Reviewing the Sacraments- Confirmation

 Happy Pentecost!

Enjoy some good music about the Holy Spirit while you read a long post.

We are still in the midst of reviewing the Sacraments in my 5th grade classroom.  Last week, to tie in with Pentecost, we reviewed the Sacrament of Confirmation.  As we are doing these reviews, I am not covering all of the content that we have already discussed, but just trying to drive home a few points for them to remember.

My points this time:
-You receive the Holy Spirit in a unique way at your Confirmation.
-That Holy Spirit is the same Holy Spirit that has always been, from the creation of the world to Pentecost to now.
-At Confirmation, you receive the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, which help you on your journey as a Christian.

So here is the activity:

Give each student a piece of 8 1/2 x 11" paper that is either yellow, orange, or red. (9 x 12" construction paper works just fine too.)

Have them fold it into eighths- ending up with pieces that are 2 3/4 x 4 1/4".  They can then cut on those lines, ending up with eight pieces of paper.  Have them set one piece aside.

Have them take one and draw some kind of flame shape that takes up most of the small sheet of paper.  You could provide a template, but this might be a good opportunity for them to explore their artistic ability and creativity.  They can all look different (see below).  To save time, the students can cut out one flame and then trace it on the stack of six remaining sheets and cut out 2-3 at a time.  This depends on the age and small motor skills of your students.

Then, have them trade the remaining 1/8 of the sheet with someone who had a different color from them.  Have them cut it into 7 strips of equal size. ( I had some students cut it into 8 "squares" and then just throw one away. Whatever works.)

On those seven strips, write the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, knowledge, understanding, fear of the Lord, piety, counsel, and fortitude.

Then on each of the flames, write a brief explanation of the seven Gifts. 

Here are the definitions we used, but you could create your own age appropriate ones or have the students come up with their own.

-helps us see and follow God's will in our lives
-helps us to love others as Jesus calls us to do
-brings us to know more about God and his plan
-aids us in making good choices
-helps us to see God's presence in the world
-strengthens us to give us courage to evangelize
-makes it possible for us to love and respect all God's creation

Then have the kids glue the flames in a notebook (or large sheet of paper.)
We put them in our Sheen Notebooks.

Their next task is to match the Gifts with the descriptions and glue them in.

We added the reminder that "The same Holy Spirit that comes to us at our Confirmation came to the Apostles and Mary at Pentecost!"

We also added the Scripture from Acts 2:1-4- "When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire  distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance."

Here are some student examples of their flames: Come Holy Spirit!