Prayer Memorization Ideas

My first grade students are given 5 prayers to do by the end of the year. I make a “We Know Our Prayers” chart on a large piece of poster board with the names of students and prayers. It’s nice and colorful and I display this in my classroom where my students can see it. After the students say the prayer correctly, I have them put a star sticker in the appropriate spot showing that they have completed the prayer and they can pick a prize out of the prize bag (toys from the Dollar Store, McDonald’s Happy Meals, etc.). I also give them an award certificate with their name on it. This seems to work and my students learn the prayers quickly and go on and do others.




Since most my students cannot read or write well, teaching prayers to them is rather tricky. Here are a few games that we do to help them remember the prayers.


Prayer Review:

1. Say a line from a prayer and have the students say the following line. Go back and forth until the prayer is finished.

2. Have the students sit in a circle. Tell the students that they are going to recite the ____ prayer. Have each student say one word in the prayer and the next person will say the following word. If someone makes a mistake or gets stuck, he or she begins over again with the first word of the prayer. The last person that says, “Amen” finishes the prayer.

3. Ball Pass: Have the students sit in a circle. The teacher turns her back to the students and she says, "Pass, pass, pass." The students then pass a ball to their right around the circle. When the teacher says, "Stop," the child holding the ball and the person to his right and left say the prayer together.


How do you help your students memorize prayers?