To prepare for their Confirmation, young people are required to pick a saint’s name similar to the name they were given at Baptism. Often parishes require the Confirmandi to do some research on their saints ahead of time so that they can pick a saint name that is meaningful to them.
The problem is a lot of the students cram in that Confirmation saint research project at the very last minute. What if we had the students prepare for Confirmation by doing this saint research project ahead of time?
That’s what Lisa Stobb from Dallas, Texas decided to do. She assigned a “Summertime Saint Survey” for the students to work on during the summer.
Here’s Lisa:
Every year my 8th graders need to choose their Confirmation saint and so at the beginning of the year we spend about two weeks researching saints. Most of the time, students have only a little bit of an idea of who they want to choose and they still need to know more. So I have them fill in a Saints Survey to push them to research more about their saints.
Well, this year I think I got a little wise! I will have my incoming 6th, 7th and 8th graders do this over the summertime. I will save the surveys year to year so that when they are in 8th grade, they will have about 30 saints to choose from already!
His is Lisa’s updated process for the project:
Incoming 6th graders do the Summer Saint Survey because they will do a thorough job at their research and their effort! (They are basically still scared of Junior High Teachers!)
Incoming 7th Graders do the Summer Saint Poster Project. This is my first Summer to try this and I hope they will enjoy doing it. It looks like a lot of fun and I did an example for them on St. Cecilia since she is my Confirmation Saint!
Incoming 8th graders create their first Confirmation Poster over the summertime! This way they will come into the school year already having chosen their Confirmation Saint.
I loved this idea when Lisa told me about it. She was gracious enough to share the graphic organizer she gives to the students to complete their Summertime Saint Surveys.
You can download it here:
Download the Summertime Saint Survey (PDF)
Download the Summertime Saint Survey (Word Document)
Also, here is the rubric for their Summer Saint Poster Projects.
You can find more resources for Confirmation here:
- Catholic Confirmation Activities that Excite and Engage
- Rite of Confirmation Lesson Plan
- Post-Confirmation Lesson Plan
- The Religion Teacher’s Confirmation Worksheets
Download a Collection of Confirmation Worksheets
There is so much to do to get our students prepared for the Sacrament of Confirmation. They need to know the significance of the sacrament they are preparing for and one of the best ways to do that is learn about and reflect on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the the Rite of Confirmation. This resource includes fourteen worksheets including:
- Confirmation Saint Name Worksheet
- Seal of the Holy Spirit Worksheet
- Renewal of Baptismal Vows Worksheet
- Pentecost Worksheets
- and a worksheet for every one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit
