Feast of Pentecost - Last Class of the year

 As this is the last class and Pentecost is still four weeks away, I explain this using the Liturgical Calendar so we get plenty of practice with it.   Since the first Sunday of June will be Ascension Sunday, I read to them from Acts about the Ascension.  Afterwards we begin discussing the Trinity, as the second Sunday of June is Trinity Sunday.  Before they go for the summer I want to be sure that all questions are answered regarding these feasts.  Finally we begin with the Bible story of Pentecost and I tell them what it was like back then for the Apostles.  They were so frightened and locked the doors until a driving loud wind came thru the room and tongues of fire appeared over their heads.  Then I light the candle and begin reading the Scripture.  We discuss how the Apostles received all those gifts that day and they gained great courage and were no longer afraid to go outdoors and teach the people about Jesus.  In fact, they could speak in many languages.  Then I light the Paschal Candle and tell them to listen carefully as I describe each gift because I will ask them to choose which gift they would like to have for themselves if they could have just one. 

  As I light the first candle from the Paschal Candle, I name a gift and ask a child to read the meaning of the gift from the poster.  Then I talk about it more while placing a small card naming the gift in front of the candle.  I light each candle from the Paschal Candle and do the same until all seven gifts are explained.  I just noticed that while taking this photo I left out the 7th Gift - Fear of the Lord "Awe"  (Will correct at a later date).

  Now I ask each child which gift they have chosen.  When they choose their gift, I give them their own red votive candle to hold during the ceremony which is lit from the specific gift candle.  They love this ceremony and take it very seriously when choosing.

    I always give them a little foldout booklet of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit which I order from Autom every year.  It also gives the definition of each.  This year we made a mobile of a dove out of a paper plate with the 7 Gifts hanging from it to take home.  I also have the Venn Diagram of the Trinity pictured above the prayer table which I give them to color every year.   Another diagram I give out is of a tree showing the roots of the tree as the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, while the Fruits of the Holy Spirit are named on all the branches. 

The Fettuccia - the Story of Creation, the Parable of the Leaven and Calligraphy

The Parable of the Leaven I save until the very end of the year.  We have one more class after this which will be the Pentecost Celebration, a candle ceremony.  The children love making the Leaven Bread and I tell them to take their biscuit home and bake it at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.   Then they can put butter, jelly or icing on it.  When the class is as big as this one is they can only make one biscuit so that everyone has a chance to do this work.  I am so thankful to have a wonderful aide who is supervising the children do this while I take care of the rest of the class.  There are 15 in the class.  Today I let four of the boys go outside and do The Fettuccia - a big favorite while waiting their turn to do The Leaven.  The Fettucia is one of the first presentations I give in Level II.  In Arizona it's too cold and windy in the winter and now that it's Spring, the weather is perfect for it,   Next week it will be the girl's turn.  These are some of the photos I took from today's class and the different work they chose to do. 

 The above photo shows how I set the materials up before the children get to the atrium.  I keep warm water in the coffee pot.  Two buckets of soapy water and clear water with towels are for clean up after each child's work.  We write their names on the plastic cups in felt tip to take home.

I first review the Kingdom of God and the Mustard Seed, The Pearl of Great Price and the Hidden Treasure.  And tell them that this is another way Jesus told the people what the Kingdom of God was like.  I explain to them what yeast really is - a living organism!  This really gains their attention.  I make one batch without the yeast and one with.  I cover it and at the end of the class they will discover how the yeast actually raises the dough double the size. 

 

 The Fettuccia

        Sometimes the children come late in the year and have missed this work.  So I make sure they come outside with this group and explain the Fettuccia - The Story of Creation to  these latecomers.  (Fettuccia is Italian for ribbon.)

        This boy is placing the symbol which represents the explosion scientists call "The Big Bang" and the Bible verse that goes with creation, "God created the heavens and earth and all things" - Creation.  

        In the photo below the boys have placed the "gaseous globe" which represents earth and the other planets millions of years after creation.  This is when the planets were so hot and there were explosions everywhere.  But then it rains for millions and millions of years, and finally the earth symbol is placed on the blue ribbon representing the earth and other planets cooling down as now the waters recede from the land and there are distinct continents on earth.

       The boy in the photo below is reading aloud the Story of Creation as the others participate by adding the wooden materials which tell the story.

       The blue ribbon then becomes brown, representing earth.  The first plant cell symbol is placed and tens of thousands of years later there are trees, plants and flowers all over the world and those symbols are placed.  We always discuss how we need oxygen from the plants to breath and our symbiotic relationship with growing things.  We discuss how everything has a purpose under heaven.  Finally there are animals - fish, birds and horses.  (All the symbols are cutout and made from wood.)

     Below the boys are now placing the first man and now it is time for Jesus to be born and die on the cross for our Salvation - Redemption.  The two Bible verses are also placed about God creating man in his own image and later when God felt the time was right for man to be born.  Finally Jesus' birth and death on the cross - our Redemption!  A Star, a Risen Christ is placed along with the Bible verse.




Finally, there is a white ribbon which represents present time.  The boys place the white pages which are blank.  This represents our personal history on earth and how we will live out our lives.

Finally the symbol for the Parousia is placed along with the Bible verse where we will see "God in His All and All."  (photo below)

This boy is reeling in the ribbon after everyone is finished.  They all help putting materials away.







We use a small plastic container placed in a wooden cart with wheels.  (shown below)  So it can be dragged along as the children place the materials and put them away.  It's easily stored under one of our tables in the atrium.

There is also art work that goes along with this work on Creation as there is for every Bible Story in the atrium.  Two of the boys decided to make the Creation Book as they came later in the year and didn't know this work.  So here is one of the boys working on it below.

                                         Calligraphy

Four of the children spent their time tracing calligraphy letters from the calligraphy books.  These are presented as the way the Bible was made in ancient times by hand.