Teaching Techniques

Invite a guest to come share an experience with a gospel topic with the class. Listen during sacrament meeting, Sunday School, and other times to find people who have experiences or testimony that is valuable to share with your students. I’ve had great success doing this, especially when I take the time to explain the purpose of my lesson to the guest. “We’re having a lesson on missionary work; would…
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Quote on the board

Have a short (I mean it — SHORT), great quote written on the board when students come into class. They will read it and begin to focus on the topic of your lesson before you even say a word. I’ve done this with gospel quotes and other quotes, like “With Great Power comes Great Responsibility.” It helps students get their minds on topic even before the prayer. If they already…
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Teach Another Class

This technique is found in the Come Follow Me manual. It’s difficult to have several people teaching a class, and it’s also not beneficial for other students to watch just one student teach. Here’s how I would do it: Help each student prepare a brief lesson on a gospel principle, while working in pairs. The lesson will probably include thoughtful questions, scripture references or quotes from the prophets, personal experiences…
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Find the One-Liner

This technique is great for scriptures that have multiple great phrases of advice or wisdom, but that don’t require a whole lot of discussion to understand. Either have students go in order through a passage, or write scripture references on the board and use Hey There Delilah or Cold-calling to have random students read verses. When called on, each student should state the “one-liner,” or the words or phrases that…
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Arrange the chairs differently

You think I’m kidding, but rearranging the seating has a great effect on Classroom management in my experience. Changing up the classroom causes the students to try to figure out what is going on, and they get excited about the lesson. If you normally use tables in Seminary, set up without them. If you normally don’t use tables — set up one Sunday with them and do a drawing or…
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Hey there, Delilah

This is the easiest way to engage kids in scripture reading in my opinion. You’ll need something soft like a beanbag or small stuffed animal. A wadded up piece of paper could even be used in a pinch. You may need to lay out some ground rules like : – do not aim above the shoulders – no overhand tosses – no repeats After you make your reading assignment and…
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What’s the Headline?

You can do this as a group activity or as an individual activity. I generally do it as a group activity. Assign students a passage to read. Have students imagine they are newspaper reporters who are going to write a headline for this passage. What will they write? What headline will tell your readers the most important information in the fewest words? Give students a few seconds (I usually do…
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Use Your Students

Do your best to stay aware of the things your students are doing as service projects or at school. Find out about the things they are doing right, and ask them to share their experiences during class. Be specific with your instructions, and be prepared to ask the students questions to help them with their presentation. EXAMPLE: When teaching Lamentations, I invited a student who writes poetry to bring in…
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Member/Nonmember

I use this technique when teaching something significant to missionary teaching. AFTER some instruction on a scripture passage or gospel principle, students are assigned into groups of three. Students read the same passage of scripture together as if this was a real missionary lesson. One person is the “nonmember,” and the other two are the missionaries. Missionaries make an effort to teach the principles found in the passage to the…
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Mime

Invite all students to read a passage silently. Have a couple of students come to the front of the class. Tell them they will be acting out the events in the story, but with a twist — they are mimes, and must act out silently. OPTIONAL: Ask other students in the class to follow along with the action in the text. If the mimes forget something, they should call out…
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The Scriptures Say¦

If a student uses the phrase: “the scriptures say” or “the prophets say’, consider if you can take the opportunity to teach students the importance of being able to find and read a scripture during a discussion. It’s best to have scriptures memorized, but if not, teach students how to find scriptures quickly in a pinch. This skill is an absolute MUST for future missionaries and really any person in…
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Student presents

Before class, invite a student to prepare a short talk or devotional about a topic or scripture passage. You should give the student clear instructions about what you’re looking for in the talk. For example, don’t just assign a student to read Moses 7:18 and give a talk on it. Explain to the student that you are teaching a lesson on unity. Moses 7:18 talks about unity and gives some…
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