Perfecting the Saints — One Lesson at a Time
Tell students you will give them sixty seconds to find out everything they can about a certain passage. If this is the first time your students have done an activity like this, you may want to give them a chance to tell you some techniques they might want to use: reading the chapter header, checking the footnotes, skimming, watching for the paragraph markers, etc. Turn them loose. When the timer…
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Each student has a Styrofoam plate, a wet wipe, and a regular (not permanent) marker. Ask students questions that can be answered in a few short phrases. They write their answers and flip over their plates. After a few moments, ask everybody to display their plates. I have used this as a lesson review quiz and as a Lesson opener to help me determine what students already understand about a…
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Give each student a pencil and piece of paper. Tell your students that they will be cartoonists and should draw a cartoon of the story you are about to read aloud. Stick figures are perfectly okay — this is not about drawing skill, but it’s about picking out the most important details they hear from the story. Let them know they will get a chance at the end of the…
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My students love group drawing. It’s good for covering material that is easy to imagine visually. I have also used it to cover distressing topics — like the events preceding the second coming — because these events seem less frightening when sketched for some reason. I have done group drawing a couple of ways. One is to divide the class into small groups and have the whole group drawing at…
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You already know how to play Scriptionary — one student draws a picture of a gospel story or item and the other students try to guess it. But in Seminary Scriptionary, I tell my students that they are going to draw a list of items that have to do with a certain gospel topic, like patriarchal blessings. Then I provide students a list of words, like – Liahona – scriptures…
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We have done this a couple of times in my Seminary class, and it is always so fun! Use this to review material you’ve already covered or material that students already know very well. In our class, this ends up very silly, so it’s best done at the very beginning or very end of class. I’ve done this two different ways: as individuals and as a group. INDIVIDUAL: After explaining…
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Write on the board the topic of your lesson. Write “[YOUR TOPIC] is like a ____.” Give your students a scrap piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Set the timer for 15-30 seconds and let them write their answers. Give them a few minutes to share and explain their answers. When I did this, I wrote “Prayer is like a ____.” and I had the students write their…
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Give students a few minutes to review a passage that is fairly familiar to them. Have them write down something that was “new” at this reading. They may have remembered a detail they forgot or noticed something new. They may have a new understanding of what certain words or phrases mean. The verses may have triggered a new question. If they can’t find something new, I let them share something…
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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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I learned this extremely versatile teaching technique from Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. Basically, you assign a writing prompt. Everyone writes the answer. Then, as many people as you choose are invited to share. Sometimes I have each person share their written response. Other times, when there’s a big group, I assign a group or zone leader to read the responses of the people in a group and…
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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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Ask the students in your class to imagine they have a pen with only enough ink to underline one word in a verse. What would it be? Why? I wrote Mark 1:18 on the board: “And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.” I told the kids to imagine that their pens were running out of ink, and they only had ink enough to underline one word. Which would…
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