FAmilies Growing in Faith 4th grade
Hello! I am Erin Gelal and I will be the catechist for 4th grade Families Growing in Faith this year. I was really hoping to see you all in the classroom this Sunday but we have to go with the flow and make the very best of this difficult situation.
I have been teaching 4th grade PSR/FGF for 10 years now. I really enjoy sharing my love of the Catholic faith with the children and find that every year I am learning so much from them! They are so thoughtful, loving and creative and it is such a wonder to spend some time with 4th graders. My focus every year is to have fun through art, games, and discussion and not simply read the weekly booklets...that will be challenging this year for sure!! My number one goal is to help the kids realize how much they can do to make this world a better place. You are never too young to make a difference! My daughter, Riley, is my helper and we are planning to make some videos for the kids that will hopefully make this distance learning a little more enjoyable. I am also planning to send things to the students the old fashioned way as well so check your mailbox from time to time...who doesn't like to have something fun in the mail? Hopefully you have your supplies from Julie to get started. Please email or call me with ANY questions and I will do my best to help. email: [email protected] phone: 330-904-0430 2/21/2021 Hello families! February is really flying by! It's been so cold but I hope you've been able to enjoy some time playing in the snow or maybe just watching it snow out your window. It really is beautiful. This week's lesson is about temptation and having trust in God and patience too. Temptation is everywhere isn't it? You may be tempted to play video games when you should be doing homework or helping around the house. You may be tempted to break a promise to a friend by telling their secret. You might be tempted to take something you like that isn't yours. And you may be tempted to react in a mean way to your sibling when you should try to remain calm and talk to them. It's not easy!!! After reading "What If I Did?" on Pg 2-3 think about some situation you have been in that is similar. I'm sure most of you have not done this kind of thing, but maybe you I bet can relate to the temptation. Answer the Think questions and discuss number 4 with your family. Adults are tempted to make bad choices as well, so your parents might have some good ideas about how to deal with these situations and I'm sure you do to! Jesus spent 40 days in the desert as you will see in today's Gospel. That is why we have 40 days in Lent. What can you do over this time to to become closer to God? Take this time to make a covenant, or promise, to God about something that will help you in your relationship with Him. Perhaps you will pray more or do an act of kindness every day. I'm sure you will have fabulous ideas! Write your covenant on pg 7 and it is helpful to have something you can see in your room or somewhere in your house as a reminder of this covenant. I attached a printable heart that you could color one space for everyday in Lent as you keep your covenant. Have a fun week and take some time to think about Lent and your promises. Mrs. Gelal On My Knees ( Jesus tempted in the desert ) Lego 2/7/2021 Hi families! This weekend we learn about Jesus healing people and showing compassion. COMPASSION is when you: SEE someone in need, CARE about their feelings and DO something to show you care Compassion and empathy go hand in hand and are so important in all relationships that we have. Think of ways to show compassion to those we love and also those in the community that may need our help. I have attached two videos this week that are fun and give some good descriptions and examples of these ideas. If you would like to share any ideas about what you or your family does to help others, we would love to hear about it!! Enjoy the Superbowl tomorrow and bundle up for the week ahead! God bless, Erin and Riley *Also attached is the link for the family activity for February Gospel Feb.7 https://youtu.be/mEmIFDRUO8M Fun Kid President video about spreading love and giving to others https://youtu.be/bH5ozEo1Ao4 Empathy video https://youtu.be/Itp21tly8nM February Family Activity 11/8/2020 We hope you are enjoying this fabulous week. The weather has been amazing and the colors are beautiful out there! Hoping you've had some time in your busy schedules to take it all in and thank God for the glorious sights we are witnessing this fall. We have been receiving some of your letters in the mail and are so excited! It's been fun getting to know you a little bit even though we can't be together. Thanks for participating!!! So, this week our Venture booklet is AWESOME!!! Sometimes there are certain articles or activities that I would skip but this week they are all so good. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, please make sure you look through this one with your kids. It just gets us back to basics and the most important thing of all...loving God and each other. It's really that simple. For the students: Remember when God says to "love your neighbor" that does not mean just the people that live near you. He is talking about all people in our town, all the people in our country and all of the people around the world!! This also means your friends but also kids that aren't always being kind to you...that's when it gets really tricky. Talk to your parents about a time when someone at school wasn't nice and how you handled that situation. What God asks us to do is often challenging, so trying your best and learning from mistakes is always ok! 11/1/2020 Happy Halloween! I hope all the kids were able to enjoy some fun trick-or-treating or gathering with friends for a little fun. They are probably crashed from their sugar high by now! We hope everybody enjoys the rest of the weekend. We have to change the clocks back, watch some football and be ready for Election Day. Busy times for sure!! I hope you will be able to find a little time to check out the Venture weekly! It is another really good one about All Saint's Day. Yes, do not forget in all the madness that November 1st is a holiday as well. I will post a video that I always play for the kids about how someone becomes a saint(https://youtu.be/lUGRdpRJWYA). We usually have the kids do a small report on a saint and share with the class so that we can learn about several in a short time. Perhaps you will be adventurous and look up a few online and discuss. Enjoy your week! Stay healthy. Be safe. Be tolerant. Love one another Erin and Riley Gelal 9/27/2020 Good morning fourth grade families, We hope you are enjoying this beautiful weekend and are planning something fun outdoors today but maybe cheering on the Browns as well. Riley and I worked on a video for you last night but I am having some difficulty sending it to you in this email. I will try to figure it out can and get it to you soon. Hopefully you had a chance to explore the Venture weekly last Sunday. I'm sure you've noticed that it is a little different from what you had in third grade and I think you are all really going to like the format. The Bible Challenge 1. Find the Table of Contents the front of the Bible to find the page for the book you need, in this case Matthew. He is one of the four gospel writers. 2. Once you are in the right area, look for the larger number to find the chapter. We need Chapter 21 3. Now find the tiny number that are within the text and when you see 28, you've found the passage!! Read and stop at 32 It can be fun to race a sibling or mom and dad to see you can find a passage more quickly. Try this with today's reading Ezekiel 18:25-28 Who Did It? pgs 2-3 Give someone in your family a summary of the story. -Describe Jamal with three words. -Tell mom or dad about a time when you did something helpful and didn't take credit. -Discuss how you may have made a mistake and not followed an adults directions and how you felt about that. We all make mistakes!! Sunday Gospel This gospel and last Sunday's gospel are both parables. Parables are stories that Jesus told to people when he was on Earth that gave them a lesson about how to behave. He taught them the rules that we should all follow as good Catholic people of God. Those are just a few parts to our Venture weekly. Explore that last pages as well and you will find great information about where the readings during mass are come from as well as a fun activity about making good choices and finally, a cartoon about Saint Clare of Assisi. Have fun! I'm also attaching two videos. One is a basic look at the Bible for kids. It can be pretty overwhelming so this does a good job of breaking it down. Also today's gospel. Have a wonderful week! Love one another and be kind. |
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9/20/2020: I've attached 2 videos to watch this week. Enjoy your week and I will be in touch soon!!! Peace to all! Erin
The third video is an overview of the Gospel Weeklies that we will be using through the year, |