NAME: Rendon, Krystle Mae V.

BSED III

LESSON
6
CYBER AND DIGITAL
LITERACY
While the word “literacy” alone generally refers to reading and writing skills, when
you add on the word “cyber” before it, the term encompasses much, much more. By
definition, Cyber Literacy means the ability to use computer technologies effectively and
to simultaneously understand the implications of those actions. It is also important to
know where to go to find reliable and accurate resources in cyberspace, otherwise known
as cyber intelligence. The word understanding is key here, as it goes beyond knowing
how to use the technology but to have a consciousness of one’s actions.
School leaders, media specialists, and educators are focusing more and more on
the benefits of digital literacy skills in schools because today’s students are looking to
the Internet as a key source of information. Students who are digitally literate know how
to find and consume digital content. They know how to create, communicate, and share
digital content.
Students who are building digital literacy skills understand the basics of Internet
safety such as creating strong passwords, understanding and using privacy settings,
and knowing what to share or not on social media. They understand the perils of
cyberbullying and seek to stop current bullies and prevent others from cyberbullying.
In today’s digital world, nearly every career requires digital communication at
some point, so equipping students with the skills to effectively and responsibly find,
evaluate, communicate, and share online content is key to their futures.

ACTIVITY 1

People all over the world are starting to get used to “The New Normal.” The global
pandemic has indeed changed our way of living and even the way we do business. Strict
social distancing and quarantine measures have really shifted the market landscape and
made it highly digital. Companies and businesses have started to adapt to these changes
by creating their strategies to build digital relevance using these online digital tools.

INSTRUCTION: Name the following digital tools below and write its functions and
importance in our current situation.

_________________
_
 to share individual data to a way for individuals to share,
suggest and connect together all sorts of data, counting
news.

Facebook

Instagram is one of the foremost prevalent photo-sharing,

video-sharing and social networking destinations on the
internet. Whereas Instagram can prove to be a profoundly
successful apparatus for businesses to extend brand
Instagram acknowledgment and empower deals
Twitter gives and empowers communication between
numerous parties in a open gathering, permitting you to
induce moment criticism from clients and potential clients.
Since the communication on Twitter is open for everybody
else to take after, it energizes openness and responsibility in
Twitter communications
Zoom gives easy-to-use video communications that enable
individuals to achieve more. Communications ought to offer
assistance each developing trade accomplish its objectives,
but to offer assistance meet its continually advancing needs
Zoom

Google My Trade gives you with the capacity to list your

commerce area on Google Maps and neighborhood look
comes about. You'll show imperative data almost your
commerce, counting the opening/closing times, contact
Google subtle elements or a connect to your site.
My Business

It permits learners to get to and observe required recordings

anytime anyplace by utilizing their versatile gadgets like
tablets, smartphones, and tablets PCs. YouTube recordings
make portable learning a parcel simpler than ever some time
Youtube recently as recordings can be spared to the gadget to observe
afterward indeed without a web association

ACTIVITY 2

In the new era of learning, technology plays a fundamental role in the processes of
teaching children and adolescents. Hundreds of digital education tools have been
created with the purpose of giving autonomy to the student, improving the
administration of academic processes, encouraging collaboration, and facilitating
communication between teachers and learners.
INSTRUCTION: Below are the 11 common digital education tools for teachers and
students, discuss the functions of each tool in delivering classroom lessons.

Edmodo is an educational tool that connects teachers and

students, and is assimilated into a social network. In this
one, teachers can create online collaborative groups,
administer and provide educational materials, measure
student performance, and communicate with parents,
Edmodo among other functions. Edmodo has more than 34 million
users who connect to create a learning process that is more
enriching, personalized, and aligned with the opportunities
brought by technology and the digital environment.
Designed by a group of entrepreneurs and engineers
passionate about education, Socrative is a system that
allows teachers to create exercises or educational games
which students can solve using mobile devices, whether
smartphones, laptops, or tablets. Teachers can see the
Socrative results of the activities and, depending on these, modify the
subsequent lessons in order to make them more
personalized.
Projeqt is a tool that allows you to create multimedia
presentations, with dynamic slides in which you can embed
interactive maps, links, online quizzes, Twitter timelines,
and videos, among other options. During a class session,
teachers can share with students’ academic presentations
which are visually adapted to different devices.
Projeqt
Thinglink allows educators to create interactive images with
music, sounds, texts, and photographs. These can be
shared on other websites or on social networks, such as
Twitter and Facebook. Thinglink offers the possibility for
teachers to create learning methodologies that awaken the
Thinglink curiosity of students through interactive content that can
expand their knowledge.
TED-Ed is an educational platform that allows creating
educational lessons with the collaboration of teachers,
students, animators generally people who want to expand
knowledge and good ideas. This website allows
TED-Ed democratizing access to information, both for teachers and
students. Here, people can have an active participation in
the learning process of others.

is a website that seeks to reduce the cost of academic books

for the K12 market in the United States and the world. To
achieve its objective, this platform has an open-source
interface that allows creating and distributing educational
cK-12 material through the internet, which can be modified and
contain videos, audios, and interactive exercises. It can also
be printed and comply with the necessary editorial
standards in each region. The books that are created in cK-
12 can be adapted to the needs of any teacher or student.
 ClassDojo is a tool to improve student behavior: teachers
provide their students with instant feedback so that good
disposition in class is 'rewarded' with points and students
have a more receptive attitude towards the learning process.
ClassDojo provides real-time notifications to students, like
ClassDojo 'Well Done David!' and '+1', for working collaboratively. The
information that is collected about student behavior can be
shared later with parents and administrators through the
web.
This platform allows teachers and students to share and
explore references and educational material. In eduClipper,
you can collect information found on the internet and then
share it with the members of previously created groups,
which offers the possibility to manage more effectively the
eduClipper academic content found online, improve research
techniques, and have a digital record of what students
achieved during the course. Likewise, it provides the
opportunity for teachers to organize a virtual class with
their students and create a portfolio where all the work
carried out is stored.
Storybird aims to promote writing and reading skills in
students through storytelling. In this tool, teachers can
create interactive and artistic books online through a simple
and easy to use interface. The stories created can be
embedded in blogs, sent by email, and printed, among other
Storybird options. In Storybird, teachers can also create projects with
students, give constant feedback, and organize classes and
grades.
Animoto is a digital tool that allows you to create high-
quality videos in a short time and from any mobile device,
inspiring students and helping improve academic lessons.
The Animoto interface is friendly and practical, allowing
teachers to create audiovisual content that adapts to
Animoto educational needs.
Kahoot! is an educational platform that is based on games
and questions. Through this tool, teachers can create
questionnaires, discussions, or surveys that complement
academic lessons. The material is projected in the
classroom and questions are answered by students while
Kahoot! playing and learning at the same time. Kahoot! promotes
game-based learning, which increases student engagement
and creates a dynamic, social, and fun educational
environment.

ACTIVITY 3

Digital citizenship refers to the responsible use of technology by anyone who

uses computers, the Internet, and digital devices to engage with society on any
level. 
 As the rate of technological advancement continues to increase, the world as a
whole is becoming more dependent on the Internet for day-to-day activities.
That can mean checking a bank account, purchasing a product, or simply keeping in
touch with a friend. Because of this, digital citizenship applies to “those who use the
Internet regularly and effectively.

INSTRUCTION: Below are the seven (7) steps in teaching digital citizenship, discuss and
elaborate each concept.

Key Concepts Discussion

Emphasize the significance of online etiquette
Perhaps the foremost talked-about viewpoint of
Empathy being a great computerized citizen is
communicating compassionate with others. When
sending a computerized message or comment on
social media, it’s much simpler to gush unforgiving,
debasing words that we would never utilize in
individual. That’s portion of the reason why
cyberbullying has gotten to be such a problem.
Teachers can teach digital empathy by reading
stories in digital settings and doing role-play
activities in the classroom to help children explore
character roles and comprehend their emotions. It
is also important for children to be guided with the
appropriate language to use when conveying
complex emotions.
The Internet is an incredible network of
interconnected servers and computers that direct
web browser requests through a network of wired
How the internet works and wireless connections. The Internet is so fast
and responsive that it’s almost mind-blowing to
consider all of the processes that have to happen
behind the scenes just for someone to check their
email. When you show students that the Internet
works via a sophisticated interconnection of digital
tools, you set the stage to help them understand
the next key elements of digital citizenship as well.
User data is one of the foremost complexes and
concerning concepts within the advanced age. Just
around each company with website collects
Understanding user data information on the individuals who visit it. That
data may be as basic as the pages that somebody
sees, and it can be as complex as someone’s
domestic address. Most of the websites on the Web
utilize this data for promoting purposes. It makes a
difference them get it their clients a small bit way
better, and it makes a difference companies
interface with individuals in a significant way. As a
result, your students need to know about personal
data and they need to know how they can protect
themselves.

Digital literacy is the hone of perusing data online

and understanding what it implies, where it
 started, and whether it’s exact. As a result,
computerized education is one of the hardest
concepts to educate to understudies. It’s too one of
Practicing digital literacy the foremost critical qualities for students to ended
up good digital citizens. After all, how can they
hone great computerized citizenship in the event
that they can’t perceive exact data from deception
online? Digital literacy moreover incorporates
learning around morals, securing yourself online,
and indeed avoiding cyberbullying.
The digital divide is the difference between those
who have get to present day computerized devices
(like computers and the Web) and those who don’t.
Acknowledging the digital This is often vital to recognize since the Internet is
divide still exceptionally much an extravagance within the
world.

Digital wellness is the practice of abstaining from

reviling within the Web and computerized media for
Practicing digital wellness preposterous sums of time. In other words, it’s the
honed of knowing when to “take a break” from
screens. Digital wellness is imperative since as well
much screen time can have unfavorable impacts on
understudies. After you instruct digital wellness,
you'll use a combination of wellbeing information,
psychology, neurology, and current occasions to
demonstrate why it’s vital to require time absent
from gadgets. Educating control, the significance of
work out, and indeed nourishment can all play a
huge part in making a difference understudies get
it why it’s critical to hone computerized wellness.
The ultimate component of getting to be a great
advanced citizen is securing digital devices. This is
the idealize capstone to computerized citizenship
Securing digital devices classes since it takes everything understudies have
learned and applies it to real-life scenarios. You’ve
appeared understudies how the significance of
compassion. You’ve appeared them how the Web
works. You’ve indeed shown them why they ought
to utilize computerized gadgets in moderation.
Students got to know how they can secure their
computers, smartphones, and more.

ACTIVITY 4

INSTRUCTION: Below are the eight (8) elements of digital literacy, explain and discuss
each element.
Cultural Cognitive
The Cultural element of digital The Cognitive element incorporates
literacies is best obtained by being what we know of as computer literacy
drenched in a run of advanced or IT skills with an understanding of
situations. These situations ought to the key concepts. Having the capacity
incorporate those where distinctive to utilize a run of gadgets, program
issues, standards and propensities of stages and interfaces. Recognizing
intellect are show. This guarantees common highlights over advanced
people have to be altered their apparatuses such as route menus,
approach. Improvement can settings, and profiles. Understanding
subsequently be seen by the degree to concepts such as labeling, hashtags,
which people can move progressively and sharing.
rapidly and consistently between these
distinctive computerized situations.
Developing cultural component of
advanced proficiency implies merely
are able to move effortlessly between
distinctive advanced situations and
utilize learning advances in a
assortment of distinctive settings. For
illustration I know how to recognize
between utilizing Facebook for my
individual and social associations, and
utilizing it for my scholastic course. I
am too mindful of the standards,
values and codes that are particular to
my subject and how these might affect
on my utilizing of learning advances.
Constructive Communicative
The Constructive element involves The Communicative element is about
knowing what it means to ‘construct’ as the name suggests, how to
something in a digital environment; communicate in digital environments.
how content can be appropriated, Knowing the reason of different online
reused and remixed. Knowing how to instruments and how they are
dependably utilize and construct upon distinctive or comparative to each
somebody else’s work. Regarding other. Being commonplace with the
copyright and understanding the communication standards and desires
concepts of remix and reuse. Being of different online instruments.
recognizable with the different Understanding what character,
Inventive Commons’ licenses. sharing, impact and believe cruel in
advanced spaces.
Confident Creative
In order participate confidently online The Creative element refers to creating
we need to feel as if we belong. new things which add value where the
Understanding and capitalizing upon focus is more on the value created than
the ways in which the online world the act of creating something new.
differs from the offline world. Reflecting Learning how to do things in new ways
on one’s learning in digital spaces. using online tools and environments.
Being part of an online community. Imaginatively and critically thinking
about how we create and share
knowledge using digital technologies.
Knowing how to curate digital content
to create value for readers.
Critical Civic
The Critical element is probably the The Civic element refers to individuals
element that is most familiar to those having the knowledge and ability to
of us working in the library and use digital environments to self-
information profession as it most organize; to be part of a movement
closely relates to both information bigger than themselves. Understanding
literacy and the research process. one’s digital rights and responsibilities.
Using reasoning skills to question, Participating in social movements or
analyses, scrutinize and evaluate the democratic process online.
digital content, tools and applications. Preparing both ourselves and others to
Knowing how to search effectively. participate fully in society.
Being able to distinguish credible
sources from less credible ones.

POINTS TO PONDER!

Digital literacy involves more than the mere ability to use software or operate
a digital device; it includes a large variety of complex cognitive, motor,
sociological, and emotional skills, which users need in order to function
effectively in digital environments. The tasks required in this context include, for
example, “reading” instructions from graphical displays in user interfaces; using
digital reproduction to create new, meaningful materials from existing ones;
constructing knowledge from a non-linear, hyper-textual navigation; evaluating
the quality and validity of information; and have a mature and realistic
understanding of the “rules” that prevail in the cyberspace.

These are the digital literacy skills, which are needed in order to survive
and be productive in the digital era:

1. PHOTO-VISUAL LITERACY: The article suggests that in working with

graphic user interfaces, users employ a unique form of digital literacy—
 photo-visual literacy—that helps them to “read” intuitively and freely, and to
understand the instructions and messages represented visually. People with
photo-visual literacy have good visual memory and strong intuitive-
associative thinking, which help them decode and understand visual
messages easily and fluently.
2. INFORMATION LITERACY: The ability to know when there is a need for
information, to be able to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use that
information for the issue or problem at hand.” Eshet emphasizes the need for
skepticism in order to develop this literacy.
3. SOCIO-EMOTIONAL LITERACY: Socially-literate users of the cyberspace
know how to avoid “traps” as well as derive benefits from the advantages of
digital communication. These users have a relatively new type of digital
literacy, which is referred to in the article as socio-emotional literacy because
it involves mainly sociological and emotional aspects of work in cyberspace.
4. REPRODUCTION LITERACY: Digital reproduction literacy is the ability to
create a meaningful, authentic, and creative work or interpretation, by
integrating existing independent pieces of information (Gilster, 1997; Labbo,
Reinking, & McKenna, 1998). Reproduction literate scholars usually possess
a good multi-dimensional synthetic thinking, which helps them create
meaningful new combinations from existing information.
5. BRANCHING LITERACY: Modern hypermedia technology has presented
computer users with new challenges of digital literacy (Gilster, 1997). It
enabled scholars to move away from the relatively linear data searches in
traditional digital libraries and databases, to knowledge construction from
information that was accessed in a non-linear manner.
 LESSON
7
ECOLOGICAL LITERACY
Ecological literacy (also referred to as ecoliteracy) is the ability to understand
the natural systems that make life on earth possible. To be Eco literate means
understanding the principles of organization of ecological communities and using those
principles for creating sustainable human communities.

Ecoliteracy concerns understanding the principles of organization of ecosystems

and their potential application to understanding how to build a sustainable human
society.[4] It combines the sciences of systems and ecology in drawing together elements
required to foster learning processes toward a deep appreciation of nature and our role
in it. Systems thinking is the recognition of the world as an integrated whole rather than
a collection of individual elements. Within systems thinking, basic principles of
organization become more important than the analysis of various components of the
system in isolation. Ecological literacy and systems thinking implies a recognition of the
manner in which all phenomenon is part of networks that define the way that element
functions. Systems thinking is necessary to understand
complex interdependence of ecological systems, social systems and other systems on all
levels.

Mother Nature is very important for our future. A major part of our future are our
kids. We must teach them ecological literacy so as to make them learn how important it
is to take care of the environment. Being introduced to nature from when they are little
children will help develop in them a deep love and solicitude for their surrounding
environment.

While young, kids explore and discover a lot of new things. We can help them
expand their knowledge by showing them outdoor activities. The best way is if we have a
garden on our property or take them to any of the nearest parks. Once we find a suitable
place to play with our kids, we must do some preparations first. Playing outside may be
dangerous so we have to do some efficient garden clearance first. Kids will be happy to
see how plants smell and how the bees are alighting on them so take them on a trip in a
garden that has lots of different flowers.

Once our kids see the beauty of nature, it is almost certain that they will turn into
an adult who appreciates the small things and will take care of the natural world.
Ecological literacy is important for our kids because if we lose nature, we will be lost too.
Each living creature on the planet can’t survive without water and food and this is
something that our kids must learn from childhood. Teaching them to take care and
respect nature is maybe one of the most important lessons we have to teach them.

A good ecological literacy is something that is a must for every person in the world.
As youngsters, we start understanding the importance of taking care of nature, and we
can call ourselves decent people who know what is important for our health in the
future.
 ACTIVITY 1

INSTRUCTION: Discuss the following core aspects of ecological literacy. Support your
answer with facts, theories, or studies.

Principles of Living Systems

Design Inspired by Nature

Systems Thinking
 Ecological Paradigm and the Transition to Sustainability

Collaboration, Community Building and Citizenship

ACTIVITY 2

INSTRUCTION: Educators can extend the principles of social and emotional intelligence
to include knowledge and empathy for all living systems. Below are the five (5) ways to
develop ecoliteracy among students, explain each and support your answer with facts,
studies, or theories.

Develop Empathy
for all Forms of
Life
 Embrace
Sustainability as
a Community
Practice

Make the
Invisible Visible

Anticipate
Unintended
Consequences

Understand How
Nature Sustains
Life

The Center for Ecoliteracy promotes a variety of teaching strategies,

based on practices matched to students' levels of development and on brain-
based research, to foster the knowledge, skills, and values essential to
sustainable living. We recognize that students learn best when teaching
strategies are varied to include hands-on activities, time for reflection and
thoughtful discussion, a mix of indoor and outdoor environments, and
opportunities to participate in interdisciplinary projects.

ACTIVITY 3

INSTRUCTION: The following are the different teaching strategies used by teachers in
teaching ecoliteracy, discuss each strategy. Use the link provide as your guide.
https://www.ecoliteracy.org/article/teaching-strategies

Teaching Strategies Discussion

________________________
_

________________________
_

________________________
________________________

_______________________

POINTS TO PONDER!

The role of environmental educators is to create a sustainable ecoliteracy

within our youth and to maintain an ongoing legacy of that ecoliteracy. Our
youth are at ages where the destructive and unsustainable consumptive
worldview of the adult population is not yet embedded in their young person’s
worldview. Presented properly, our youth are receptive to the awe and wonder of
nature.

Center for ecoliteracy cofounder, Fritjof Capra, suggests that we must

teach our children the following fundamental facts of life:

 Matter cycles continually through the web of life

 Most of the energy driving the ecological cycles flows from the sun.
 Diversity assures resilience
 One species’ waste is another species’ food
 Life did not take over the planet by combat but by networking

LESSON
8
CREATIVITY IN THE 21ST
CENTURY
 Creativity, ingenuity, and innovation are the keys to success in the evolving global
economy. To prepare young people for work and life in the 21st century, educators must
cultivate students' creativity.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills stresses the importance of creativity in its
guide, 21st Century Skills, Education & Competitiveness: "Many of the fastest-growing
jobs and emerging industries rely on workers' creative capacity—the ability to think
unconventionally, question the herd, imagine new scenarios, and produce astonishing
work."

Educators have a unique challenge of teaching and mentoring the next generation
of business leaders, activists, and scholars. One important part of this task is to
encourage creativity and innovation from a young age, which is often easier said than
done. However, one process that will help educators inspire the next generation is design
thinking. Design thinking begins with understanding your audience and developing
solutions or ideas based on what they need, rather than what you want to create. For
educators, this perspective can help your students develop critical thinking and
creativity skills they can foster for years to come.

DESIGN THINKING FOR EDUCATORS

Design thinking has five important “phases” – discovery, interpretation, ideation,

experimentation, and evolution. Here is a brief definition of each of these steps:

 Discovery: understanding and researching the problem

 Interpretation: connecting the dots in your research
 Ideation: generating and refining ideas on how to solve the problem
 Experimentation: testing your ideas, collaborating with others, getting feedback
 Evolution: drawing conclusions, evolving your ideas, moving forward

For educators, this process can be implemented into classroom lessons and
projects to help students generate and innovate their ideas. Students will begin to learn
how to adapt and solve problems after conducting research and analyzing what they
discovered. This, in turn, will prepare them for a future that is heavily focused on user
experience and innovative solutions to customer problems.

ACTIVITY 1

INSTRUCTION: Using the information presented above about design thinking for
educators, write a discussion of each phase on how you will apply these steps in the
future.

Discovery

Interpretation

Ideation
Experimentation

Evolution

POINTS TO PONDER!

Design Thinking is:

 A solutions-based approach to solving problems.

 An iterative, non-linear process.
 A way of thinking and working.
 Supported by a collection of strategies and methods.

Design Thinking asks us to:

1. Develop empathy and understand the needs of the people we are designing
solutions for.
2. Define problems and opportunities for designing solutions.
3. Generate and visualize creative ideas.
4. Develop prototypes.
5. Test solutions and seek feedback.

Why is Design Thinking Important?

Consider the rapidly changing world we live in. To thrive in the future
students will need to be adaptable and flexible. They will need to be prepared to
face situations that they have never seen before. Design Thinking is one of the
best tools we can give our students to ensure they:

 Have creative confidence in their abilities to adapt and respond to new

challenges.
 Are able to identify and develop innovative, creative solutions to problems
they and others encounter.
 Develop as optimistic, empathetic and active members of society who can
contribute to solving the complex challenges the world faces.

LESSON
9
CREATIVITY THROUGH THE
ARTS
Fostering a creative environment helps children engage in abstract and analytical
thinking, sharpen their visual-spatial acuity, and become more receptive to out-of-the-
box thinking. Creative thinkers are more able to suspend judgment about people and
circumstances and avoid gender stereotyping. They have high degrees of autonomy and
demonstrate self-discipline in matters regarding work. They are able to delay
gratification, tolerate ambiguity, and demonstrate high levels of self-control.

Creative learners are big-picture global thinkers with a willingness to take risks
and strive for excellence. With your guidance, your gifted child can become a global
thinker and make connections to real life experiences through the arts. This can lead to
a lifetime of creative thinking, future problem solving.

ART

Humans have had a relationship with art, in one form or another, since time
immemorial. From prehistoric cave drawings to ancient instruments, it is obvious that
art has always been and will continue to be an interwoven part of our existence,
regardless of race, political leanings, or cultural background.

People appreciate art in different ways, whether it’s music, dance, poetry,
drawings, paintings, or even graffiti. Some like to be directly involved in the creation of
the art (artists) while others like to experience and appreciate it. Whatever the case, the
arts play a big role in how humans see and interact with others and the world in
general. Art helps us emotionally, financially, psychologically, and even helps to shape
individual and collective personality.

ACTIVITY 1
INSTRUCTION: Below are the reasons why art is important, discuss each reason and
cite examples.

We are
Naturally
Artistic

Art Crosses all

Divides

Art is Good for

You

It Allows Self-
Expression and
Self-Awareness
 The Possibility
for Personal
Benefits

Art Allows for

Complex Ideas
to be Broken
Down

Assists with the

Recording of
History

ACTIVITY 2

INSTRUCTION: Differentiate media arts from visual arts. Use the Venn Diagram below.

MEDIA ARTS VISUAL ARTS

 ACTIVITY 3

INSTRUCTION: Using the link provided below, write the different ways on how to
integrate arts in the classroom.
https://www.teachingchannel.com/blog/what-you-can-do-when-the-arts-are-missing-
from-your-elementary-school

Visual Arts

Drama
Dance

Music, Song, & Performance

 LESSON
10
CATECHETICAL
INSTRUCTION
Catechetical Instruction is studying the Christian doctrine that is the dogmata
which the Catholic Church accepts. Catechism is the Church teaching covering all the
theses of the Christian faith, which each Christian must know and understand. It is not
possible to become a Christian, a Catholic without realizing what they mean. The
Church urge us to take truths preached after carefully studying them, and so
Catechetical Instruction is necessary for every person who has taken a decision to join
the Church by baptizing or to become a member of the Catholic Church after being
baptized in another Christian community.

Catechetical Instruction must have been coeval with the human family. At first all
knowledge was communicated orally and handed down by tradition. The first man
delivered a stock of important ideas to his children; and they again to theirs, with
different degrees of ability and fidelity. The most usual place of instruction was,
doubtless, for a long time, the domestic circle. Here the pious patriarch would spend
much time in dealing out to his listening children the lessons which he had learned in
his youth from his predecessors, and those which he had been taught by his own
experience. These instructions were properly of the nature of catechizing, which may be
defined to be the familiar communication of knowledge orally. As long as this duty was
faithfully performed by parents, the darkness of ignorance and idolatry were prevented,
but as soon as it fell into neglect, error and vice must have been the consequence. 

The word catechize, is properly Greek, derived from the verb katecheo, to instruct
with the voice, which is found, in some of its parts, six or seven times in the New
Testament, but is commonly translated to instruct; because in English, the word
catechize has somehow acquired a narrower signification than the original term, and
conveys the idea of instruction by question and answer; whereas, the word in Greek
includes all manner of elementary, oral instruction: and it would be desirable to bring
back the word to its original meaning. 

ACTIVITY 1

INSTRUCTION: Write the steps in writing a Catechetical Instruction lesson plan. Use
the link as your guide.
http://www.stmaryeg.org/uploads/2/5/9/1/25913310/thereligionteachers-guide-to-
lesson-planning__1_.pdf
Step 1: __________________________

Step 2: __________________________

Step 3: __________________________

Step 4: __________________________

HELPFUL TIPS FOR CATECHIST IN PLANNING A LESSON FOR STUDENTS

 Keep it simple
Even the most capable parents often feel overwhelmed when tasked with
eLearning or executing lessons from home. Rather than burdening families
with complex tasks to complete, use this opportunity to help the family
grow in faith together. Keep it simple and remember: our ultimate goal is to
help this family get to heaven together.

 Gather your resources and choose a topic

Are you creating a lesson using a textbook or diocesan curriculum? If not,
consider using Scripture: the Sunday readings can help you move through
helpful themes in the liturgical year. Gather your materials and, as you read
through them, decide what emerges as the most essential theme that you would
hope to cover. Most often, and especially in a setting where you are only
gathering once a week, focusing on one simple concept for the lesson is
best. The students will remember more if you try to cover less!

 Consider coordinating with other catechists

If your parish and diocesan curriculum allows it, consider collaborating with
other catechists to develop lesson plans. Rather than creating plans for each
grade level, catechists can work together to develop plans for students in grades
K–2, 3–5, and 6–8. This will also help parents who have multiple children; at
most they would have three lessons to complete within their family. (That’s still a
lot, but it’s better than four or five!) 

You can also work with other catechists and the DRE to coordinate topics. Some
dioceses, like the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, already do this on a large
scale—all grade levels are learning about the same topic on a given week
but doing so at a depth appropriate for their age and developmental
level. Simplifying topics in this way can make it easier for parents to teach
multiple lessons at home each week.

 Always remember to pray

Pray as you consider how to engage your students in the topic, pray for your
students throughout the week, and always include prayer in your lesson.
Remember, there are six fundamental tasks of catechesis—promoting knowledge
of the faith is only one of them!

When adding an opportunity for prayer to the lesson, make it relevant to

the topic of the lesson. Consider how you’d like to invite the family to break
open the topic through prayer. For example, is there a particular line from
Scripture or a piece of artwork that might help break open their imaginations?
What reflection questions can foster faith-sharing among the family and also
deepen their understanding of the lesson’s main themes?

 Begin with a clear and active objective

As you begin planning the lesson, stop to consider your goal. What do you hope
the students will be able to accomplish after participating in this lesson?
Consider using Bloom’s Taxonomy to help you think about the level of
understanding and application you hope the students will achieve, and use
creative and active verbs. For example: “Students will be able to illustrate the
seven days of Creation” is much more interesting and active than “Students will
be able to understand the Creation story.”

 Provide clear instructions for a simple activity

What content (e.g., paragraphs from the textbook, brief Scripture passage, short
YouTube video, a mini video lecture you create and share, etc.) will allow you to
most effectively share information with the family? Make sure to keep the
content age-appropriate, or provide clear instructions for how you’d like parents
to explain the concept to their children.

Return to your objective to consider what activity might help to reinforce

the concept. The active verb you used in the objective will come in handy here!
Students can draw, write, create, describe, compare and contrast, and more.
Keep the activity simple and manageable, but be creative!

 Ask for feedback

Some religious education programs require that assessments be completed and
turned in; others do not. Even if your program does not require families to turn
in their work, ask parents to send you a picture or video (if in compliance with
your diocesan safe environment standards) of their child’s completed activity.
This type of communication provides a great opportunity for contact with the
parents (and for you to encourage them!) and also allows you to see if and how
the families are engaging the lessons.
You can also ask parents for honest feedback about the lesson. Were the
directions clear? Was there enough information? Was your child able to
understand and engage the topic? Don’t let constructive feedback bother you too
much. We’re all learning how to better engage families in their children’s faith
formation! Use parents’ feedback to continue to adapt and improve future
lessons.

CONGRATULATIONS!!