Editable Google Classroom Assignments To Get You Through the Rest of the School Year ;)

Ok, so I'll admit that this is a bit of a niche post.

It is primarily aimed at Middle School/Jr. High Religion Teachers from Catholic Schools using e-learning who are able to assign digital homework (primarily through Google Classroom). These are some of the lessons I have been/will be using with my 6th-8th grade students and I wanted to share them with you if they will be of any help to get you through the remaining weeks of your school year. ;)

While there are some adaptations for teachers of kids older or younger, parish catechists, or parents at home with their kids, I wanted to preface this post with that audience in mind. I usually try to make my activities as flexible as possible, but obviously the way that we are teaching right now is unprecedented. If this post doesn't work for you, feel free to skip it! (I'll be back later this week with a long overdue Katie Reads post on new Catholic Kids' books!)

Today I've got six different multi day tasks designed for you to share with your students. I chose some "broad" topics that could work for a span of ages or units. Here are a few overarching details:

• These assignments were created in Google Slides with the intention of being assigned in Google Classroom. You can certainly download them in PowerPoint and send them through email, or whatever tool you are using to communicate with your students.
• They are totally editable. You just have to make a copy or download before making any changes. Delete, change, add- make them work for you kids.
• Each of them is a multi day assignment- most of these were used over a three or more day span for my students, otherwise they would be way too long. You can use them multi day, split them up, or just delete slides you find less important to create a shorter task
• Some of these are based on paper/pencil assignments (remember those?) that I would have done in my classroom if we were together. I'll add links to those if that is helpful for your students!
• All of the resources needed for the tasks are readily available- like public websites or docs I've created. If you share the slides with your students, make sure that they can access all of the links as well. For example, if you have a closed Google Domain (many school are) they will not be able to open any of the Google docs I have linked because I am outside of their domain. You will have to make a copy, save in your own Google Drive, and link. (Unfortunately, I get a lot of student access requests to docs shared by their teachers, but I can't even email them back because of domain permissions. It breaks my teacher heart to not be able to help them- so if you are in a closed Google Domain, keep that in mind!)
• A couple of these activities I have posted on the blog before, but I wanted to put them all in one spot so that it is easy if you are trying to figure out what to do these next few weeks!

For each task, I've got a brief description, and then you can click on the images to access the Google Slides. Feel free to let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to help!

Blessed Virgin Mary Scavenger Hunt
This task is based on my Marian Apparition Investigation and includes background on Mary from the Bible and Catechism, research on a title of Mary and one Marian Apparition, and a fun option about songs for Mary.

Your Summer Retreat Plan

This is a brand new resource that I'll be doing with my students our last week of "school." I wanted to leave them with an idea of some things they can continue to do in the summer to keep growing and learning in their faith. I've included seven different topics for them to create goals for and the last page is a sheet that they can print/save with a summary of their goals. I'll admit that if we were in person, we'd have a discussion first about how to set attainable and purposeful goals, but I'm just going to let the kids run with it. ;)

The Mass and The Priesthood Study

This project was based on two units on the Eucharist and Holy Orders that I was unable to finish as planned with my students. Combining the topics and using inspiration from these Mass Activity Sheets my students got a quick review of some of the important aspects of the Mass and the connection to the Priesthood.

Would You Rather? Catholic Edition

This was a fun, more lighthearted assignment that's goal was to get the kids thinking about the practice of their faith and what matters most to them. Each slide presents a faith based question that is totally opinion, and they had to present what their choice would be, arguing only one side. If they weren't familiar with the pros/cons (Would you rather have an all expense paid trip to the Vatican or to the Holy Land?) they had to do a little research to be able to support their answers. My favorite part was that I gave them the option to record a video of their answer and send it in, and I loved seeing their faces and hearing their answers. These would make great questions for a class meeting too!

Saint Scavenger Hunt
I posted this one around All Saints Day, but it is fun anytime. This might also be helpful if you are missing prep time and discussions for students who should be choosing their Confirmation Saints! It has lots of tasks for discovering Saints they have things in common with (name, birthday, interests) as well as getting to know "random" Saints. There are lots of links to sources to help with the search for different topics. My students really like this one! I have a similar version on paper here.

The Way of Light Easter Bible Study
This is the other assignment that I have already posted, but it is still Easter, and this would be a great way to prepare for Pentecost! This Bible Study is based on the Way of Light, a companion the Way of the Cross, so there are 14 stations to read about. (I have lots of printable resources for the Way of Light here.) Several people commented that it was too long for their students, and that's fine! You get to decide what they complete! Have them do the intro and then delete all but a few slides to complete. Or better yet, let them pick which three stories their want to read! We have our whole life to read the Bible, so there's no reason to shy away from giving them a little now to invite them to continue reading on their own.

 

There you go! I hope these are helpful and keep you going through the end of the school year. I see no reason to reinvent the wheel, so it is my hope and prayer that you can edit accordingly and have resources for your students without starting from scratch. We can do it!