Perfecting the Saints — One Lesson at a Time
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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Have each student read a scripture on a gospel topic or a keyword written on a wordstrip and then place that wordstrip under the correct header. EXAMPLE: I used this method to teach the plan of salvation. I divided the board into three sections: premortal, mortal, and postmortal. I also stuck Post-it notes with words like fall, creation, resurrection, birth, war in heaven, outer darkness, death, celestial glory, paradise, spirit…
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WordStorm is kind of like brainstorming in that you take a topic word and write down the class’ thoughts on the board. Easy Lesson opener. EXAMPLE: I wrote the word “friend” on the board and asked my students to say words that describe a perfect friend. I noted their words on the board. When they slowed, I pointed out that Jesus Christ called some people his friends in the scriptures….
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Find out what things your students are interested in. Do your students love piano music? Is it rugby season? Are they great artists? Interested in motorcycles? Like to read? Using the search tools at http://www.Mormon.org/ locate a video of someone who shares the interests of your student(s). Before you show it to the class, ask students to watch the video for ways that the person developed his or her testimony….
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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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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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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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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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