It’s not too tough to think of ways to apply a Sunday Gospel message to a Language Arts lesson, but making connections to Math and Science can pose more of a challenge. Teachers look for ways to bring multiple subject areas into every lesson—to meet standards, to reinforce learning, and to get the most out of each and every minute of instruction. This year, the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies offers weekly Curriculum Connections based on the Sunday Gospel. The editors have worked with teachers to develop age-appropriate projects that continue the Gospel message from Religion class into multiple subject areas.
For the October 8 Gospel, for example, older students can continue to work with the vineyard parable in their Science class by studying growth rates of plants and in English-Language Arts by writing essays about invasive plant species. The youngest children will list the ways God cares for them as a vineyard owner cares for his plants. Teachers will reinforce this Gospel message in Social Studies by starting a class garden.