 you move on to this “content” portion of the lesson. This is the meat of the lesson; the theological concept(s) you are passing on. This part of the lesson will contain some teaching, some related/building-on activities (such as games, art, crafts, writing, etc.), and many, many questions. As you write the content section of the lesson, keep in mind the objectives and how they will be measured, so that you stay on task in your planning. Plan a variety of activities: not all students learn in the same way, and you want to incorporate as many learning styles as possible. You will not be able to teach to every style, every Sunday Church School class. However, be aware of the different learning styles and if you miss one learning style in one lesson, be sure to include that learning style in the next lesson. (Think of it this way: if you are energized by hiking, you would not pay attention – in fact, you may eventually just tune out or stop coming- if every time you went to a woods, you were forced to sit and listen to someone talking about people hiking and you never got to hike! In the same way, your Sunday Church School learners are varied in what energizes them, what clicks in their minds, and they need variety to engage them and to make the lessons more effective.) Throughout each lesson, ask questions. Make the students think. Encourage them to summarize. Ask them to explain it back to you. See what connections they can make to previous learnings. As you ask questions, be sure to use questions at varying levels of questioning. (See http://antiochian.org/sites/default/files/blooms.pdf for suggested questions to use for each level of Bloom’s Taxonomy.)
Response: This is the part of the lesson that will allow the students to grasp the main ideas/theological concepts for themselves, and challenges them to find ways to apply those ideas to their own lives. This part of the lesson can be oral, written, drawn, or you can have the students respond in some other way, depending on the lesson and your group of students.
Closing: This part of the lesson is part review and part evaluation. In this part of the lesson, find ways to invite the students to summarize the main points of the lesson. This is also a time to evaluate the objectives listed above. After doing so, make a final statement (it could be a one-sentence summary) of the lesson, and then close with prayer before dismissal.
As we approach the new school year, let us approach with enthusiasm for the job of helping in the spiritual formation of the children of our parish. Let us plan ahead, and make the investment of writing out those plans so that we are better prepared to teach our classes. This lesson plan format (http://antiochian.org/sites/default/files/lesson_plan.pdf) can be used for any lesson and will help us to better prepare, so that we may better teach the learners which God has entrusted to our care.
Note: to see a sample lesson plan that uses this format, check out this one:https://www.facebook.com/notes/orthodox-christian-sunday-church-school-teachers/in-the-light-of-the-son-an-object-lesson-on-being-in-christs-presence/692195384148891.