Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Feast of St. Nicholas

I introduced my religious ed students to St. Nicholas this past weekend.
A bit early but it was the class before his Feast Day ~ December 6th.

I was careful not to state the truth about Santa since it's not my place to have
this discussion with 6 year olds.
One of the students asked me in shock, "Santa knows Jesus?"
My reply,"yes, he loves Jesus very much."

All of these ideas came from wonderful Catholic Bloggers and the St. Nicholas Center.



I included the chocolate coins in my photo but removed them before my students came in.
Without their knowledge, I quietly handed their parents a paper bag which consisted of instructions on how to use the coins if they so wish, a few St. Nicholas chocolate gold coins
and a picture of St. Nicholas.

The Jesse Tree Book was made using the ornaments which were created by Michele at Michele Quigley Blog.  Thank you Michele!  I wanted my students to learn about The Jesse Tree and we only had a short time, so I printed the ornaments on paper and assembled them into my attempt at a "home made book."  I included the meaning of each ornament, the corresponding scripture verse and the day number.  I'm praying that my students have been using them at home with their families!  As a class, the students wrote in the name of the event or person in their books.



My local library had these cute stories of St. Nicholas.
In class, we only had time for one book so I chose The Baker's Dozen.
It was a hit!


The actual Advent wreath and table clothes belong to the classroom teacher.



The cute St. Nicholas holy cards came from the St. Nicholas Center.



The idea to turn Santa into St. Nicholas also came from the St. Nicholas Center.
They have easy to follow instructions and a miter template for various sizes of chocolate Santas.
The challenge was finding individually wrapped Santa's which I could use that wasn't too expensive.



The document for the vintage St. Nicholas pictures is from the talented Jessica at Shower of Roses.
She so generously shares her ideas and resources with her readers.
Thank you Jessica!


Advent Blessings,
Noreen
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4 comments:

  1. It looks just LOVELY! I would loved to been one of them and have you as my religious ed teacher :) I also love the St. Nicholas Center but always seem to remember ordering from there when it is too late. Great job spreading the faith on St. Nicholas!

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    1. You are very kind Patty! Thank you for your encouragement and visit!

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  2. You picked some great ideas for your lesson. It reminds me I need to take some time to prep for 2nd Gr RE Epiphany lesson. I like the idea you had to make something to send home for the parents to do as a family. Thanks!

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  3. Just lovely, Noreen! Your sweet students are blessed by you, no doubt! Thank you for being a warrior for our faith:)

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