Parent-Teacher Communication Forms/Letters/Templates

Communication with parents is key to having a good CCD classroom. Keeping parents informed is an excellent way to keep in touch and help parents be a part of their child's education. Parent’s love to know what is going on in their child’s classroom and would love to help out whenever they can.


Here are some forms/letters/templates you can use in your classroom:

teachersprintables.net- Parent Communication Forms

thecornerstoneforteachers.com- Tips for Parent-Teacher Communication (tips & forms)

teach-nology.com- Printable Forms For Contacting Parents

brighthornizons.com- Tips for a Successful Parent-Teacher Conference & Relationship (tips & forms)

tips-for-teachers.com- Parent Communication (tips & forms)

educationworld.com- Communicate with parents by snail mail or e-mail with these editable and/or printable forms and letters.

scholastic.com- Lots of ideas and forms to use in your classroom

teachervision.com- Parent-Teacher Conference Resources

teachervision.com- Teacher-Parent Collaboration ideas and forms

teachertools.org- Free downloads of forms and letters for Discipline, Academic, Communication, etc. Tons of forms and letters provided. Just click on "Forms and Letters" on the left and it will take you right there.

Classroom Newsletters- Classroom newsletters are an excellent way to keep in touch with parents and help them be a part of their child's education.

Progress Reports- Keeping parents well informed is key for any teacher. Here are some Progress Reports that you can use in your classroom.

Assignment Sheets and Grade Sheets- Keeping accurate records of student assignments is necessary for good parent/teacher communication. It also helps students be more organized and be able to turn assignments on time. Here are a few free assignment/grade sheets that might come in handy.

Introductory Letter To Parents- It is a great idea to take the opportunity to introduce yourself by welcoming the child and the parents in a letter the first day of CCD. It provides the parents with information of what is expected in the classroom and what the children will be doing during the year. It can also inform parents of the expectations and rules of the class that will help in making the classroom productive, creative, and enjoyable year for all (this can be a separate page that parents must sign and return to you). Teachers can also ask if parents are interested in volunteering and for any information that can help aid them in better understanding their child and their needs.

Agenda Book/Student Planner- An organized student stays current on assignments and will achieve success in school. Agenda books help students develop sound organization skills that will teach them a successful lifelong journey through school. *Printable Agenda Book page with directions on how to fill it out. Place for parents/teachers to communicate on form.

Catholic Faith Crafts

Need crafts that are about the Catholic faith? Here are some I found that might come in handy. If you know of any Catholic faith crafts, please comment and share!

loyolapress.com- A Monthly Craft Idea to Help Children Grow in Faith

loyolapress.com- Activities and Crafts

catholicicing.com- TONS of Catholic crafts for kids posted on this blog!

catholicinspired.com- Catholic Crafts

The Catholic Toolbox- Celebrating the Mass Lesson Plans (lessons about Mass with crafts and activities)

ewtn.com- Catholic Craft Corner

The Catholic Toolbox- Catholic Prayer Crafts (look under each prayer for crafts)

The Catholic Toolbox- Saint Crafts (scroll down to this)

The Catholic Toolbox- Pope Crafts (scroll down to this)

The Catholic Toolbox- People at Mass Crafts

Reading Comprehension & Assessment Activities

You gave your students a reading activity from the class textbook, but how do you know they understood the material? How do you assess your students to see if they learned the information taught in class? Most teachers give various worksheets or written tests asking questions about what they read or learned, but that can become repetitious and boring for students. So what can a catechist do to make sure their students understand the material?


Here are a few suggestions for your students to do that might come in handy:


1. Draw a picture of a character in the story. List the traits of the character on the back of the paper. Collect the pictures and have the students play “Who am I?” guessing game using the pictures.

2. Make a time-line of what happened in the story using pictures or words. They can even make a comic strip.

3. Have the students come up with a skit about the story or topic. They can also use puppets and make them. They could even perform this for another class.

4. Break the students into groups and have them make a game for other students to play about the story/topic.

5. Have the students come up with a craft or activity about the story/topic.

6. Use a Venn diagram to compare characters/topics. The catechist can even do this on the board with the class.

7. Break the students into groups and have them make a worksheet or puzzle to demonstrate their understanding of what you are teaching.

8. Play games to promote vocabulary building.

Hangman- Give the students a clue about the word and have them fill in the blanks to determine the word.

Vocab Dart Board- Use a real dart board or magnetic dart board. List the vocabulary words on the chalk/dry erase board. Assign each vocabulary word a number from the dart board and write the number beside the word. Break the students into teams and have one student from each team take turns and throw a dart at the dart board. The student must give the definition of the word that corresponds to that number they hit on the dart board. If they give the correct definition of the word, they get the number of points that word is worth. The team with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Password- Put the vocabulary words on individual cards in a pile face down. To begin, one player is chosen to be "it". That player draws a vocabulary card from the pile. Then "it" gives all other players a one-word hint. The hint must not include, or be a variant of, the target word. (For instance, if the target word was "doghouse", hints such as "houses" or "doggy" would be illegal, but "puppy" would be legal.) Incriminating hand gestures, clues which consist of two or more words, and hyphenated words were also considered off-limits. Each other player in turn attempts to guess the target word. If no player guesses correctly, "it" continues giving one-word hints until a player says the target word. That player becomes "it" for the next round.

9. Play a game that reviews previously learned material. These activities make the Bible stories and aspects of the Catholic Church more concrete and easier for the students to understand and also a lot of fun.

10. Play a game show that quizzes your students about the subject. Make it fun and exciting by using a game that is created on PowerPoint. Download the template and modify the game to fit your curriculum needs.


What do you do with your students for reading comprehension and assessing what they have learned?

Gospel for the Mass: 9/21/14- Matthew 20:1-16a

*Be sure to check out Gospel for the Mass Year A page right below the header for other days that you need Gospel for the Mass activities.


Disclaimer: The posts below contain links to other websites and the content of these sites are evaluated before they are included. These websites can change without warning making links inactive and/or the content altered. We have no control over other websites and we are not responsible for the content that they post.




Matthew 20:1-16a



Activities

catholicmom.com- Scroll down to the date for Coloring Page, Mass Worksheet, Crossword Puzzle, Word Search, etc.

catholickidsbulletin.blogspot.com- Download a FREE bulletin to help your kids learn more about our Catholic Mass. Each week's bulletin contains coloring pages for a saint and activities based on the Gospel. The coloring pages may also include a maze, dot-to-dot, find the picture, and many other activities.

loyolapress.com- Background on the Gospel and activities for groups and families

4catholiceducatiors.com- Resources on the Sunday Readings

sermons4kids.com- That’s Not Fair! object lesson with group activities, coloring page, puzzles, worship bulletin

calvarycurriculum.com- Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard lesson #215 with memory verses, circle the correct words, true or false, fill in the blanks, puzzles, and color sheets.

missionarlington.org- The Vineyard Workers lesson with activities

sundayschoollessons.com- The Kingdom of Heaven is Like A Vineyard lesson

The Catholic Toolbox- What Can Teens Do For Gospel For The Mass Activities?

textweek.com- Lectionary, Scripture Study and Worship Links and Resources



Coloring

sermons4kids.com- Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:13-14a)

theclipartwizard.com- Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard coloring pages

supercoloring.com- Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

sunday-school-ideas.com- Coloring pictures in the vineyard

4catholiceducators.com- Working One Hour clip art



Crafts

Plant some plants in plastic cups or pots to take home. Plant some plants around the church.

sermons4kids.com- That’s Not Fair! group activities (crafts)

krokotak.com- Cut and Glue Grapes

lovetolaughandlearn.com- Grapes (scroll down to this)



Games

sermons4kids.com- That’s Not Fair! group activities (games)

christiancrafters.com- Vineyard Workers Game

resourcewell.s3.amazonaws.com- Fair “Foot” Ball, Grinners & Grumblers, Colors Decode, The Wave (change games according to your needs)

Junior High Ministry: A Guide to Early Adolescence for Youth Workers by Wayne Rice (page 109 & 110)


Puzzles

sermons4kids.com- Maze

sermons4kids.com- Word Search

joanyedwards.com- Word Search

sermons4kids.com Decoder

sermons4kids.com- Crossword

4catholiceducators.com- The Last Shall Be First (crossword)

joanyedwards.com- Crossword

Word Walls

Word wall templates are large flash card printables that you can hang on the wall to aid children when they are learning or using new vocabulary words.


dltk-bible.com- Bible Word Wall Words

christianpreschoolprintables.com- Free printable Creation Word Wall cards you can use in your Christian Homeschool or Sunday School classroom. These make great vocabulary lists, games, and even storytime enhancers for children. Print on heavy cardstock and laminate for durability.

sparklebox.co.uk- Story word cards (printable word and picture cards about Bible stories)




Here are a few I have made:


*If you are linking to my activities, please link directly to my blog post, not the URL (the address of a specific file on the internet). Thank you!


The activities below are free, however they can only to be used for classroom and personal use. They may not be published on any websites or other electronic media, or distributed in newsletters, bulletins, or any other form or sold for profit. Reproduction or retransmission of any materials, in whole or in part, in any manner, is not permitted. All graphics/images/clipart etc. used on these activities are not my own and are from various internet sources.


Abraham- Abraham, camel, sheep, tent, stars, baby

Adam & Eve- Adam, Eve, animals, Garden of Eden

Ash Wednesday & Lent- Ash Wednesday, pray, fast, give

Baptism of Jesus- Jesus, water, river, grasshopper, honey, dove

Fishers of Men- Jesus, boat, fish, net

Good Samaritan- robber, inn, oil, bandage, donkey

Good Shepherd- shepherd, sheep, storm, pray

Holy Spirit- scared, wind, brave, flame

Isaac- Abraham- Abraham, camel, sheep, tent, stars, baby

Jesus Calms the Storm- Jesus, boat, storm

Jesus loves me- Jesus, loves, me

Joshua & Jericho- Joshua, horn, wall

King Solomon- King, temple, ark, seven

Loaves & Fishes- loaf, fish, basket, share

Offering- offering, giving

Pray- listen, talk, pray

Sorry/Forgive- I’m sorry, I forgive you

Quail- Moses, quail, tent, manna

Red Sea- Moses, sea, red, cloud, fire, desert, chariot

Uzziah- King, sad, best

Virtues- Jesus, Christian

Wedding at Cana- jar, wine, water

Woman at the Well- jar, well, water, bucket

Young Ruler- I, love (When you use these cards ask the students and discuss, “What do you love?” and “Who do you love?”).

Zacchaeus- Jesus, Zacchaeus, loves

Assignment Sheets and Grade Sheets

Parents and students like having assignments written down so they can keep track of them and a good way of doing it is having a Classroom Assignment Sheet. This can be posted in the classroom, on the door, or even emailed to the parents and students. Keeping accurate records of student assignments is necessary for good parent/teacher communication. It also helps students be more organized and be able to turn assignments on time and lets parents know whether their child is turning in their homework. You can also give a blank sheet to each student so they can write down when assignments are due to become more independent with their CCD homework assignments. An organized student stays current on assignments and will achieve success in CCD. Assignment Sheets help students develop sound organization skills that will teach them a successful lifelong journey through school and CCD.


Here are a few free assignment/grade sheets that might come in handy.


teachervision.com- Assessment Forms

superteacherworksheets.com- Printable Gradebook

printablepaper.net- Printable Gradebook Paper

teachersprintables.net- Grading Sheets and Rubrics

teacherspayteachers.com- FREE Editable Printable Gradebook Sheet

superteacherworksheets.com- Here's a terrific gradebook template designed especially for elementary classroom teachers. Download the gradebook and open it up on Microsoft Excel or OpenOffice Calc. Enter your student names and grades. The spreadsheet will calculate student averages for each subject. It's completely free from Super Teacher Worksheets!

vertex42.com- This free Gradebook Template for Excel started out as a very basic grade book spreadsheet, but it has evolved into something that is very useful, flexible, and powerful (and still free). The gradebook download includes 3 different types of grade books that can handle most of the major grading systems used in high school and colleges.

teachnology.com- This tool allows you to quickly create printable weekly assignments for your students.

teachnology.com- Weekly Multi Subject Assignment Maker

teachertools.org- 2 Assignment Sheets to download. Click on Forms and Letters. Look under Academic.

friendsofpr.com- Assignment Sheet

Gospel for the Mass: 9/17/17- Matthew 18:21-35

*Be sure to check out Gospel for the Mass Year A page right below the header for other days that you need Gospel for the Mass activities.


Disclaimer: The posts below contain links to other websites and the content of these sites are evaluated before they are included. These websites can change without warning making links inactive and/or the content altered. We have no control over other websites and we are not responsible for the content that they post.




Matthew 18:21-35



Activities

catholicmom.com- Scroll down to the date for Coloring Page, Mass Worksheet, Crossword Puzzle, Word Search, etc.

catholickidsbulletin.blogspot.com- Download a FREE bulletin to help your kids learn more about our Catholic Mass. Each week's bulletin contains coloring pages for a saint and activities based on the Gospel. The coloring pages may also include a maze, dot-to-dot, find the picture, and many other activities.

loyolapress.com- Background on the Gospel and activities for groups and families

4catholiceducatiors.com- Resources on the Sunday Readings

sermons4kidslcom- Over and Over Again object lesson with group activities, coloring page, puzzles, worship bulletin

sermons4kidslcom- Keep On Forgiving object lesson with group activities, coloring page, puzzles, quiz, worship bulletin

The Catholic Toolbox- Unforgiving Servant Lesson Plan for 1st Grade On Up with Objectives, Review, Vocabulary Words, Bible Story with questions, Activities, Crafts, Games, Snacks, Puzzles/Mazes/Worksheets, etc.

dltk-bible.com- The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant lesson with activities

The Catholic Toolbox- What Can Teens Do For Gospel For The Mass Activities?

textweek.com- Lectionary, Scripture Study and Worship Links and Resources



Coloring

sermons4kidslcom- Help me forgive others as you have forgiving me.

biblewise.com- The Unforgiving Servant

supercoloring.com- Unforgiving Servant Parable

bible-printables.com- The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant



Crafts

sermons4kidslcom- Keep On Forgiving (group activities) crafts

orientaltrading.com- Craft is discontinued but it gives you a great idea for a craft

Jesus Always Forgives poem by Patricia Meyers (idea for a lacing craft)- Have students print this out or print out on computer and give it to your students to paste inside heart.

Jesus Always Forgives

Sometimes we hurt each other's hearts by
mean things said or done.
It's hard not to be mad or angry,
forgiveness isn't fun.
But after the "I'm sorry" if we'll say “it's okay"
and mean it deep inside our heart,
we choose the Bible way.
Jesus always forgives us,
I know that that is true.
When we say we're sorry,
He makes our hearts brand new.

By: Patricia Meyers


kidssundayschool.com- How many times should I forgive? A delightful craft to show how often we should forgive one another.

truthforkids.com- Forgiveness Craft



Games

sermons4kidslcom- Keep On Forgiving (group activities) games


Introduce games: God forgives the wrong things we have done, what should we do to others who have done something wrong? Forgive them.

Five in a Row- This game will help children to discover that when Jesus forgives them, their sins are forgotten. (The Encyclopedia of Bible Games for Children’s Ministry, page 125).

Who’s Forgiven- The Really Big Book of Bible Games page 66.


Introduce game: The core lesson for the Unforgiving Servant is the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

The Catholic Toolbox- The Golden Rule (file folder game)

The Catholic Toolbox- The Unforgiving Servant (file folder game)



Movies

Forgiving: God Wants Me To Forgive Them?! (Veggie Tales)

Introduce movie: How many times are you to forgive someone? Many, many times.

The Grapes of Wrath (12 min.)

Questions to ask after movie:

1. What did the grapes do to Junior? They made fun of him.
2. Who does God want us to be kind to? Everyone
3. When someone says they are sorry and they really mean it, what should you say? I forgive you.
4. How many times are you supposed to forgive someone? Not 7 times, but seventy times seven (490). In other words, many, many times.

Larry’s Lagoon (15 min.)

1. What happened to the boat? Larry smashed it.
2. How did everyone feel about Larry? They were mad at him.
3. How doe it feel when someone says they forgive you? It feels good.
4. It is wrong to not forgive someone when they say they are sorry and they really mean it? Yes.



Puzzles

Introduce puzzle: How many times must we forgive someone? We should forgive over and over again just like God and Jesus. Nutty Numbers (How many times you should forgive maze)- Maze Mania by Viki Woodworth

dltk-bible.com- anagrams, crossword, cryptogram, mazes, word mining, word searches

sermons4kidslcom- Word Search

joanyedwards.com- Word Search

sermons4kidslcom- Decoder

sermons4kidslcom- Spiral Puzzle

biblewise.com- Crossword with answers

4catholiceducators.com- The Unmerciful Slave crossword

sermons4kidslcom- Crossword

joanyedwards.com- Crossword



Quizzes

sermons4kidslcom- Matching



Snacks

Introduce snack: When might you need to trust God’s faithfulness? When I do something wrong and ask for God’s forgiveness.

christiancrafters.com- Sweet Faith Crackers

pillsbury.com- Faith Cookies
Have the children make cross shaped cookies and decorate them. (Example: one large rectangle for main part of cross, and one smaller rectangle to form the cross).

Handwriting/Copy Work Worksheet Makers

To learn various prayers, liturgical objects used in Mass, and other church activities, having the students write it down is a good way for them to remember. Here are a few of my favorite handwriting worksheet makers that are FREE so you can make personalized handwriting worksheets (print or cursive) for your students.


handwritingworksheets.com- Make basic print, D’Nealian, or Cursive handwriting worksheets. You can make the worksheets dot trace, dash trace, hollow trace, and even separated letters by just a click of a button. Each format has starting dots for each letter.

softschools.com- Make manuscript handwriting worksheets in PDF form.

atozteacherstuff.com- Create your own custom handwriting worksheets for handwriting practice! You can choose traditional or modern print styles.

kidzone.ws/tracers/- Type in anything you like into the custom tracer pages to practice printing (standard block or script type printing fonts) or cursive handwriting. The custom tracer pages are available in a variety of themes as well.

writingwizard.longcountdown.com- Create writing practice sheets in D'Nealian or Zaner-Bloser style, in print or cursive form.

twistynoodle.com- You choose the worksheet that you want; select the font....and you have a writing worksheet along with a picture to color. You can also edit the text to make it a verse or words that go with the Bible story, etc.

worksheetworks.com- Add your own copy work to their text box and then select the create button. It will then take you to a page to download the .pdf format worksheet

Bible Alphabet Handwriting Books

I am trying to compile a list of Bible Alphabet Handwriting Books. I was wondering if anyone knew of any books that have any Bible alphabet handwriting activities using lines for the children to write on. Here are a couple of books that I found that will give you an idea of what I am looking for.


Bible Alphabet Handwriting Books (has lines for the children to write on)-


Bible Stories from A to Z by Mary Murray- Each of the 26 mini-units features a letter of the alphabet and includes a Bible story with questions, an activity page, a craft, a prayer, snack, take home story, and a handwriting sheet. Click on Sample Pages to see book. Click here for another view of the book.

A Bible Alphabet by Alison Brown- Each Bible story provides a coloring/writing page that corresponds to each letter of the alphabet. Children have the opportunity to color the scene given with the Bible story and to write the word using the letter being emphasized. The sheets are perforated making them easy to remove from the book.


Do you know of any Bible Alphabet Handwriting books that have handwriting activities using lines for the children to write on? Please comment and I will add the book to the list.

Bible Alphabet Handwriting Sheets

Below is a list of FREE Bible alphabet handwriting sheets you can print out for your classroom or home.


biblestoryprintables.com- For children who can already write their letters, here is a set of cursive ABC's for children who are ready to write in cursive.

first-school.ws- Bible Alphabet Coloring pages & Handwriting Tracers
From A for Angels to Z for Zacchaeus (D'Nealian and Standard block). Includes links to Bible reference scripture links, additional printable resources: coloring pages and crafts.

preschoolpost.com- Free Printable Bible Coloring Pages for children to learn their ABC's. Each page has the letter for the children to color in, and for older students, there is a place to trace the letter and begin to write it on their own. These make great Bible Handwriting Worksheets to send home with children, or make their own Bible ABC Coloring Book.