December 13 Home Communicator – Walking into the elementary building on the morning of December 1, I was greeted by a chorus of students telling me they had already found a wandering wise man! They could hardly contain their excitement. Every morning since then has been the same…”Miss Staal! I found a wise man!” Throughout the day, classes are taking wandering wise men walks, students are eagerly looking as they move around the building, and some teachers have even been using their own breaks to go in search of the wise men who are wandering our halls.
The Wandering Wise Men is a set that includes a 37 day devotional, a picture book, and three plush wise men created by local authors Eric and Meredith Schrotenboer. The goal of The Wandering Wise Men is to help kids, of all ages, dig into the historical, geographical, and cultural context of the Bible and the story of the wise men. After the Schrotenboer’s author visit on November 10, some of the teachers started talking about how we would love to incorporate The Wandering Wise Men into the elementary building in order to have some fun while also keeping the focus of Christmas on Christ. So, several classrooms are using the devotional, most classes have or will read the picture book, and the 3 plush wise men are moving around the building for students to discover every day. A special culminating event will happen right before Christmas break that I’m sure will create even more excitement and wonder…stay tuned!
The Wandering Wise Men have created opportunities for some beautiful discussions with students. The Young 5 students were eager to tell me that the wise men are following a star to find Jesus. Kindergartners proudly informed me that the wise men most likely came when Jesus was a little older. The 5th graders are digging into the devotionals and asking questions like, “Why is Matthew the only gospel writer to include the wise men?”
While the wandering wise men are so much fun to find, the beautiful conversations I have had and overheard make me truly thankful to work in a place where we can celebrate and help our students focus on the True Light, Jesus.
Mary Jo Staal, Elementary Librarian
The full Home Communicator can be found at this link December 13 Home Communicator
