Ms. Friemel: During the mass, what do we do right before the "Lamb of God".
Class: "The Sign of Peace"
Class: puzzled look
Ms. Friemel: "I'll give you a hint. It looks like this. (walks over and shakes a student's hand)
Class: "The Sign of Peace!!"
Ms. Friemel: "That's right!"
Ms. Friemel: "So what's the point of the Sign of Peace? Why do we do it? Is it a time to say, "Hey, I really like your sweater" (this is especially funny because all of the students dress code sweaters are virtually identical) or "what are you having for lunch today" or "can I come over today after school and play baseball at your house?"
Class: (shaking heads) NOooo.
Ms. Friemel: "So why do we do it?"
Class: blank stares
Ms. Friemel: The opposite of war is peace. So, if we are at peace with others, it means we are not fighting, that we have forgiven them. The sign of peace is a sign of forgiveness.
Class: (perking up a bit)
Ms. Friemel: So, when I say, "Peace be with you", I'm really saying, "I forgive you" or "I'm sorry accept your forgiveness".
(2-4th grades) Ms. Friemel: Now, some of you are thinking, "forgiving what? or sorry for what?" Well, there will be times when we have not tried to hurt our peers through our words or actions. There will be times when we have not been hurt by their words or actions. But, because we are all on the same team, the body of Christ (members of the Church), we help out the team by saying we are saying for others failings and sin too. And we forgive the failings and sins of those members of the Church whom we may have never even met.
Ms. Friemel (to make sure students are coherent): Do you think it is fair to say you are sorry for what other people have done?
Class: (sheepishly shaking their heads): It may not seem "fair" to say you are sorry for someone else's faults, but this is what Jesus asks of us, that we pray for others, apologize as a community, and give forgiveness to all of the community, or body of Christ.
Ms. Friemel: Now, "let us turn to one another and offer a sign of peace". (monitoring as some children shake the arm off their neighbor or hardly grasp their hand at all.) Please, be gentle. Shake her hand. There you go. Oh, careful. I'll give you the sign of peace.
Ms. Friemel: "As we do this, remember we are saying, "I forgive and I accept forgiveness".
Friday, February 19, 2010
Miss Friemel's Music Lessons- and More
Part of my job requires that I visit children in grades Pre-K through 4th and share a "liturgical" music lesson with them. This often consists of singing hymns and psalms from the upcoming mass, talking about the Saint's Feast or liturgical season, or high-lighting some part of the mass and talking about why we do it that way. This all is tied together with reading the scriptures for the week.
Although my lessons are simple due to the fact that I am teaching children, reading and reflecting on the scriptures and lives of the saints, and then hearing input from the children has challenged me greatly in my understanding of the faith. It really is true that in order to say something succintly, you have to have a full understanding and go much deeper with it than what the final product shows.
So, here I will record, whether for private reflection by those who are simple (like me)and simply not theologians or as material for reaching children with profound and succint truths of the faith.
Lesson Objective: Children will identify and discuss how Jesus is the "Word of God". They will learn the Lenten Response "Praise to You, Word of God, Lord Jesus Christ."
Ms. Friemel: "What is the purpose of our words?"
Class: "To communicate so we can understand each other"
Brilliant child/good little Catholic answer: "To show kindness and love through what we say."
Ms. Friemel: "We use our words to tell people who we are. I can tell you I am Ms. Friemel and I like to sing and I am a caring teacher. See, I just told you about myself using my words."
(2-4th grade answer)Ms. Friemel: "That's right. Our words show others what we are like, what's in our heart. If we speak kind words to others, we show that we are kind. If we speak unkindly, we are showing that we need to work on being more loving. Sometimes what we say is not as important as how we say it. Can you think of a time when you said "Thanks a lot" to someone but meant something different? Our tone, or how we say things, also tell people what's in our heart."
(all grades) Ms. Friemel: So, do you think our words have power?
Class: (Puzzled look)
Ms. Friemel: "Yes, they do! Even though words are invisible (we can't see them), we can use them to encourage others or say mean things. Words have power to make someone happy or sad- to help or to hurt."
Ms. Friemel: (to make sure students are coherent) Do words have power?
Class: Yes!
Ms. Friemel: "That's right! And, in the beginning of time, God's word was so powerful, so strong, so full of love, that it became the very person of Jesus! Jesus is God's ultimate way of saying that He loves us!"
(proceeds to teach "Glory to You" on pg. #333 of Ritual Song)
Although my lessons are simple due to the fact that I am teaching children, reading and reflecting on the scriptures and lives of the saints, and then hearing input from the children has challenged me greatly in my understanding of the faith. It really is true that in order to say something succintly, you have to have a full understanding and go much deeper with it than what the final product shows.
So, here I will record, whether for private reflection by those who are simple (like me)and simply not theologians or as material for reaching children with profound and succint truths of the faith.
Lesson Objective: Children will identify and discuss how Jesus is the "Word of God". They will learn the Lenten Response "Praise to You, Word of God, Lord Jesus Christ."
Ms. Friemel: "What is the purpose of our words?"
Class: "To communicate so we can understand each other"
Brilliant child/good little Catholic answer: "To show kindness and love through what we say."
Ms. Friemel: "We use our words to tell people who we are. I can tell you I am Ms. Friemel and I like to sing and I am a caring teacher. See, I just told you about myself using my words."
(2-4th grade answer)Ms. Friemel: "That's right. Our words show others what we are like, what's in our heart. If we speak kind words to others, we show that we are kind. If we speak unkindly, we are showing that we need to work on being more loving. Sometimes what we say is not as important as how we say it. Can you think of a time when you said "Thanks a lot" to someone but meant something different? Our tone, or how we say things, also tell people what's in our heart."
(all grades) Ms. Friemel: So, do you think our words have power?
Class: (Puzzled look)
Ms. Friemel: "Yes, they do! Even though words are invisible (we can't see them), we can use them to encourage others or say mean things. Words have power to make someone happy or sad- to help or to hurt."
Ms. Friemel: (to make sure students are coherent) Do words have power?
Class: Yes!
Ms. Friemel: "That's right! And, in the beginning of time, God's word was so powerful, so strong, so full of love, that it became the very person of Jesus! Jesus is God's ultimate way of saying that He loves us!"
(proceeds to teach "Glory to You" on pg. #333 of Ritual Song)
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