INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS

In the beginning of the year, students will be given a basic overview of the Catholic Faith.  During the remainder of the year, students will look at the important moments of salvation history as recounted in the Old Testament, with an emphasis on the many foreshadowings of Jesus Christ.

NEEDS AND RESOURCES

Required Materials

Notebook: Must be brought to class every day. A non-spiral notebook is preferred.

The Catholic Faith Handbook for Youth: This book will be used for Part I of the course, the overview of the Catholic Faith. Students do not need to bring this book to class until they are told to do so.

New American Bible:   Students will be told when they have to begin bringing the bible to class. During Part II of the course, Old Testament Studies, they will have to bring it to class every day.

Written on Our Hearts: The Old Testament Story of God’s Love: This textbook will be used for reading and homework assignments. Students will be told when they need to bring this to class.

Additional Resources

-          Faith lived in the family of the student is the greatest resource for his own openness to the faith.

-          Mass attendance is an invaluable resource.

-          Any other participation in the life of the Church is a great resource.

-          Pertinent print handouts and internet resources might also be used in class or recommended to the students during the year.

COURSE SCHEDULE

Part 1A: The Human Person: a consideration of the nature of the human person through a consideration of our own personal human experience. This will be done through written class exercises, discussions and notes.

Part 1B: An Overview of Catholic Beliefs: This will be presented through lectures, class notes, class discussions, and readings and work from The Catholic Faith Handbook.

Part 2: The Old Testament: Readings directly from the Old Testament explicated through class discussions and class notes. The scripture study will be supplemented with background material from the Written in Our Heartstextbook.

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

General Rules:

Written Homework:

Daily homework assignments will be checked or collected in class on the due date. The purpose of daily written homework assignments is to prepare the student for class discussion and participation. Such assignments will not be accepted late because, once the topic has been discussed, completion of the assignment would no longer serve its original purpose. 

Long term assignments or take-home tests will be accepted late on the following terms: one day late will result in a 15 point penalty, two days late will result in a 30 point penalty, more than two days late will result in a 60 or less.

Handwritten homework must be handed in on clean looseleaf paper, without ragged spiral edges.

Classroom Behavior: Chewing gum or throwing garbage on the classroom floor will result in a “personal detention” to be served in Room 111 after school on the day of the infraction.   Other inappropriate classroom behavior may also result in a personal detention or a school detention. Failure to report for a personal detention will result in a school detention on the following school day. 

Bathroom Procedure: Students should use the bathroom before or after school or during lunch period. If a student must leave class to go to the bathroom, he is not to interrupt the class to ask permission. He is to sign out in the book in the back of the classroom before he leaves and sign back in when he returns. He must report after school to Room 111 that same day to make up for the class time he missed. Failure to report for this brief personal detention will result in a school detention the following school day.

Grading Policies:

Each quarterly grade will be weighted as follows:

Test performance will count for 40% of the quarterly grade.

Quiz performance will count for 40% of the quarterly grade.

Homework and Class Participation will count for 20% of the quarterly grade.

Completion of homework is the foundation for meaningful class participation.