Lower Primary: Symbols and Gifts of the Holy Spirit
1. If we can’t see something, is it really there? Read a children’s book about things that are real but you cannot touch them. Some ideas are:
- Mr Bear Branches and the Cloud Conundrum by Terri Rose Baynton
- The Curious Guide to Things that Aren’t by John D. Fixx and James F. Fixx
You may like to draw a comparison between the Holy Spirit and an imaginary friend who really exists:
- Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer and Oliver Jeffers
2. We can’t see the Holy Spirit, but we know it is there. The Holy Spirit is represented in seven ways in the Bible: Dove, Flame, Wind, Oil, Water, Cloud, Light. Copy these words into your journal or workbook and draw a picture of each.
3. Play Holy Spirit Pictionary. Put the names of the seven symbols of the Holy Spirit in a hat. Students randomly choose a word, keeping it to themselves. They then draw a picture of it on the whiteboard and other students take turns guessing what they are drawing.
4. What is the Sacrament of Confirmation? Why are we Confirmed?
- We receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, specifically receiving an increase of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
- Completes the Sacrament of Baptism, and therefore more firmly unites us with Christ, the Church, and God as our Father
- We receive a special strength and character to witness, spread, and defend the Gospel
5. Consider how each sign/action from the sacrament of reconciliation connects with the meaning of the sacrament. Consider the following: renewing Baptismal promises, Bishop extends his hand in blessing, Anointing with oil, Laying on of hands, Statement: ‘Be sealed with the Holy Spirit’. Consider presenting your findings in a cause-and-effect graphic organiser, such as a T-chart. You can find a printable version here and a virtual version here.
For younger students, you may like to put the causes in one side of the table and get the students to cut out and glue the effects in the other side of the table.
Answers: Confirmation completes the Sacrament of Baptism, Outpouring of the Holy Spirit, receive the Holy Spirit, completes Baptism, united with Christ (the Anointed One, Messiah), Strength and character to witness to the Gospel, Indelible seal/character to witness; receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
6. Watch this lovely video on the Gifts of the Spirit with sign language from One LifeMusic on Youtube.
7. Make a list of the gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel (right judgment), fortitude (courage), piety (reverence), and fear of the Lord (wonder and awe). Divide students into groups and have them create a flame with one of the gifts upon it that you can hang on the wall. You will find a template here.
8. Give each student a dove template. On one side, they write the Gift of the Spirit they would most like to receive, on the other side, they write how they plan to live out that gift. You can then hang the doves from the roof of the classroom, so that it looks like they are flying.
9. Pray this prayer from ‘The Religion Teacher’ together:
A Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Lord Jesus Christ, send down your Spirit upon me.
When I am uncertain, grant me wisdom.
When I am confused, grant me understanding.
When I am ignorant, grant me knowledge.
When I am wandering, grant me counsel.
When I am afraid, grant me fortitude.
When I am separated from you, grant me piety.
When I am selfish, grant me the fear of the Lord.
I ask for an outpouring of your Spirit with all of these gifts in your name.
Amen.
Upper Primary: Symbols and Fruits of the Holy Spirit
1. What is a symbol? What are some symbols we see every day? Why do we need to represent the Holy Spirit as a symbol?
2. What are the Symbols of the Holy Spirit? Make a table in your book or on your tablet with three columns and eight rows. Use the following headings: Symbol, What it represents in the Holy Spirit, Evidence from the Bible. Students can fill out the columns individually or complete a jigsaw activity, where they are divided into groups to find the answer that they take back to their home group to share.
3. The Fruits of the Spirit
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-Control
4. Watch this YouTube video on The Fruits of the Spirit from KidSpring Children's Ministry. Practice the song and create a performance for assembly.
Here’s some explanation of the Fruits of the Spirit and another song to practice from Saddleback Kids.
5. Read Galatians 5:22-25.
6. What is an Epistle? Who were the Galatians? Where and when did they live? What is the Epistle to the Galatians and who wrote it? Why was it written?
7. Read Luke 6:44. How does this relate to the verses from Galatians?
8. Read Matthew 7:17-20. How does this relate to the verses from Galatians and Luke?
9. What is the difference between the Gifts of the Spirit and the Fruits of the Spirit?
10. Journal questions: Which fruits of the Spirits are you doing well? Why? How do you plan to keep doing well in these areas? Which do you need to work on? Why? How do plan to improve on these areas?
11. Fruits of the Spirit “Exit Cards”: On a blank note card, have students list the seven fruits of the Holy Spirit from memory, without looking them up. Students are not allowed to exit the room until they hand the teacher their completed exit card/exit ticket.
Lower secondary: The gifts of the Holy Spirit, social justice and popular culture
1. Read ‘The gifts of the Holy Spirit’ by Dana Sutherland in Australian Catholics.
Students take turns reading the article together using the round robin or popcorn strategy:
- In RRR, students read orally from a common text, one child after another, while the other students follow along in their copies of the text.
- Popcorn Reading: A student reads orally for a time, and then calls out “popcorn” before selecting another student in class to read.
While other students read out loud, the listeners underline or highlight the main points in the article.
How to find the right keywords when reading?
- Keywords you underline are usually nouns, a group of nouns, verbs etc.
- Names (names of scientists, people etc. involved in the story)
- Locations (town, city, country etc.)
- Years or dates (1978, 12 Oct 1982 etc.)
- Figures (1.2 million, 20000 etc.)
- You may mark any word or phrase
Then students put the article in context using the RAFT strategy.
RAFT: after reading the article together, students identify the Role (from whose point of view), Audience (the specific reader to whom the piece is being written), Form or Format (a letter, memo, list, email, etc.), Topic (specific subject of the writing).
Students then make a summary of the main points in the article in a table. The table should have three columns: The gifts of the Holy Spirit, Explanation, example.
Techniques and tips for notetaking from UNSW:
- Write phrases, not full sentences.
- Take notes in your own words.
- Structure your notes with headings, subheadings, and numbered lists.
2. Read the article ‘The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit in Marvel movies’ by Thea Kurniawan in Australian Catholics magazine.
Before reading, ask students:
Preview
- What is the title of the article?
- Does the title provide you with any clues as to what the article might include?
- Do the images, artwork, or graphics provide you with any clues as to what the article might include?
Identify
- What is the author’s name?
- Do you know of any other works by this author?
- Who published this article? When?
- What is a magazine?
- Why do people read magazines?
- Who do you think reads this magazine? Why?
- Does the date of publication tell you anything about the contents of the article?
Predict
- Is this a fiction or non-fiction article?
- Describe how the article is organised.
- Based on the above information, what predictions can you make about the article?
Summarise
- Read the summary at the start of the article.
- Based on the summary, answer as many of the following questions as possible:
- Who is the article about?
- What is the article about?
- When did the events in the article take place?
- Where did the events in the article take place?
- Why did these events take place?
Connect
- What is the topic of this article?
- Do you know anything about this topic based on your personal experiences?
- Can you think of any other works you have read or seen that are also about this topic?
Next, students begin a KWL chart on the article.
Students then practice guided silent reading.
- Ask students to read to the first heading and then take a break to discuss the content and check for understanding.
- Ask students if there are any sections that they feel are particularly important? Encourage them to go back over the text and underline or highlight the main points/important parts. Allow for simultaneous responses during discussion by asking students to fill out their KWL chart. Check for understanding by monitoring who is able to formulate a response in writing and who is not.
- Repeat for each section of the article until the entire article has been read.
After reading:
- Visualise: Draw a detailed picture of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Students can represent what they read as a picture or symbol, incorporating words, phrases, and/or quotations into their drawing. Students can be literal or symbolic in their thinking. Describe your picture using at least three complete sentences.
- Compare: Compare yourself to one of the subjects in the article. Include two similarities and two differences.
- Describe: Which gift of the Spirit would you most like to receive? Why? How do you plan to live out that gift?
Upper Secondary: Pope Francis’s Homily on the solemnity of Pentecost – What does it tell us about the Holy Spirit?
Read 'Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis', St Peter's Basilica, Sunday, 5 June 2022.
Before reading, ask students:
Preview
- What is the title of the document?
- Does the title provide you with any clues as to what the document might include?
- Do the images, artwork, or graphics provide you with any clues as to what the document might include?
Identify
- What is the author’s name?
- Do you know of any other works by this author?
- Who published this article? When?
- What types of document is this?
- Why would people read it?
- Who do you think reads this document? Why?
- Does the date of publication tell you anything about the contents of the document?
Predict
- Is this a fiction or non-fiction document?
- Describe how the document is organized.
- Based on the above information, what predictions can you make about the document?
Summarize
- Read the summary at the start of the article.
- Based on the summary, answer as many of the following questions as possible:
- Who is the document about?
- What is the document about?
- When did the events in the document take place?
- Where did the events in the document take place?
- Why did these events take place?
Connect
- What is the topic of this document?
- Do you know anything about this topic based on your personal experiences?
- Can you think of any other works you have read or seen that are also about this topic?
Next, students begin a KWL chart on the article.
Students then practice guided silent reading.
- Ask students to read to the first heading and then take a break to discuss the content and check for understanding. Ask students if there are any sections that they feel are particularly important. Encourage them to go back over the text and underline or highlight the main points/important parts.
- Allow for simultaneous responses during discussion by asking students to fill out their KWL chart. Check for understanding by monitoring who is able to formulate a response in writing and who is not.
- Repeat for each section of the article until the entire document has been read.
How to find the right keywords when reading:
- Keywords you underline are usually nouns, a group of nouns, verbs etc.
- Names (names of scientists, people etc. involved in the story)
- Locations (town, city, country etc.)
- Years or dates (1978, 12 Oct 1982 etc.)
- Figures (1.2 million, 20000 etc.)
- You may mark any word or phrase
Then students put the article in context using the RAFT strategy. RAFT: after reading the document, students identify the Role (from whose point of view), Audience (the specific reader to whom the piece is being written), Form or Format (a letter, memo, list, email, etc.), Topic (specific subject of the writing).
Students then make a summary of the main points in the article in a Cornell note-taking table.
Techniques and tips for notetaking from UNSW:
- Write phrases, not full sentences.
- Take notes in your own words.
- Structure your notes with headings, subheadings, and numbered lists.
Check for understanding by asking students to write answers to the following questions, using complete, well-structured sentences.
1. According to Pope Francis, what does the Spirit teach us ‘in the great journey of life’?
2. According to Francis, what comes first ‘love’ or ‘our keeping, our fidelity and our devotion? Why?
3. Where should we begin ‘in the great journey of life’?
4. How does the Spirit remind us of this? How does this work?
5. How does the Spirit help us when we have problems, hurts and worries?
6. How does the Spirit teach us ‘what paths to take’?
7. What things are not encouraged by the Holy Spirit?
8. How is the Holy Spirit practical?
9. How does the Holy Spirit teach us ‘how to walk’?