Teaching Problem Solution Finder

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 everyone has found it, simply toss the critter to the first person. After reading his or her verse, the student tosses the toy to the person of their choosing. That person reads, tosses, and the game continues until the passage is finished. I write the verse numbers or passages on the board so that we avoid that "Which verse did she say? What do I read?" delay. You'll find that many students will turn to the next passage in anticipation of the reading. You may even require everyone to find the passage before making the next toss, but that will take up time.

This simple method really makes reading a lengthy passage much more exciting for the students. Everyone is engaged, they don't know who will be picked next to read, they laugh when someone drops the critter or plucks it out of the air, no one tunes out when their part is done because they want to see what happens when Delilah goes flying again, and everyone gets a turn. You're still covering the same material, but you've made it engaging and fun for the students.

EXAMPLE: In our class, the students voted on names for our silicone caterpillar, Delilah. She promptly fell apart, and so our second caterpillar was named Samson. My Seminary students love, love, love this game and often ask for Samson when we read. This is one of our class's favorite activities. I use it every few days; it never seems to get old. I have even used it with laid back groups of adults. It's always fun.

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 60-90 seconds on the timer) to write a headline. Share the headlines.

You could also give students a set of several passages. They should come up with "titles" for different set of verses, or they might summarizing what lesson is taught by specific verses. Have them write these "titles" in their scriptures.

If you're going to have all students share their headlines aloud, this works best in classrooms of about 12-15 students. My class of 16 is borderline too large for each person to share a headline. In large groups, you may ask for volunteers or cold-call class members to share their headlines. Don't be afraid to read over people's shoulders and ask some of the really great ones to share.

Invite students share why or how they chose particular words, phrases, or things to emphasize in their headline.

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 one of her poems. I told her that we would be studying how poetry can be used to express strong emotions and is a release in times of trial. She brought in two fantastic poems.

"Perhaps the only thing better than getting teachers to testify is getting students to testify." (Becoming a Great Gospel Teacher, Eaton and Beecher, p 22)

I use this technique when teaching a topic significant to missionary teaching, like the plan of salvation or baptism. 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 nonmember. The nonmember asks questions to help missionaries teach ideas that were unclear. You may need to instruct nonmembers that they are playing a sincere seeker of truth, not a hater.

Don't use this on particularly challenging or difficult passages, but use it to teach simple gospel truths, such as one that a missionary might encounter. It's great for passages on the Atonement or baptism.

Sometimes I tell my students that this is a practice for their chance to teach the Ultimate Investigator: me. After the lessons are done, I ask "nonmembers" who had an exceptional set of "missionaries". Then I have those exceptional missionaries come up to the front and demonstrate their skills to the entire class, with me playing the role of nonmember. I have found that advising students they may be called up front to teach me prevents most shenanigans.

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 "freeze" and let the mimes know what was skipped. Mimes will then go back and add in the missed scene. This helps keep everyone engaged and provides additional review of the material.

This is best for short stories with plenty of action.

Great for: Lesson opener, Reviewing a scripture story, Getting the attention of uninterested students

Class size: Any class size

Helps Students: SEARCH the scriptures or text, SHARE feelings, thoughts, or personal experiences, SEE a gospel principle in action

Prep Time: No advance preparation necessary

Student Age: Any age

Equipment needed:

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.

Ask the student if they can show the class where the prophet or scripture is that says that thing. Then help them find it, or gently correct their mistake.

Be very careful using this method with adults. I would never use it with adults if the verse or statement is being misquoted, because the correction could seem very aggressive. Unless I were absolutely certain that the scripture being quoted was correct and we could find it relatively easily, I would not use this method with adults.

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 characteristics of Zion, which was a "unified" city. Ask the student to explain the things s/he learned about unity from the passage in the talk. Explain that s/he is welcome to share personal experiences or find a relevant story or additional scriptures to share.

Write the main topic of a scripture passage or quote on a piece of paper. Cut each letter out. Let students look at the scripture passage or quote while they race to unscramble the word. This can be done for each individual in the classroom, or it can be done in groups, or even on the chalkboard.

EXAMPLE: I recently used this technique in my seminary class to teach Luke 14. Before class I took four envelopes and some construction paper. I wrote a "clue" on the outside of each envelope and put the mixed up letters from a word or phrase in the respective envelope:

CLUE: Luke 14:1-6 (two words) SCRAMBLE: Sabbath Day
CLUE: Luke 14:7-14 (one word), SCRAMBLE: Humility
CLUE: Luke 14:15-24 (two words), SCRAMBLE: Great Supper
CLUE: Luke 14:25-35 (one word), SCRAMBLE: Discipleship

It only took each zone a few minutes to unscramble the words.

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 would they choose? I asked a couple of students which word they'd underline and why. What did these men leave behind? How can we be like these disciples and follow Christ?

Great for: Lesson opener

Class size: Any class size

Helps Students: SHARE feelings, thoughts, or personal experiences, SEARCH the scriptures or text

Prep Time: No advance preparation necessary

Student Age: Any age

Equipment needed:

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 summarize them. You may even choose to keep responses secret in the interest of time or for other reasons.

If you will be having a group leader read answers or if you will have the class share their responses, explain that ahead of time so that students can adjust their writing appropriately.

You can use this technique to establish what students already know about a topic, so that you know where to begin a group discussion. Use it to help students find ways to apply a passage to their lives. It can help students share a growing testimony. Everyone who listens to the other responses will see how the gospel affects others.