Words to Remember: Chapter 13

Advent: The season in which we get ready for Christmas. The word means "coming".

Advent Activites for Families

We are now in the season of Advent, when we prepare for Christmas. Below are some links to help you and your family remember the reason for the season.

Catechetical Resources has activities for all grade levels, including instructions for making Advent Wreaths, coloring sheets and study guides.


Sadlier, publisher of our We Believe religion series has Advent activities for all ages.

CatholicMom.com has art projects, coloring sheets, games and even some recipes. They have more under lesson plans.

Catholic Advent is an old site and most of the links are bad, so skip them, but try the activities.

This site, filled with preschool activities, gives instructions for an Advent Wreath craft and lesson.

Here is another Advent Wreath craft, with prayers, and here are different directions for a traditional Advent Wreath.

Catholic Cuisine blog has recipes that help you celebrate the church liturgical year. See what they are cooking up for Advent.

Here is a beautiful Jesse Tree. It is the one my family and I are using this year.
Here are Advent prayers for children.

Family Advent activities.

Holy Heroes will send you an email every day with Advent Activities.

Don't forget the weekly mass readings. The publishers of the Faith First religion texts have weekly summaries, discussion topics and activities based on the readings. Sadlier has a similar site. Catholic Mom.com has coloring pages, worksheets, lesson plans, and more for each week. Open Wednesday has a variety of activities as well.

What is in the Church

During our church tour we talked about many of the things we see every week. When we enter the church, we use Holy Water from the Baptismal Font to bless ourselves and to remember our baptism, when we became members of the Church and were freed from Original Sin.



Just inside the church are the votive candles. When we light one to pray for someone, we remember that Jesus is the Light of the World.



In the sanctuary we see the tabernacle where the consecrated hosts, Jesus' Body are kept. When we see the red candle lit it reminds us that Jesus is truly present in the Tabernacle. We genuflect to the tabernacle when we enter the church. God's word is read at the Ambo at mass. Father showed us the Book of the Gospels and the Lectionary too. The table where Father offers God bread and wine and where that bread and wine become Jesus' body and blood is called the Altar.


Our church has many things in it to remind us of Jesus and his friends. The crucifix reminds us of Jesus and how he died for us. We have statues of Jesus, Mary, Joesph and others. On the wall are the Stations of the Cross which remind us of how much Jesus loved us to suffer such an awful death for us.

When we go to church, we need a place to sit, and so we have pews.

Things We Use During Mass

During our church tour tonight, Fr. Michael took us into the sacristy and showed us the vestments and the vessels used during mass. Here are some of the things we saw. Under the colored vestments, Fr. wears an Alb, which is a white robe.
Over the Alb, Fr. wears a stole. Priests wear the stole around their neck as a sign of the priesthood. Deacons wear theirs like a sash, across their bodies. This stole is special to Fr. Michael because it was given to him by a priest friend who is now dead.

The colored vestment that shows us the season in the Church year is the chasuble. Since this one is white, it is for feasts.

Besides looking at the vestments, Father showed us the vessels used during mass. The Paten holds the big host that Father holds up during mass. The chalice holds the wine which becomes the Blood of Christ.

The Liturgical Year

Tonite Fr. Michael showed us the vestments and we talked about what vestments are worn during the different parts of the church year. The church year beings with Advent and during Advent, which is the season during which we prepare for Christmas, the priest wears violet or purple.
Following Advent is Christmas, which is a feast, so Father wears white, often trimmed with gold.
After the Christmas season is over (it's a season in the Church, not just a day) we enter Ordinary Time and Father wears green. Ordinary time is followed by Lent, when we go back to Purple, then red for Palm Sunday and Good Friday. He wears white for the Easter Season and then it is back to Green for Ordinary Time.

Chapter 6 Words to Remember

Advent: The first season in the Church year. We prepare for the birth of Christ. The priest wears purple.

Christmas: We celebrate that God became one of us to save us. The priest wears white.

Lent: We prepare for Easter. We pray for God's mercy and remember Jesus' life and death. The priest wears purple.

The Three Days or Tridium: The three days that celebrate the passing of Jesus from death to life. They are Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter

Holy Thursday: The day of the Last Supper when Jesus first turned bread and wine into His body and blood. The priest wears white.

Good Friday: The day Jesus died. The priest wears red.

Easter: Jesus rose from the dead. We celebrate for 40 days and the priest wears white.

Ordinary time. The longest season of the Church year. It has two parts. One is between Christmas and Lent and the other is after Easter, until Advent. The priest wears green.

Check out the Mass Links

Look on the sidebar on the right. You'll see a list of links to activities and reflections on the weekly mass readings. Check them out this week and every week!

Chapter 5: The Early Church

We learned today about the early Church. First, Ms. Ruth read a story about St. Tarcisius. You can read about him here.We also learned about Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity. Here is more about them.
The final saint we studied today was St. Augustine.

Check how well you understand this lesson.

Words to Remember: Chapter 5

Acts of the Apostles: Book of the New Testament which tells the story of the work of the Apostles in the early Church.

Gospel: Means "Good News" The Gospels are the stories about Jesus.

Martyrs: Those who died for their faith.

Chapter 4: The Church Begins

This week we studied the beginning of the Church. We learned about when Jesus returned to His Father in the Ascension. We learned about the Holy Spirit coming upon the apostles. We talked about how Peter addressed the crowd in his language but that everyone heard him in their own language. We heard how different Spanish is from English and realized what gift that was. We looked at the globe and saw how far St. Paul traveled. He heard how Jesus knocked St. Paul off his horse and brought him to faith.

Check back later for more activities.

Words to Remember

Mission: A special job

Ascension: Jesus returned to his Father in heaven after being on earth for 40 days after He rose from the dead.

Pentecost: The birthday of the Church; when the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles and Mary

Church: The community of those who are baptized and follow Jesus.

Christians: Followers of Jesus Christ.

Saint Project

Tonite we learned a little about Saint Ben, St. Joseph, St. Rose de Lima, St. Francis of Assissi and St. Anthony. Thanks to all who participated!

Chapter 3: Words to Remember

These are the words you need to know this week:

Second Coming: Jesus' coming at the end of time.
Heaven: Life with God forever.
Last Judgement: Jesus coming at the end of time to judge all people.
Symbol: Something that makes us think of something else.
Saint: Someone in heaven with Jesus.

Lesson 3: Christ Will Come Again

This week we learned that not only did Jesus live 2000 years ago, He will come again! We acted out the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Here are some more activities with that story. They talk about Lent because that's when we read the story at mass. We also read how Jesus will judge us based on how we care for others. We are all looking forward to being with God forever!
Check to see how well you learned the lesson this week! Here is a crossword puzzle! If you like to write letters, try this.

Saint Project

Next week we celebrate All Saints Day. We are going to have a Saints & Symbols contest. We talked about how a symbol is something that makes us think of something else. In New Orleans a fleur de lis makes us think of football. A green tree with a star on top makes us think of Christmas. A wedding ring symbolizes the love between a husband and wife. Every student is asked to pick a saint (one canonized saint, not a football player). The student should write down the saint's name and a sentence or two about who the saint was and when/where she/he lived. For example, if the student picked Mary, the mother of Jesus, (and she's the one saint I told them they could not pick) she/he could simply write that Mary was the mother of Jesus and that she lived in Judea about 2000 years ago. I'm not asking for a long report--I know you have enough homework from school--I just want enough information to identify the saint. I am also asking the students to bring in a symbol of that saint. Again, if a student picked Mary she/he could bring in a baby doll to symbolize that she was the mother of Jesus. A crown would show that she is queen of heaven and earth. NO COSTUMES!!! and while if you want to bring a picture of the saint, that would be fine, a picture isn't a symbol, so bring something else too. If a saint is associated with a particular animal, you can bring in a picture of the animal. If a saint is the patron of an occupation, you can bring in a tool (or picture of one) used by that occupation, such as a shovel for a farmer, a doll for a mom, a piece of chalk for a teacher, a horse for a blacksmith, a chalice for a priest or a prayer book for a nun. You have to be able to tell me why you picked that symbol. This isn't meant to be hard, but hopefully you can be creative and learn a little about a saint.

Everyone got information on some saints in class. You can pick one of those, go to the library and get a book about saints or use the links below to find one.
A Saint a Day is written for kids. Kids & Saints has pictures or drawing of the saints, tells you about them and tell you what they are patrons of. Kids Zone has a saint for every day. As mentioned earlier, I want something other than a picture of the saint, but if these coloring sheets also tell you about the saints--and the information they have is the length I want your information to be. Do you have a saint's name, or do you wonder if there were ever any saints named ______? Catholic Online has one of the longest lists of saints I've ever seen. Happy hunting and check back next week for the photos!

The Finale

Act 5

Act 4

Act 3

Lazarus Act 2

Lazarus Act 1

Sunday October 19

Here are some activities to help you get more out of mass on Sunday October 19, or to help you remember what you heard.

Here are the readings, in more of a story form

You have to scroll down a little but this page has coloring sheets, games and more about the readings, not only this week but every week.

The readings themselves can be read here.

Parent's Corner: Child Protection

We had our annual lesson on child safety. The policies of the archdiocese are here. If you have any questions about what was taught, please contact me (you can comment on this post and I'm the only one who will see it as I have to approve all comments before they are posted).

Chapter 2: Words to Remember

You will see these words in our Tic-Tac-Toe games and in the contest at the end of the year.

Bible: A collection of books about God's love for us and about our call to live as God's people. It is also called Scripture.

Kingdom of God: The power of God's active love in the world.

Old Testament: The part of the bible that tells about the people of God who lived before the time of Jesus.

New Testament: The part of the Bible about the life of Jesus Christ and the beginnings of the Church.

Image: Likeness. We are made in the image of God.

Sunday Mass Readings

Read this to learn about the Sunday mass readings, and read the readings themselves too.

Sunday, October 12

All of us know that we need to attend mass each week. Here are some activities to help you get more out of mass.

Do you like word search puzzels? Here is one with words from this week's Gospel. If crossword puzzles are more your style, try this one.

Our first reading today is about Mount Sinai. Here is a game you can play. The directions are here.

Chapter 2

Besides talking about how precious we are to God, and how we can stay safe, we talked about the Bible. To see how much you remember, take this quiz. To review the words we've learned so far, and to get a head start on next week, try this puzzle.

Parents' Corner: The Rosary

I have links for parents too!

Do you want to know what the Catechism of the Catholic Church, some Vatican documents and some Popes have said about the Rosary? Do you need help saying the rosary? This is the website for you.

Do you have an I-Pod or generic MP3 player? (I bought one at the mall for $10 this weekend) Download the rosary and listen and pray on your way to work, when working out, while waiting in carpool line...This is a scriptural version, so not only will you hear the prayers but they also give scripture to meditate upon while praying.

From where did the rosary come? What is its history? Find out here.

Would you rather read than listen? Here is a scriptural rosary you can read and/or print out.

Have a great week, leave me a comment to say hi, and hug your wonderful child.

The Rosary

During October, our Church celebrates the month of the Rosary. Tonite we said part of the rosary as a group in church and had a lesson about it. Since we have a month to celebrate, I've found a lot of things for you to read and do.





How do we pray the rosary? Here is how!


Would you like to see pretty pictures showing all the mysteries?


These coloring sheets show many of mysteries of the rosary.


Here are coloring sheets of all the mysteries. Try coloring a sheet a night as you say the prayers for just that mystery.

Here is an interactive rosary. It shows you which bead you are on and how to say the prayer. Give it a try!

How would you like a coloring book of the mysteries of the rosary?

Print one of these out, or leave me a comment and you'll get a treat!

The Feast of the Most Holy Rosary

Tonite we said the rosary in church and then came back to our classroom where we colored a rosary and reviewed this beautiful prayer. Remember, I can't put your picture up here unless I have a permission slip, so bring yours in if you aren't here. Check out my links, and I'll see you next week!

Don't forget

Ms. Mickie challenged you to find the date of the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

Let's Explore

Get a picture of Mary and the angel to color. Here is one of Mary saying "Yes" to the angel, and to God.



When Jesus was twelve years old, he became separated from his parents, who found him in the temple, as shown in this puzzle.

We learned this week that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. Read more about John the Baptist here. Try your hand at this puzzle.

To remember the Blessed Trinity, make this window decoration. It is a stained glass window representing the Trinity. Artists use a triangle with three equal sides to symbolize the Blessed Trinity. There is one triangle with three equal sides. Artists use three joined circles. A circle having no beginning and no end symbolizes the Blessed Trinity’s love having no beginning or end. The joined circles symbolize the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity joined in love.
Saint Patrick used the shamrock to teach people about the Blessed Trinity because the shamrock is one plant with three leaves.

If you print one of the activities and bring it it, I'll have a treat for you.

Chapter 1: Words to know

Every week we will have words to know. Here are the ones for this week:

Blessed Trinity: Three Persons in one God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Incarnation: God the Son, Jesus, became man.
Prophet: Someone called by God to speak to the people.
Repent: To turn away from sin and to ask God for help to live a good life.
Public Ministry: Jesus work among the people.
Disciples: Those who follow Jesus
Apostles: The twelve disciples chosen by Jesus. The word apostle means "one who is sent".

Chapter 1: God Sends Us His Own Son

Today we began class by saying the Angelus, which is a prayer traditionally said at 6:00 a.m., noon and 6:00 p.m. Our parish has begun to say it before the noon and 6:00 p.m masses and children at OLDP school say it at noon. It is a prayer that tells the story of Mary saying "Yes" to God and Jesus becoming incarnate in her womb.

Next, we learned about Jesus' childhood and the beginnings of His ministry. You can read what the Bible has to say about his childhood in Luke 2 and Matthew 3 tells about Jesus' baptism.

To see how well you remember our lesson, take the test here. See you next week, and don't forget to leave a comment so I'll know you were here!

Welcome!

My name is Ruth and I will be teaching the third grade ESR class this year. I'm the mom of three and I know everyone is busy, so I've created this corner of the web as a place everyone can explore when they have time. Every week I will have more information about the topics we are studying, and hopefully, links to places to learn more. Leave a comment (with parents' permission) and I'll have a treat for you in class.

Our book this year is We are the Church and we will cover topics like the sacraments, the mass, the parish and the liturgical year. Our book has a website that goes with it.