HOW TO BECOME A BETTER CATECHIST ?
HOW CAN WE ASK REALLY GOOD
QUESTIONS
Kinds of Catechetical Questions
Factual Questions
These are obvious questions to
ensure accurate knowledge of
important facts.
Meaning Questions
These questions invite your
students to go below the surface
of their factual knowledge of life
and faith ?
Reasoning Questions
These are questions that usually
starts with the question , WHY ?
Experiential Questions
In our story “the prodigal son”, to
whom will you compare yourself ,
to the father, younger son or elder
brother ? Why ?
Creative Questions
These questions invites the
students to use their imagination
and to think creatively.
Value Questions
It is important to move still deeper
with more personal question. Since
these are personal question ask
them with privacy and sensitive
WHAT ABOUT MEMORIZING ?
Memorization is important in
catechesis for several reasons :
 Owning. Learning by heart
what you explored and
studied often helps you
make it more fully your
own --- owning
 Banking. Memorized
formulations of Christian
wisdom or prayer can
become lifelong resource to
be tapped into as needed.
 Bonding. Knowing by
heart basic Catholic faith
formulations can also foster
bonding or connectedness
with those of past and
future generations who
share that same Catholic
tradition.
How to memorize ?
Memorize only what has meaning
Break it down . Don’t let students
memorize long texts all at once
Make it fun
Memorization need not be boring nor
burdensome
Repeat creatively. Fill in the blanks.
Missing words to be filled in.
HOW CAN WE HELP CHILDREN LEARN TO
PRAY ?
Pray yourself. The most important tip
is to become a more prayerful person.
Foster disposition for prayer. We
can expose our children to marvel of
creation, giving them opportunities to
wonder. We can trust them so they
can learn to trust . in these ways we
nurture predispositions for prayer
Plan for meaningful prayer. Any
praying should rise up out of the life
experience being explored and be
enriched by the Catholic traditions
reflected in the lesson. This requires
careful planning
Expand their experience of prayer.
The traditions of Catholic spirituality
provide a wealth of ways to pray
Few forms of prayer :
Traditional catholic prayers
Biblical and liturgical prayers
Meditations
Litanies
HOW CAN WE USE PICTURES ?
Display. Hang a photo or art to
draw attention to the theme of
your lesson or unit
Caption / Title. Invite your
students to write captions or titles
that say in words what the pictures
says to them nonverbally. Or ask
them to find a Bible verse that
would be a suitable caption
Searching. Give them magazines.
Have them find visuals that speak
to them about the theme of the
lesson
Juxtapose. Invite the students to
place side by side two visuals they
feel are similar in meaning or are
opposites.
Tell a story. Ask the students
verbally , in writing or by acting - a
story the visual suggest
Collage. Ask the students to cut
out photos and art and paste them
to poster board express a particular
theme /message
Create photo essay or slide
show. Give the students large
selection of photos. Invite them to
create a story or essay with the
photos, adding some commentary
with words
HOW CAN WE USE MUSIC AND SONG ?
To set a mood. Play music that
supports feeling of te message of your
lesson: peaceful, happy, sad,
meditative, angry
To explore meaning. Use a popular
song that deals with the life theme,
issue, or basic questions of the lesson.
Let tem listen to song and then guide
them in reflecting on and discussing
the song’s lyric in relation to their lives
To tell a story. Select a Gospel song,
an ancient ballad or contemporary hit,
that fits your lesson.
To teach a message. Find or make
up ( with the students ) a song that
summarizes a lesson’s message.
Writing new lyrics to songs your
students know can be a creative way
of helping them own a lesson’s
message.
To pray. Use hymns that express the
idea and sentiments of a lesson. If
possible use songs that the students
also sing in their parish.
HOW CAN WE USE STORY AND
POETRY ?
Read the story aloud [parables ]
Tell the story. Telling a story or
reciting a poem from memory can
be a more personal experience
since there is no book between
you and your hearer.
Let the student read. We ask
one student to read the whole
story or poem or sometimes let
several let several students read
sections of the story in order.
Show , filmstrip or video
version of the story or poem.
Dramatize a story . Your
students can dramatize a story.
Leave story open –ended. Stop
reading or telling a story shortly
before the end. Invite your
students to come up with how they
think the story ends. Afterwards
read them the actual ending.
HOW CAN WE USE WRITING ?
Writing stories. We can ask them to
write a story about a situation in a
photo.
Writing poems. This may even be an
even more effective way of probing
and expressing experiences and
beliefs.
Writing prayers .Allow students to
pray in their words.
Writing journals. This enables more
habitual sustained reflection and
provides a record of growth.
Writing letter or notes. It is a way
of reaching out with thanks and love to
others and to work for justice and
peace.
Writing captions for a photo or
painting. This often sparks new
insights, reveals unsuspected feelings,
raises issues, and foster dialogue.
HOW CAN WE USE DRAWING ?
Draw an experience. Drawing
personal experience is a rich way of
helping those we teach to see into
what is happening in their lives. To add
a note of humor, at times they can
draw their experience in the form of
comic strips or cartoon
A bible story . Drawing or painting
stories can bring fresh insight into the
stories.
A liturgical symbol or ritual.
Example let them draw what the
Eucharist mean to them.
A feeling or conviction. Example ask
the students to draw how it feels to be
lonely, to be loved, to be rejected.
A challenge. Example let them draw.
“Happiness comes more from giving
than getting.”
MS OPHINE JAVIER
FEBRUARY 2021