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Title: Where Do I Belong?

Grade level: 3-4

Overview: In this lesson the students will identify the various groups and communities to which they belong, the primary one being the Church as the family of God and as community. They will learn the importance of cooperation in a group or community. Finally, they will create a survey and email it to leaders of various community groups and organizations.

Objectives: The children will:

1. identify the various groups and communities to which they belong
2. rank these groups in order of size
3. develop a survey based on their study of the different communities to which they belong
4. email copies of the survey to leaders of various community groups
5. compile the results of the survey using the Internet and send copies to all the respondents

Suggested Time Allowance: 3-4 weeks.

Resources/Materials: a computer with Internet access and email capabilities; an electronic survey form.

Activities/Procedures:

1. Have the children brainstorm to identify all the groups or communities to which they belong (examples: family, school, parish, class, scout troop, sports team, neighborhood, town or city, state, country, continent, world). Be sure to include the family of God.

2. Have the children identify the leaders of each group and classify the groups in size order, from smallest to largest.

3. Identify and discuss the qualities that are important for all groups, regardless of size (examples: sharing, cooperating, respecting others in the group, following rules, etc.).

4. Have the children compile a list of questions they might like to ask the leaders of the groups in their list. Examples:

What do you like best about your job?

What is the hardest part of your job?

How did you learn to do your job?

How many people work with you?

How do you try to help our community?

5. Have the class choose five or six questions from the list and use them to prepare a survey form. (Note: Keep the questions simple and few so that recipients will have the time and inclination to respond.)

6. Have the class make a list of people to whom you might send the survey (examples: the pastor of your parish, your local bishop, the principal of your school, a coach, the mayor of your town, your local representative to the state legislature, your Congressional representative, a scout leader).

7. Choose five or six people from the list. Send them the survey, either by email or "snail mail." Be sure to include a cover letter explaining the purpose of the survey, a response deadline, and a return address, either for email or "snail mail."

8. When the deadline has passed and the survey responses have come in, compile the results.

9. Analyze the responses to discover similarities and differences in the answers and prepare a final report.

10. Give each child in the class a copy of the report. Send a copy of the report to each respondent, along with a thank-you note.

Links: You may wish to use the Zoomerang Web site www.zoomerang.com to prepare and send out your survey. Once you’ve registered with Zoomerang (Zoomerang Basic is a free version of Zoomerang with a modified feature set), you can use the templates on the site to set up and manage your survey. Just type your questions and your list of email addresses into the forms provided and let Zoomerang do the rest.

Assessment: The children will be evaluated on their ability to identify various parts of the church building and a variety of liturgical objects used in the celebration of the Mass when given a verbal description of each. Alternately, the students might be evaluated on the basis of a quiz developed by the teacher or an older student and emailed to them. The quiz would consist of riddles similar to the ones the students will write themselves as part of the activity.

Catechism Correlation: An approved edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be found on the Internet at www.scborromeo.org/ccc.htm . Among the paragraphs relating to the items to be found in a Catholic church are #1182 (the altar); #1183 (the tabernacle); #1184 (the bishop’s or priest’s chair and the lectern, or ambo); and #1185 (the baptistry). You can use the Web site’s built-in search engine to find the paragraphs you need.

Created by: Jan Gagen, Director of Religious Education for Saint Mary Nativity Parish in Joliet, Illinois. She has been active in Religious Education for the past fifteen years as catechist, coordinator of primary grades, and director.

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