Mormon Share > Teaching Techniques
Teaching Techniques
Jennifer Smith
December 31, 2012
If you’re teaching youth, you know that on occasion, students will ask disruptive or off-topic questions. I am always trying to encourage my students to ask questions, and I am always worried that shooting down a question too hard will frighten off others who have questions. I have made the mistake before of shooting down a question that I felt was off topic only to realize later it was a…
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Jennifer Smith
December 31, 2012
Students open their notebooks and write two things: one question they had about the reading and one thing they learned anew or that they had forgotten. We spent probably 40 minutes covering the things they wrote. Great discussion and opportunity for sharing. Great for: Reviewing a scripture story, Giving every person a turn, Eliciting thoughtful responses, Reading a serious passage, Helping students find meaning in the scriptures Class size: Any class size…
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Jennifer Smith
December 31, 2012
I learned this method at a Seminary regional training. It’s a great method that requires little or no preparation. This works best with passages that include plenty of action. Assign one student to be the narrator. The Narrator will read a passage of scripture with FEELING. He or she should do the voices and any sound effects needed for the roles. Other students are assigned to be the actors in…
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Jennifer Smith
February 28, 2012
Since this is my first year, I’m still learning and looking for ideas on how to teach students to use the Gospel Study Aids like the Bible dictionary, index, gazeteer, maps, footnotes, and other supplements during their scripture study. Here are a few of the things I’ve used with success, and I’ll add more as I find them. Please share your ideas, too, in the comments section. We’re all learning…
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Jennifer Smith
February 10, 2012
One of the most boring things we do in class is go around the circle or down the row — in order — with every person reading a single verse of scripture aloud. Here are some very simple ideas you can use to keep students engaged while reading scripture passages aloud. Randomized Scripture Reading The following methods are ways to engage students by making assigned passages randomized. Hey there, Delilah!…
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Jennifer Smith
July 27, 2011
Many teachers use a Scripture Journal to help students retain information they are being taught or to help themselves with personal study. Here are some ideas for using a scripture journal that will give you lots of ideas. Occasional Use During Class My friend DeAnn purchase a composition notebook for each student for use as a scripture journal. Into this book they paste quotes and are assigned to write FITs…
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Jennifer Smith
March 13, 2011
Seminary Mom likes to split her classes into groups for gospel learning. Here’s how she taught 3 Nephi 11 over the course of two days, while splitting into groups for researching the scripture topic: Today was a special day as we began our study of 3 Nephi 11, the crowning moment in the Book of Mormon. I know that the suggested teaching schedule recommends teaching 3 Nephi 11 in one…
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Teaching Techniques
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Jennifer Smith
March 13, 2011
Seminary Mom used lunch sacks to emphasize the importance of the material in 3 Nephi — truly a spiritual feast. Kids in her class added notecards to their lunch sacks each day during the lesson to add to their feast. It’s a great example of how to carry a theme over multiple days for lesson continuity. Below is her description of how it worked. This theme could be adapted to…
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Jennifer Smith
March 13, 2011
Seminary Mom is big on hands-on activities, something I think is very important. Here are a couple of her ideas for using art to teach different messages in the scriptures: Principles to Live by (Helaman 15-16) Malachi 3 Principles to Live By Today our scripture block was Helaman 15-16. Using the manual I introduced several of the important discussion points for the lesson today. To start off, we read the…
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Jennifer Smith
March 13, 2011
Here’s a great example of using drama to help gospel students learn from Seminary Mom: One of my number one desires as a seminary teacher is to have my students fall in love with the scriptures. I want them to know these individuals we read about who really lived a long time ago. I want the students to feel the truthfulness of what they are reading and to care so…
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