1. Home
  2. Catholic Resources
  3. Liturgical Year
  4. Easter
  5. Easter Lesson Plan Grades 7-8

Easter Lesson Plan Grades 7-8

  

Enjoy this Easter lesson plan, suitable for young people in grades 7–8.

Objectives

Young people will

  • explain why Easter is the most important day of the Christian calendar.
  • describe the connection between the meaning of the Apostles’ Creed and Easter.
  • describe the connection between the Apostles’ Creed and the baptismal promises.
  • identify the different accounts of the Resurrection.
  • discuss how they can be witnesses to the Resurrection in everyday life.

Materials

Student Handout A (The Resurrection)

Student Handout B (Renewing Our Baptismal Promises)

Student Handout C (Prayer Service)

Student Handout D (Who Did That?)

Family Handout (The Days Following Easter)

a white cloth

a clear bowl

Centering

Ask the young people how their families usually celebrate Easter. Ask: Who goes to visit relatives? Who has relatives come to visit? Do any of your families dye Easter eggs? Whose families have baskets of food blessed for Easter? Allow time for the young people to respond. Then ask: Are there other Easter customs your families have?

Remind the young people that Easter is the most important day in the Christian calendar because it is the day we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. Say: During the Easter season we remember that Jesus was raised from the dead and that he ascended into heaven. Just as Jesus’ followers were prepared to proclaim the good news of his Resurrection, we too can prepare to live out our faith better.

Sharing

Read aloud the first part of the Apostle’s Creed or ask a young person to recite it. Then hand out Student Handout A, The Resurrection. Ask the young people to read the first paragraph. Then ask for examples of good people who had died before Jesus came. (Adam and Eve, Moses, the prophets)

Divide the class into four groups and have each group read a different account of the Resurrection. The different accounts are

  • Matthew 28:1–10
  • Mark 16:1–11
  • Luke 24:1–12
  • John 20:1–18

Ask young people to list at least four events described in their passages and then present the events to the entire group. When they have finished presenting, have the young people silently read the rest of the handout.

Tell the young people that Easter is a special time to remember our Baptism and to renew the promises our parents made for us at our Baptism. Pass out Student Handout B, Renewing Our Baptismal Promises. Discuss how our baptismal promises reflect what we say we believe in the Apostles’ Creed. Then have the young people write a short prayer that expresses how they will serve the world because of their beliefs.

Acting

Bring in a clear bowl and fill it with water. Place it on a white cloth in the center of the room. Have the young people gather around the bowl for the prayer found on Student Handout C, Prayer Service. Proceed with the prayer service, inviting everyone to pause before and after the Scripture reading. After the young people have had a few moments to reflect on their baptismal promises, invite them to come forward and bless themselves with the water. When all have blessed themselves, continue with the final words of the service. Conclude with the Sign of the Cross.

Pass out Student Handout D, Who Did That? Then have the young people complete the activity as a review of the events of Easter.

Remind the young people that Easter is the most joyful time of the year and that we celebrate it for 50 days. Have them make a list of ways they can be witnesses to the Resurrection of Jesus to their families and parish communities.

Family Component

Print out the handout The Days Following Easter and have the young people take it home to their families.

Enriching the Faith Experience

Resurrection Headlines

Write these Scripture references on the board:

  • Matthew 28:1–15
  • Mark 16:1–8,9–13
  • Luke 24:1–12,13–35,36–43
  • John 20:1–10,11–18, 9–23,24–29

Have each young person pick a reference and create a headline for a news story based on the passage. Have the young people print the headline on a 2x12 inch strip of paper.

The Glorious Mysteries

Divide the young people into five groups. Ask each group to choose one of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary and to draw the characters in the scene. Have each group cut out their drawings and glue them to a long sheet of butcher’s paper to create a frieze.

Resurrection Interviews

Direct the young people to write imaginary interviews with the people to whom the risen Jesus appeared (Simon Peter, John, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Thomas, the disciples at Emmaus, the apostles) or with the soldiers, Pontius Pilate, or the chief priests.