Teaching Problem Solution Finder

A narrator reads a passage of scripture while actors dramatize it. When the teacher yells "freeze", the actors freeze and an actor (or actors -- you choose) comes in from the sidelines. They tap an actor on the shoulder and take his or her place in the action. The teacher says "Action!" and the dramatization continues. Continue freezing the action until everyone has had a turn to act or until the passage is complete.

This is a really fun activity, especially if you have a group that enjoys acting, as I did.

(See http://plays.about.com/od/actvities/a/freezetag.htm)

When I present a lesson, I try to direct my lessons so that ANTICIPATED student questions drive the discussion. When I'm reading my lesson text or scripture block, I ask myself some of the following things:

- Does this passage have any unusual words or difficult phrasing?
- Do I understand the background of this passage? Who is speaking? Why?
- How can the footnotes help me understand the background or phrasing or doctrine?
- Is there a related Bible Dictionary entry?
- Did this remind me of a general conference quote/personal experience/etc?
- What questions did I have about this doctrine at my students' age?
- What questions do I have now about this doctrine?

I write down any questions that might come up in the place where they were triggered in my mind, and I try to be sure that I either know the answer (good) or know how to guide the kids how to find the answer themselves (better). I don't automatically answer these questions during my lecture, but I let the kids ask them. It teaches students to be curious and gets them in the habit of Asking questions to seek knowledge from gospel teachers and peers. If you use the opportunity to allow students to find the answer using their scriptures, they will learn a valuable skill.

It is very easy to get off track when trying to anticipate student questions! You'll find out so much interesting information! Be sure that you keep in mind the needs and knowledge of your students, not your own curiosity, and try not to get off track beyond what is necessary to answer any questions your students will ask during class.

For example, when we read some verses on giants in the Old Testament, I knew that my kids would laugh and wonder aloud if the giants were actually giant, or if they were ordinary sized people because the people back then were smaller. If not that, I knew they'd at least be curious about giants. So I planned time in my lesson to let them look up the Bible Dictionary entry and read the scripture references on giants. When we hit that verse, I let them chat amongst themselves about the giants for a little bit, until they were full of questions. Then I asked if they wanted to learn more. YES! How can we do that? .... oh, yeah -- Bible Dictionary. They scrambled to look up the passage and read it aloud, and we followed the scriptures. I pointed out that they have the tools to answer many of their own questions -- the Bible Dictionary is a major one.

As another example, during a lesson on Jonah a student asked the location of Ninevah. I let students hunt for a minute and flip through their scriptures until they/we came up with the Index of Place Names. I had them look up and locate maps with Ninevah on it. Then we looked up Tarshish. (I already knew it wasn't there from my lesson planning.) I asked them what we should do. We looked it up in the Bible Dictionary and found that Tarshish is believed to have been located in Spain.

Try to identify patterns in the scriptures that can help your students overcome challenges. Look for words that repeat, phrases that describe a behavior or character trait, or doctrine, principle.

EXAMPLE During our discussion of Matthew 4, I had my students explain Jesus' three temptations to the class. I listed them on the board. Then we wrote under each how Jesus rebuked Satan: "It is written...." The kids were able to tell that Jesus was quoting scripture, so I asked them if they could think of a temptation they might resist by remembering a passage of scripture, like Jesus did. There was a pause here, but after some discussion, I think the kids took it home that scripture knowledge can help us resist temptation.

Mosiah 26:1-4. Notice the verbs which describe what the rising generation would NOT do. First, they wouldn't believe. Next, they did not understand. And finally they were not baptized. This shows the importance of these three levels of faith. First, if we do not believe then we will surely not understand. And finally this will lead us not to take righteous action (baptized). Many people want to understand before they believe, but it does not work this way. And once we understand some principle of the gospel, we need to live it or take action in keeping it to fulfill a fullness of knowledge. As an example, no one would believe that a person who can explain how to juggle but cannot juggle themselves to truly 'know" how to juggle.

In John 13:34 -- John 15 Jesus gives his final instructions to his apostles in mortality. One pattern in these chapters is the repetition and teaching of the words "love," "know" and "abide." If you go through each chapter and mark these words (and any derivative) there are some neat teachings about these concepts, and we can see the emphasis the Lord gave to his disciples in his final instructions.

(Some ideas from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)

A student suggested this method based on something they do in her drama class at school. A narrator reads a passage of scripture while students act out their roles. Someone (a teacher or another person) randomly chooses a character to "vote off the island". This selection can be done by tapping an actor on the shoulder or dubbing them with a foam sword or other item. Now, the remaining characters continue to act out their roles, but they must also stand in for the missing actor. Eventually only one actor is left and he or she must play all of the roles.

Here's an example with Adam and Eve and the snake and the tree. Actors fill all four roles while the narrator reads the story. One of the four is removed (say the snake). Now the three actors play the four roles. Another actor is removed. Now two actors play four roles. Eventually only one actor is left and he or she must play all four roles.

When using Scripture Survivor, be sure that the length of the passage corresponds with the number of actors. For example, a passage with many characters would need to be long for this to work best, and a short passage would need to have a fewer characters.

This could be used in a group of laid back adults as an attention-getter. If your class is uptight, skip this one.

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 genuine question. I felt horrible.

Now when I am asked a question that is a little off, I say, "Ok, let's talk about that. What do you all think?" and I redirect the question to the other students in the class. Suddenly, peers are put in the position of experts, and they respond accordingly. If the student was trying to throw me off, they don't get what they wanted (a flustered teacher), and suddenly their peers are telling them why their question was ill-formed, or they are answering the question like it is valuable. I have found that this peer redirection shuts most question-related problems down almost instantly. If it was actually a serious question, no one's feeling are hurt, because the question has been treated respectfully, and other students had the chance to respond.

I have found that responding to all questions as if they were fantastic, well-though out questions has really improved the culture of my classroom. It is more important to me that I create a classroom culture where all questions are safe to ask than risk alienating or hurting a student by mistaking a serious question for something intended to disrupt class.

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.

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 the Kung Fu movie. These actors will dramatize and lip sync their roles, but they don't speak. The effect looks like bad dubbing in a kung fu movie. This is an easy way to engage students in the scriptures. Even those not acting or narrating are engaged because it's just so funny!

This one is fun for adult classes, too, as long as the group is laid back.

I learned this technique from Deann, who learned it from The Famous Linda D:

When you have a large class of youth, you will need a seating chart to help behavior issues. It's not mean -- it's positioning everyone so they can participate constructively. Daniel Roma teaches Seminary teachers that f you have more than five students, you need a seating chart.

Deann seats her students boy/girl/boy/girl. I have never done that, but I do require students to sit with their zone, which I rotate.

Assign students into Zones, or groups, of 3-5 students. This is a team that will compete in games together and participate in other activities as a group. One student is the zone leader. I use the zone leaders to represent the zone when selecting activities, they lead group discussions, they present for the group when we do a group presentation, or he or she may be the "nonmember" when playing Member/Nonmember. When giving instructions, Linda D says, "Zone leaders, give me a wink and a nod when you know what I'm talking about and can lead your zone." She also says, "Classroom management is about getting kids from being strangers to being a team." Splitting into zones is a good way to help that effort.

Linda names her zones cleverly: Cal-zone, End-zone, O-zone, etc. I just have numbered zones, or I call them by their leader's name: Emily's zone or Jake's zone.

I have found that zones make it much easier to keep students who talk too much apart. It also helps students get to know others in the classroom, and it gives leadership opportunities to shy youth. I also don't have to spend time on the logistics of separating into groups for group work, because students know to work within their zones.

I used these questions on a worksheet to help students evaluate and understand personalities in the scriptures:

:: Character Study ::

Name:

Scripture:

Spouse/Children:

Age:

Hometown:

Occupation:

Describe this person using only three words. Circle the word you feel is this person's core quality:

________________ , ________________ , ________________

Briefly describe the person's attitude toward:

Him/Herself _______________________________________________
Family ____________________________________________________
God ______________________________________________________

What problem(s) has this person experienced?

Describe an event from the life of this person that is meaningful to you:

How does/might this person react when under temptation or stress?

How did/might this person solve their problem?

What did Heavenly Father/Jesus do to/for this person?

Wise people learn from their own choices; super-wise people learn from the choices of others. What can you learn from this person's choices (good or bad)?

Write the assigned verses or passages on a post it note. Mix up the order you will be covering the passages in, and stick an assignment under each seat in the classroom. When it comes time to read, have everyone look under their seat for their passage and read.

I usually employ this method when we have several scriptures to read from different areas of the scriptures.

When using this method -- especially with adults -- be sure that everyone in your class can read before class begins. If you know some members of the class are not thrilled with reading aloud, remind the class that it's okay to mispronounce words or read slowly. I do it, too, and Church is a judgment-free zone.