Primary Years 4-7

The Spirit Alive in the World

Purpose: After exploring the story of Pentecost,

students will identify the continued presence of the

Holy Spirit in their lives, contemporary society or

world events.

Activity overview:

Students will read and break open the story of Pentecost from the Acts of the Apostles, becoming

aware of the gifts the Holy Spirit brings, including the gift of courage the Apostles received to

communicate God’s word to others.

Students use contemporary literature to further explore the concept of having courage to speak and

act in life giving ways in challenging situations.

Students identify scenarios from their own experience where they believe the Holy Spirit gave them

the courage to do or say what was right in a difficult situation, and create cartoon strips to depict

this.

As a class or in small groups, students use online news resources, newspapers and other sources of

information on current events to identify the action of the Holy Spirit in a societal context.

Possible Evaluation:

Students produce a triptych depicting their learning about the Holy Spirit.

Traditionally a triptych is a set of three images, however students will be invited to choose from

several methods of expression to best suit their learning style, using either traditional or digital

resources. The first part of the triptych will retell the story of Pentecost, the second part will be their

understanding of the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of that student and the third will depict an

event or person who illustrates the action of the Holy Spirit in society.

Resources Required:

Access to computers with connection to the internet will be necessary to complete these tasks using

the digital tools suggested.

Rose meets Mr Winterbottom by Bob Graham

Newspaper article graphic organiser (supplied)

Triptych outline (supplied)

Websites accessed during this unit:

http://pentecostinformation.weebly.com/

https://bubbl.us/

http://www.stixy.com/guest/122216

http://www.toondoo.com/

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/video.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wnc

http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=110&title=

Suggested Learning Strategies:

Students familiarise themselves with the story of Pentecost. They can do this by reading the scripture

and the background information provided on the website http://pentecostinformation.weebly.com/

While reading this information, students working in groups use an online mind-mapping tool such as

Bubblus to record their thoughts and organise their understandings. A tutorial for familiarising

yourself with Bubblus can be found HERE.

An example of the type of mind-map the students could produce is below:

Read Rose Meets Mr Wintergarten by Bob Graham. This simple story has a great deal of symbolism

within the text and illustrations. While reading the story, pause to discuss times when the characters

show courage, or other gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Unpack the story by asking the students to consider:

the significance of the main characters’ names (Summers and Wintergarten) the use of colour to denote change and to elicit emotion how the students would respond if they were in Rose’s position the personal qualities Rose shows throughout the story the changes Mr Wintergarten made the responses of the other children throughout the story

Use the ThinkPad strategy to assist students fully understand the concepts introduced through the

story. Information on the ThinkPad strategy and ideas for implementation can be found HERE.

Ask students to think about situations in their own lives where they have been in a difficult situation

and needed the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance. Remind students that the Apostles were afraid

and feeling alone before they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Have the students relate their own

experiences using a tool such as ToonDoo to create a comic strip narrative. A tutorial on how to use

ToonDoo can be found HERE.

Extend the students’ thinking about the Holy Spirit’s action in the world today by examining news

items that reflect individuals showing courage, generosity, wisdom or any other of the Holy Spirit’s

gifts. Using websites such as Behind the News http://www.abc.net.au/btn/video.html or

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wnc students can access current events and news articles

that have been specifically selected for student use.

Students can use the news articles they identify to create their own ‘Holy Spirit Press’ newspaper.

The newspaper can feature retellings of the stories that they have found in the press, or stories they

have written based on events and people in the local community. Working in groups, students can

use the interactive ReadWriteThink Printing Press

(http://interactives.mped.org/view_interactive.aspx?id=110&title=) to compile the stories.

Templates for writing the articles can be found HERE.

Students can express their understanding of the actions of the Holy Spirit in Scripture, in their own

lives and in the local and wider community through constructing a triptych which depicts each of

these. A template for the triptych and further ideas for implementing this strategy can be found

HERE.

Suggested Evaluation:

Students:

o Accurately retell the story of Pentecost

o Explain some of the gifts of the Holy Spirit

o Draw the scene in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost as described in the Scripture

o Identify a time in their own lives when they felt they received strength and guidance from

the Holy Spirit

o Discuss events or actions of individuals that illustrate the Holy Spirit alive in the world today.

Ordinary or extraordinary events and actions from the everyday, local community or world

stage can be used.

Create a mindmap using Bubblus.

Bubblus is a free web application used for brainstorming sessions online. It allows users to easily create colourful online mind-maps, which can be printed, placed into documents or shared and embedded in blogs and websites. Bubblus is more flexible than hand-drawn mind-maps as it provides the ability to have multiple users working on the same map. It also allows users to access the map from wherever they are, as long as they have internet access. This is particularly useful if the teacher requires input not only from his/her classroom students, but also from other classes, or if they wish students to continue adding ideas over time.

To explore Bubblus today:

1. Go to http://bubbl.us/ Click on Start Brainstorming

2. Use the “Create Account” link in the upper right corner. if you want to save and print your webs.

3. Click and drag to select the text “Start Here”.

4. Type your desired text.

5. Click the “New Child” icon to add a bubble to your web.

6. Add the text to your new bubble.

7. Continue adding “Sibling” or “New Child” bubbles to complete your web.

8. Change the colours of your bubbles if desired using the colour selection icon which appears when you hover over a bubble. Once a colour is chosen it will easily be available to use for additional bubbles.

9. Click and drag the bubble(s) to move them if desired.

10. If you have an account set up you can choose to save and/or share your web.

11. With or without an account you can “Export” your web to be used within other programs such as Word or PowerPoint.

a. Click “Export”

b. Choose “Image” and “JPEG” or “PNG” then click “OK”.

c. Browse to the location where you want to save the image. Give the image a unique name and click “Save”.

Think Pad Strategy A Think Pad is essentially a reflective activity designed to nurture connected knowing. This form of knowing focuses on discerning relationships within parts of the information to be learned as well as forming relationships between the information and one’s own knowledge and experience. There are four dimensions to a Think Pad:

Words Students describe in one or two sentences the meaning of a text.

Pictures Students draw a sequence of pictures depicting the events described in a text.

Connections to Life Students write or illustrate how the text might apply to a real life situation in the contemporary world.

Symbols Students draw one or more symbols that might capture the key themes of a text.

Words

Symbols

Pictures

Connections to Life

If students wish to construct a ThinkPad collaboratively online, it is suggested that they use a tool such as Stixy. An example Stixy may be seen by going to: http://www.stixy.com/guest/122216

A tutorial for Stixy is below.

Sharing via Stixy.

Stixy is an online display board. It allows collaboration and interactivity. You can invite others to share thoughts, download documents, post pictures and even add to do lists. For more detailed information please click on the blue underlined link above.

To explore Stixy today:

1. Go to http://www.stixy.com/

2. Sign up for an account by selecting the blue sign up now!

button. Once you have signed up for an account you can

construct a Stixyboard.

3. The menu at the top of the Stixy interface has three

choices; create new Stixyboards, share your Stixyboard and

options. On the left hand side is a list of the Stixyboards

you have made or are a member of.

4. To place notes, photos, documents, and to do lists onto the

Stixyboard, drag and drop the necessary item from the

Widgets menu at the bottom of the interface. Each widget

has a tool bar that will appear on the right hand side of the

interface. If this does not appear select the show widget

options button in the bottom right hand corner of the

interface.

5. Using the Options button from the menu at the top of the

interface you can name the Stixyboard, set a password on

the Stixyboard and share the Stixyboard with others.

Create a Toondoo.

Toondoo is a simple drag-and-drop tool which allows students to create professional looking

cartoon strips. Each ‘toon’ is limited to up to three frames, so students must be really clear on their

message in order to deliver it succinctly and effectively. Toondoo offers a free and a paid version.

The paid version costs approximately $60/class of 30 students /year. The free version requires all

students to have an email address to sign up, and there is a chance the

students will view other Toondoos that may include inappropriate

material, although this risk can be reduced by filtering those marked

inappropriate by other users. The paid version provides a safe space

that can be completely monitored by the teacher.

To explore Toondoo today:

1. Go to http://www.toondoo.com/ and sign in using the Username: ResourceLink

and the Password: catholic

This is the free version.

2. Click on “Toondoo Maker” to create a new Toondoo

3. Choose how many frames (the layout) you want for your

comic.

4. To add characters and objects to your Toondoo, simply drag it

to the appropriate frame. To create your own character, click on

the Traitr button at the bottom of the screen.

8. Use the dialogue clouds to insert text.

9. To delete an object, click on it and then click “delete”.

10. The shrink and enlarge buttons change the size of the selected object.

11. Save the current Toondoo.

If you want to keep the comic private, you will choose it here.

12. The saved Toondoo will now appear under the “My Toondoos” tab.

13. Create a new Toondoo following the previous steps.

14. After you finish all of the Toondoos for your book, create a

“Toonbook”. Drag the Toondoos to your comic in the order you want.

Open, save and

manage files from

this button.

Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? These are thequestions reporters work to answer in their news articles.They are called the 5 Ws and an H, or just the 5 Ws for short.

Reporters try to answer the 5 Ws in all hard news stories. A hardnews story is a story about urgent or serious news. It is written usingthe inverted, or upside-down, pyramid style. This way, you get all theimportant facts first – the who, what, where, when, why, and how.Then if you want more details, you can read further.

Look at a story in the front section of today’s Dispatch.Can you find the answers to the 5 Ws?

Part 4 of 5

Discovering ‘The Dispatch’

Learning outcomes: Uses organizational strategies to plan writing; uses graphic organizers to interpret textual information; searches for answers within text to construct meaning.

Directions: Newspaper reporters write hard news stories using an inverted pyramid,so you get the most important information first. Take a look at a front-page newsstory & fill out the diagram below.

Directions: Try writing a newspaper article of your own. Pick a topic. Then answerthe questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Use the diagram below tohelp organize your information. After you have written your article, be sure to comeup with an interesting headline.

Activities

Inverted Pyramid

1. Look at the front page of today’s newspaper. For each of the news storiesthere, underline the who, what, where, when, why, and how. Did you find them atthe beginning of the story? In the middle? At the end? Discuss what you foundwith others in your class. Did you all underline the same answers? Were thequestions "why?" and "how?" always answered? Why or why not?

2. Work in pairs to conduct mock interviews. One of you is the reporter, and theother is the person being interviewed. Use a made-up topic, such as alienslanding or winning the lottery. Make sure to answer the 5 Ws for the story.Then write your story (include a great headline) & share it with the class.

3. Cut out a picture from the newspaper. Pretend you are the reporter and writeyour own story to go with the picture. Be sure to include the 5 Ws.

The 5 WsWritten by Leanna Boerger, NIE Coordinator

WHO? WHAT? WHERE?

WHY? HOW?

DETAIL

WHEN?

Be a Reporter

________________________

TOPIC

WHO

WHAT

WHEREWHEN

WHY

HOW

HEADLINE

Use this outline to create a simple triptych. Enlarge and photocopy onto A3 card,

then have students add media, images, text etc before cutting it out and folding

along the dotted lines.