The Armenian Church | Religious Education

November/December 2004

Be Prepared!

Since this month we enter the long and wondrous season of Advent preparation for Christmas, how prepared are you to teach each week? Here's a schedule to emulate (yes, we know, it's too perfect to be true.) If you're an Armenian School teacher, just move everything forward one day so you'll be ready to teach on Saturdays:

Sunday evening, review class, note necessary changes, read over next lesson
Monday call or send a card to absentees
Tuesday pray for each child in your class
Wednesday review and arrange for any needed supplies
Thursday go over lesson in-depth, see if any other items (newspaper articles, videos) that might be helpful
Friday review your lesson outline
Saturday assemble class materials
Sunday arrive in class early to set up

A Teacher’s Prayer

Everybody needs some help, guidance, and support sometimes. Remember, you're always in communication with the Lord. When you need to, recite this prayer:

Help me keep my words simple so that your message will be powerful. Help me change my teaching by (fill in every time you pray with your specific concerns).

Photo Posters

Why decorate your classroom with store-bought posters, when you can simply make your own customized posters that will delight and entertain your students?

Take color or black-and-white photos of each of your students in groups of two or three. An outdoor shot can improve the clarity of the light; fall backdrops would be colorful and very "back-to-school."

After developing your photos, choose a few to enlarge (make sure all your students are featured in your selection). You can have pictures blown up to poster size at copy shops or at kiosks in stores such as Wal-Mart. To help your posters last, laminate them, affix them to foam core with spray adhesive, or frame them.

Hang these posters in your classroom, hallway, or other visible place in your parish. Posters of your students will create a sense of belonging and pride in them, parents, teachers, and the whole school. These posters will also foster self-esteem, look great, and create smiles.

Strategies for the One-Room Schoolhouse

Many of our Sunday and Armenian schools are not large enough in number to divide into single grade groups. But size and traditional structure do not determine excellence.

Even in a one-room schoolhouse situation, the learning experience can be very rewarding. It all depends on your leadership and preparation. As one 9-year-old student put it: "We have three children and one grown-up in our group and we are all the teachers."

This child saw something of the promise rather than the problem of the very small class. Adults who work with these groups must develop the same attitude. Some guidelines:

Call the Department of Youth and Education at the Diocese (212-686-0710) and speak with Elise Antreassian in Christian education (elisea@armeniandiocese.org) or Sylva der Stepanian in Armenian education (sylvad@armeniandiocese.org). Have ready your total enrollment, the ages of the children and what staff you have available so that specific recommendations can be made. You'll be given suggestions for resource material, textbooks, and classroom activities.
Plan a time for the whole group to be together, whether in an assembly, at worship, or in a lesson that is suitable for all ages (for example singing, telling stories, of a large art project such as a mural). Then separate into smaller groupings for age-appropriate activities, perhaps at different learning stations in the same room.
Intersperse your "academic" curriculum with interesting trips as a whole school group as well as special projects for the parish, such as decorating tables for a parish function, or preparing a colorful poster announcing some parish program.
Use the older children to help teach the younger ones. Older students can help teach Bible stories, work with younger students on memorizing verses, or lead a group of younger students in hands-on projects. And we all know that while teaching they are experiencing the most effective learning possible.
All activities need to be within the range of your youngest students' skills and at the same time be stimulating for your older students. Planning also has to take into account that this same group will be together several years, so think in terms of a "five-year plan." Once a basic curriculum is in place, it will need minor modifications as the years go by.
Use your parishioners as a valuable resource. Different talents and knowledge can easily be tied to Bible stories, church doctrine, and our culture. Have a little talk on Armenian coins in teaching the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15:8). Reenact a seder in discussing the Last Supper (invite a knowledgeable Jewish friend). Read Isaiah 6:3 and tell the story of the prophet Isaiah's vision and then invite a choir member to sing and teach “Soorp, soorp.” Have a parishioner volunteer to tell a Bible story with the "clip and tell" method (while telling the story, the teller is cutting out a surprise story-related shape – get more information from Elise at the DYE). Have your pastor give the whole school a tour of the church, a visit with him as he vests so he can explain the meaning of each vestment, a trip to a local park for a "Creation" walk through nature.
Celebrate, celebrate, celebrate! Small schools are in a unique situation in that they have much to gain from intergenerational events. Celebrate Armenian Church feasts as a group, whether the Exaltation of the Cross in September, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Poon Paregentan (have a procession of Armenian saints as some Armenian villages did), Presentation of the Lord, Ascension day "vijag." Call the Diocese for help in organizing such a celebration.

Bring your faith alive for our youngest members

Looking for an exciting new way to bring the Armenian Christian faith to life for the young faithful of your parish? Along with resources and publications, the Diocese's Department of Youth and Education offers the following programs, which your parish can host. For more information on any of the programs, e-mail Yn. Arpi Kouzouian, coordinator of youth outreach, at arpik@armeniandiocese.org.

Celebrating Advent

In the Armenian Church, Advent is not a one-month preparation. Counting back from January 6, the Feast of Theophany (popularly called Armenian Christmas), the Armenian Church spends 50 days preparing for Christmas! In Armenian this is called Hisnag (Hees-nahg), which comes from the word for "fifty"or hisoon (hee-soon). Click here for some information and resources on Advent.

Armenian Culture Resources

Along with helping your students talk in Armenian, make learning the Armenian alphabet a goal of your classroom. It is never to early or late to begin. Print out the following resources to help your students.

For novices, use the alphabet lesson to teach the sounds and shapes of the Armenian alphabet.
For intermediate students, play a game of dominos. Print out the dominos, and cut along the dotted lines. Each domino has a picture on one side and a word on the other. Have players match up the pictures with the words.
Advanced students can practice their Armenian literacy by reading the history of the Armenian alphabet.

New College Ministry Site

The Diocese's new College Ministry has launched a website, www.college301.org.

The interactive website highlights resources for students to have a better understanding of their faith, heritage, and culture. It also serves as a resource center for parishes looking to strengthen their outreach to college students.

Download entire Armenian Church Educator for November/December 2004
(Very large PDF file: 8.5 MB)