Free Printable Lent Lesson Plans

Catholic Relief Services is the single largest non-governmental relief agency in the world. Each year at Lent CRS initiates what is called 'Operation Rice Bowl'. Operation Rice Bowl is a program which focuses our attention on the cardinal aims of the Lenten season: prayer, fasting and alms-giving.

The Rice Bowl project consists of a cardboard box which when assembled, looks very much like the take out boxes that rice comes in. The Rice Bowl is a box which families set up in their homes during Lent to collect loose change and offerings for the poor and hungry of the world. Operation Rice bowl also includes a Lenten prayer calendar with devotional activities, feast days and stations of the cross. Each calendar day has a prayer focus. Specific information about world poverty statistics and needs from around the world are listed also. These lessons could work for classroom, homeschool, CCD, Sunday School, 4H and scouts. Great for social studies, geography and volunteerism. Here are free printable Lenten Rice Bowl activities, Devotional and Lesson Plans. 

The Cove Dolphin Slaughter Documentary and other Ecology movies for Earth Month

Earth Day, formerly called Arbor Day, is celebrated on April 22. Spring manifests itself in a big way in April, so the entire month has come to be known as Earth Month. During this month, you can learn more about geology and earth science with these environmental films and movies about ecology. Explore earth-safe and not-so-earth-safe practices. Discover how local habits have global impacts.

"Crude: The Real Price of Oil" (2009): In "Crude" filmmaker Joe Berlinger profiles the "Amazon Chernobyl" case, in which 30,000 indigenous Ecuadorean Rain Forest inhabitants took on oil mogul, Chevron. This film won several dozen awards including Best Green Film and Best Documentary. This film resonates with oil spill victims and those who oppose Big Oil.

"The Cove" Louie Psihoyos goes behind-the-scenes with a camera team to uncover atrocities wrought by the Japanese fishing industry. Psihoyos captures rare, secret footage of dolphin slaughter and harmful mercury poisoning oceans, waterways and the ecosystem. The Cove won an Oscar for Best Documentary and the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award. Parents and teachers should view "The Cove" before showing the film to children. Graphic scenes of dolphin slaughter may be too disturbing for children under 12.

"Blackfish" This documentary exposed abuse of orca "killer whales" at SeaWorld and other animal amusement parts. It tells the story of Tilikum, a captive orca whale who killed his trainer. 

"Soylent Green" (1973): In the style of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," Richard Fleischer's science fiction thriller explores a future world in which the population explosion is depleting all the world's food sources. Scientists discover a mysterious miracle food and call it "soylent green." No one knows what it's made from, nor cares so long as it fills hungry bellies. Then a reporter discovers the horrible truth.

"No Impact Man" (2009): This chronicles a family that transitions from a fast-paced New York City consumer lifestyle to become the perfect green family. Their goal is to leave zero carbon footprint and no environmental impact for one year. Colin Beaven is the "No Impact Man."

"Dirty Business: Clean Coal and the Battle for our Energy Future" (2009): In this documentary film, the Center for Investigative Reporting demonstrates the dangers inherent in a world addicted to coal power.

Free Printable Dr Seuss Coloring Pages, Crafts, Activities

Celebrate 'Read Across America' and Dr. Seuss's birthday March 2, with free printable Dr.Seuss coloring pages, lessons, crafts, puzzles, games and activities.  Dr. Seuss coloring pages include the Grinch, the Lorax, the Sneetches, The Cat in the Hat, Horton and more Seuss friends.Homeschool Share has many free printable Dr. Seuss worksheets, coloring pages and activities.

Free printable lesson plans on Global Awareness and Activism Activities

In industrialized 'first world' countries, we live in consumer-driven, insular communities. We have little exposure to and less contact with those living in poverty. Global issues don't impact us. We consume grotesque quantities of natural resources. We use goods wantonly, we burn vast amounts of fossil fuel every second. We let good clean water run down the drain endlessly. We turn fertile land in landfills which we cram with  waste plastic, paper, yard waste, glass, metal. 

Here are links to websites that are all about raising awareness, student and adult alike. These online resources have free printable lesson plans on empathy, volunteering, reducing carbon footprint, activism. Ironically, school paper waste is a huge part of pollution. So lets reduce this by printing responsibly and using online resources.  

The Hunger Site and partner sites provide free printable global awareness resources for teachers and homeschoolers. Get free printable ecology and environment lesson plans to teach students about the dangers of global warming, rainforest exploitation, expansionism, imperialism, urban sprawl, pollution, deforestation, water shortage, poverty and hunger.

Here are more free printable ecology and environment lesson plans help students explore world hunger, poverty, disease and famine from a social justice perspective. Smithsonian Education offers free printable conservation, ecology and environment activities on pollution, world poverty, famine and disease. Why Hunger has free activities on natural resources, world hunger, distribution of wealth and poverty.

Feeding Minds helps teachers and students explore world hunger and poverty inside out and provides many free printable educational resources. Rain-tree has free printable rainforest, ecology and environment activities. Students learn about deforestation, wildlife preservation, pollution, depletion of natural resources and more. Eduweb offers students online games and free printable resources to explore the Amazon rainforest and the environment.

School Service Projects, Student Community Volunteer Activities for Kids

School Service Project, Community Volunteer Activities Use this lent alms giving project to practice spiritual exercises of fasting, prayer and sharing. Service project can be adapted for public school use. Good way to get school required community volunteer credits for high school students. May be used for alternative education extra credit, too. Activities focus on Social Justice, World Church, missions and prayer. Muslims may wish to use this project for Islamic zakat giving. Jewish families might use this for an alms giving activity, too. Lesson plans include social studies and math extensions; multiplication, division, counting, sorting, grouping and story problems. Great education for all children. Use for CCD, religious education, classroom service project, homeschool, scout troop, 4H group and more!

* Collect gently used clothing for warming centers.

* Wash used stuffed animals to a children's hospital or nursing home. Sew a little heart on donations for sweet little no-cost good deeds.

* Print and color Bible coloring pages, write messages on the back and send to lonely senior citizens.

* Visit a nursing home and lead a sing-along. This is great friendship building volunteer work for kids!

* Bring tea and cookies to a shut-in neighbor; stay to visit. Gifts of time are the highest form of almsgiving.

* Shovel a disabled person's walk (or mow grass in warmer climates). These no-cost good deeds are so appreciated.

* Plant a tree and nurture it. What great donations of time and talent.

* Pick up trash in the park. The whole community benefits from this ROAK.

* Call grandma.

* Skype or FaceTime with your annoying older brother in college.

* Fold your sister's clothes.

* Tidy dad's work area.

* Cook, serve and clean up dinner. Mom will love these donations of time and talent.

* Donate used puzzles to the library.

* Repair gently used toys and bring to the mission thrift store.

* Drop used books in Green Earth Books boxes.

* Teach your little brother to play a song on your guitar.

* Knit a blanket for a new baby (little blankets make great starter project for kid knitters).

* Bike to the store to pick up your elderly neighbor's prescription.

* Fix up your old bike and give to the neighbor's child.

* Wash gently used clothes and drop in Goodwill donations box.

* Make a meal for someone who had surgery.

* Let your little sister pick the TV show.

* Do volunteer work for kids in your family. Play Legos with your little brother.

* Have a free garage sale. Or put gently used give-aways on the curb for people to take. This volunteer work for kids can have a network of positive connections.

* Fill a bag of groceries and leave it on your laid-off neighbor's porch.

* Draw and frame a picture for your priest's, rabbi's, minister's office.

* Write your doctor a note thanking her for caring for you.

* Find out what the food pantry needs, go shopping, bring groceries.

* Paint a pretty mug for your teacher and fill it with her favorite coffee.

* Attend a funeral (this isn't exactly volunteer work for kids, but it is a very generous gift and not always so easy to give).

* Cheerfully clean your room without being asked.

* Leave a plant for your mail carrier.

* Babysit your irritating cousins for free (awesome ROAK!)

* Help your grumpy neighbor wash his car (this volunteer work for kids may not involve money, but it will cost patience!)

* Eat only vegetables once a week and put donate money to food pantry.

Ash Wednesday Lenten calendars, Lent Lesson Plans

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the single largest non-governmental relief agency in the world. Each year at Lent, CRS Rice Bowl collects millions of dollars for global poverty from nickels and dimes of Catholic parishioners. CRS Rice Bowl focuses attention on the Lenten virtues of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The CRS Rice Bowl is a cardboard box which, when assembled, looks like a Chinese restaurant take-out box. During Lent, families place a CRS Rice Bowl in their homes to collect loose change for the poor and hungry of the world. The CRS Rice Bowl packet includes Lenten calendars with devotional activities, prayers, feast days and stations of the cross. Each calendar day has a global prayer focus with specific information about the country in need. Here are CRS Rice Bowl activities, printables, prayers, games, crafts and recipes. Use these Lenten lesson plans to teach social studies, history, economics, geography, language arts, culture, science and religious education 

Social studies lesson plans. Explore countries served by Lenten rice bowl. Lenten calendars list information about the seven countries (one for each week of Lent) supported by the CRS Rice Bowl. Each year CRS Rice Bowl highlights different countries to help. Lenten calendars introduce a person from each country and explain some of the conditions. Lenten calendars share recipes from that country. Printables, lesson plans and learning activities are provided to supplement the CRS rice bowl. 

Science and geography lesson plans. Research the seven countries served by Operation Rice Bowl. Hang a wall-sized world map. Create maps for CRS Rice Bowl countries and regions. Attach maps to wall with yarn indicating where they are on world map. Make a chart or graphic organizer showing cause and effect of poverty in each country (drought, poor sanitation, terrain, natural disasters, political regimes, military coups, loss of industry, urban crowding, etc.). Create and display a time line, running along the wall. Draw a separate line for each country to show events in each. Draw a world timeline and list important global events. Illustrate maps and time lines with native animals, artifacts and natural resources. Use printables for maps, charts and coloring pages. 

Language arts lesson plans. Write letters through Catholic Relief Services to children in each country. Write country name, language, region, capitol and keywords from each country. Use as vocabulary and spelling words. Have children create country booklets, using free social studies printables from Enchanted Learning. Older kids could create reading response journals and include maps and writing projects. Or have kids make scrapbooks. 

Make and try CRS Rice Bowl recipes included. Cooking is great hands-on application for math, chemistry and science lesson plans. Explore ethnic markets in your area and online to find the ingredients you need. Look for others foods that are similar. Be sure to emphasize meatless recipes. Research and discuss the biomes and habitats of the countries. What plants grow native in these regions? What animals are native? What is the terrain and climate? Explore other recipes from these areas or similar regions. See website for links on world research. Design a world cookbook and sell copies to raise money for the CRS Rice Bowl. 

Check out Catholic Relief Services Family site for more ideas. Use the Educators page for loads more social studies printables, lesson plans, activities, word games, puzzles, kids newsroom, interactive online activities and games. Use the Catholic prayer calendar in following Lenten calendars. Most schools incorporate calendar activities in their day. Include the prayers and information in your calendar routine.