pantomime)⁴
Procedure:
Children echo the teacher’s words and motions after each line.
“God
made the water (make rippling movement with hands),
The
ground (touch ground), and the sky (reach up high),
The
animals that walk (let your fingers walk up your arm),
And
the birds that fly (flap arms),
The
fish that swim (swimming motion),
In
the blue, blue sea (make rippling movement with hands),
The
sun (make large circle), and the moon (small circle),
And
you (point to others), and me (point to self)!
Thank
you, God (fold hands in prayer, extend upwards),
For
our gifts, big (hands far apart) and small (hands close).
Help
us, please, to share them all (palms up, extend hands to others).
Notes
¹
Taken
from Loving Our Neighbor, the Earth: Creation-Spirituality Activities
for 9-11 Year-Olds by Christie L. Jenkins, Ph.D., Resource
Publications, Inc., San Jose, CA, 1991, p. 99
(original source cited as Terry C. Falla, Be Our Freedom Lord,
Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1981, pp. 149-50.)
²
Taken from Catholic Household Blessings & Prayers, National
Conference of Catholic Bishops, United States Catholic Conference,
Washington, DC, 1989, pp. 174 and 177.
³
Taken from Loving Our Neighbor, the Earth: Creation-Spirituality
Activities for 9-11 Year-Olds by Christie L. Jenkins, Ph.D.,
Resource Publications, Inc., San Jose, CA, 1991, p. 99.
⁴ Taken from Learning by Doing: 150 Activities to
Enrich Religion Classes for Young Children, Carole MacClennan,
Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, CT, 1993, pp. 116, 118-119.
Peter
Li Education Group is producing educational resources on the seven
themes of Catholic social teaching and the Jubilee Pledge for Charity,
Justice, and Peace. The resources will include a poster, a two-page
teacher's guide, and reproducible activity pages. They have produced a
slightly modified pledge with wording appropriate for grades K-4. For information,
call 1-800-543-4383.
If
you are not familiar with the Biblical tradition of Jubilee, a great
“hands on” workbook entitled Celebrate Jubilee and Justice! will make the
concept very clear to both you and your students or youth group members.
The workbook was developed by Jane Deren, PhD. and published by The Center
of Concern, 1225 Otis Street NE, Washington, DC, 20017, phone: 202-635-2757,
fax: 202-832-9494, e-mail: coc@coc.org, Website: http://www.coc.org/coc/
The resource grants photocopying permission
for classroom or study group use. It has six sections: Introduction
to a Jubilee World, Let the Land Lie Fallow, Forgive Debt, Free Those in
Slavery, Restore Just Relations, and Celebrate. An explanation of
the topic begins each section. Each chapter includes prayer and reflection,
activities, suggested actions, and resource list.
If
your students are very young, these Pax Christi publications may enhance
your religious education program. The first is God Goes on Vacation
by Edwina Gately. It relates the story of God going on vacation to Florida
with an angel. They meet some new friends, have a great time, and
on returning to heaven, they happily discover everyone there has found
God in their own heart. (Item No. 529-439 $8.95). The second
is Peace Comes to BW by Jim Dinn. The book introduces children to the ways
of peace early in life. (Item No. 530-249 $6.00).
One
Millions Postcards tells the story of two sisters who were deeply concerned
about the suffering in Iraq and decided to do something about it. Using
art as a medium to express their goal, 11 year old Kouthar and 10 year
old Mawra as-Rawi created the " One Million Postcard Campaign." The
campaign asked people worldwide to design a postcard message to President
Clinton about the situation in Iraq. The video One Millinoin Postcards
produced by the American Friends Serivce Committtee inspires and teaches
young people that they can make a difference by putting their sense of
compassion to work through grassroots organizing. The 12 - minute video
comes with a ten-page booklet that discusses the current crisis in Iraq,
contains suggested discussion questions and a full list of resources. To
order, send a check for $13 ($10 for video plus $3. s/h) to Laurie Hasbrook,
AFSC, 59 E. Van Buren Suite 1400, Chicago, IL 60605. e-mail: jbcafsc@igc.org,
phone: 312-427-2533. Designed for 4th - 6th grades, but could be
used for 3rd - 8th. Visit the Iraqi
Kids' Web site, click here.
Rythms
of Peace 1 & 2. In the
wake of the tragedy in Littleton, Colorado and the bombing of Kosovo, it
has never been more important to teach children the practical skills and
value of peacemaking. The Rythms of Peace videos can help in this
important task. The videos help teach the positive values of teamwork,
communication, building empathy, conflict resolution, prejudice reduction,
buidling friendships, problem solving, selfing-control. Study guides
include dynamic discussion questions and valuable curriculum ideas with
activities such as: Art, Music, Powetry, Story writing, Role playing, Celebrations,
Research. To order call 800-999-3534.
Minicourses
for Grades 7-8:
Growth in Christian Service. 12 Lessons/44
Reproducible Handouts. Suggests ways to approach community needs and to
get students involved in service projects.
Growth in Justice and Peace. 12 Lessons/36
Reproducible Handouts. Helps students understand justice and peace in the
world.
Available from The Center for Learning,
P.O.
Box 910, Villa Maria, PA 16155, 1-800-767-9090
From
the Ground Up; Teaching Catholic Social Principles in Elementary Schools.
A
new resource has been printed for elementary schools as a tool for implementing
the bishops' statement, Sharing Catholic Social Teaching: Challenges
and Directions. Published by NCEA in collaboration with the
USCC and CRS, the booklet provides an outline of a faculty development
process for teachers to effectively integrate Catholic social teaching
into the curriculum. In addition, this resource includes sample objectives
and activities for each of the social teaching themes and each grade level,
K-8. To order call 202-337-6232 or email pubs@ncea.org
Catholic
Campaign on Debt. Educational Materials on the International Debt Crisis.
For Middle School and High School Age Students.
One of the challenges
facing Catholic elementary and secondary schools, as well as religious
education and youth ministry programs, is helping young people understand
the Catholic social mission and giving them concrete opportunities to practice
charity and work for justice. Many schools and parishes across the country
do an excellent job. But in some cases, there are far more opportunities
for students to learn about the importance of charity than about the importance
of promoting justice and peace. This kit is designed to help parishes and
schools work with middle school and high school age students on one particular
justice issue: debt among the poorest nations. This lesson plan was
designed by the U.S. Catholic Conference. To download click HERE.
Jubilee
Pledge for Charity, Justice and Peace. Prepared by the U.S. Catholic
Confernce, the Pledge draws on the justice themes that are central to the
tradition of jubilee and encourages Catholics to recommit themselves to
working for charity, justice, and peace as disciples of Jesus in the third
millennium. The pledge, along with instruction for implementation in a
school or catechetical setting, as well as 8 reflections with scripture,
social teaching and reflection/action exercises, is available for download.
Click
here.
Archdiocese
of St. Paul and Minnesota: The archdiocesan newspaper, The Catholic Spirit
reported on the activities for Catholic schools week. The seventh-grade
pupils at St. Odilia had a powerful lesson on what it was like to be
homeless for a day. They were evicted from their lockers and had to
carry their belongings around all day. This project entitled, "Juggling
for Justice," brought home the message of the dehumanizing aspect of
poverty. Catholic social teaching was applied to the experience, which
is firmly etched in the memory of the students.
Catholic
Conference of Kentucky
Six Justice and Peace lesson plans, which
were designed to incorporate Catholic social teaching, were developed for
junior and senior high school classes by Patrick R. Guentert.. They are
entitled, 1) Concern for the Universal Church: Understanding Global Solidarity;
2) Catholic Social Teaching: The Hidden Work of Christians; 3) Purchasing
with a Conscience; 4) Opting for the Poor; 5) The Dignity of Work and the
Rights of Workers; 6) Caring for all of God's Creation. For more information
on these educational programs, please contact the Catholic Conference of
Kentucky, 1042 Burlington Lane, Frankfort, KY 40601-8487, (P) 502-875-4345,
(F) 502-875-2841.
Mathematics
Teachers' Association
Math for a Change and Math for a World
that Rocks are two publications prepared for teachers to help make
their students more aware of injustices in the world. A wide variety of
topics are covered in these two books. In the first one there are 41 situations
of injustice that need mathematics in order to be fully understood. In
the second publication there are 23 math-justice projects which cover topics
from rain forests to driving under the influence of alcohol. To order copies,
please contact Kevin Mistrik, Loyola Academy, 1100 N. Laramie, Wilmette,
IL 60091, 847-827-1361.
Diocese
of Scranton
The Pastoral Formation Institute has developed
a class outline for a six-session course on Catholic Social Teaching,
"Our Best Kept Secret". The course is structured to provide an introduction
to the Catholic Church' s extensive tradition of Social Teachings. It provides
an opportunity to apply Catholic social teaching to our lives. For more
information contact, The Pastoral Formation Institute, St. Pius X Seminary,
1000 Seminary Road, Dalton, PA 18414, 717-563-8501.
Connect
(A Newsletter for High School Religion Teachers, Campus Ministers and Principals)
April's edition of this newsletter features
an article by Connie Fourre Zimney in which she links charity programs
done by many elementary and high schools with Catholic social teaching.
She outlines five stages in depth, which can help to bridge the gap between
charity and justice. For a copy of the newsletter write to St. Mary's Press,
702 Terrace Heights, Winona, MN 55987-1320, (P) 800-533-8095, (F) 800-344-9225
or visit their web site: www. smp.org/connect
Diocese
of Rockville Centre
The Public Policy Education Network of the
diocese has introduced activities to integrate Catholic social teaching
into the parish educational programs. The first program is entitled,
Justice in the Catholic Family. The main objective of this program is
to enlighten Catholics to the fact that their family life is based on their
faith's social tradition. This has been sponsored by 12 of their parishes.
For more information, contact Richard F. Koubek, Ph.D., Coordinator, 90
Cherry Lane, Hicksville, NY 11801-6299, (P) 516-733 -7077.
Christ
the Good Shepherd Parish. Spring. Texas
For the past two years the Social Ministry
group has been coordinating efforts to bring Catholic social teaching to
the parish. Two courses were developed for that purpose. The first,
JustFaith, is a study of Catholic social teachings and social justice.
Numerous social teaching documents of the church have been grouped into
six main themes. This is designed for approximately 12 non-consecutive
sessions. The second, JustFaith 2, is a cluster of 4 five week social justice
study themes. A review of the Six Principles of Catholic Social Teaching
is a part of the preparation for these sessions. For more information on
these programs, contact Don Zook, Social Justice Education, Christ the
Good Shepherd, 185 11 Klein Church Road, Spring, TX 77379-4998, (281) 376-683
1.
BROWN-ROA
Publishing Company
Justice and Peace is a text book designed
for high school students that focuses on the Catholic social tradition.
Recently, BROWN-ROA developed a supplement that correlates sections of
Justice and Peace with the seven themes of Catholic social teaching outlined
in the bishops' statement, Sharing Catholic Social Teaching. Another publication,
Toward the Common Good, by John Forliti is geared for adults, high school
advanced placement, or honors classes. The company is now in the process
of formulating a correlation of their elementary series, Walking by Faith,
to the bishops' document. For more information on these publications, contact
the company at 1665 Embassy West Drive, Dubuque, IA 52002, (P) 319-557-3770,
(F) 319-557-3720 or www.brownroa.com
We
invite you to check out our own Catholic Relief Services projects and programs:
Operation Rice Bowl, Work of Human Hands and Food Fast. Each of these programs
helps students gain a sense of world hunger and the need for Global Solidarity.
Click
here to learn more. |
