Use this tool to solve common problems you'll find in your gospel classroom. Select from the options below to find teaching techniques that will help you solve some of the most common problems in LDS gospel classrooms:
Golden Nuggets are scriptures that relate because of how the wording is used that makes a powerful connection between two separated verses.
Look For: Look for other verses that may explain or give more understanding to a scripture. Look for words or phrases that you have seen in other verses or look them up in the Topical Guide.
Example: D&C 14:7 & John 17:3 Eternal Life is the greatest of all the gifts of God, but what is Eternal Life? John 17:3
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
Great for: Helping students find meaning in the scriptures, Lesson preparation
Class size: Any class size
Helps Students: SEARCH the scriptures or text
Prep Time:
Student Age: Any age
Equipment needed:
Give students a sum of fake money. Students will use the fake money to "buy" a scripture. The teacher auctions off different significant verses in a block of scriptures that students can search for principles and applications. You might even attach different candy to different verses -- the "better" the verse (or, the more things to describe in the verse) the better/more candy there is so it is "worth" more. After everyone has won a scripture, students will find the "treasure" in the verse(s) they have to show the worth of what they purchased.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
When I teach, I try to apply the law of witnesses: "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established," (See D&C 6:28, 2 Corinthians 13:1, Deuteronomy 19:15, 2 Nephi 29:8, Matthew 18:16) to my Lesson preparation. The idea is that as teachers, we're always looking for "witnesses" to the word. When we establish the word with multiple witnesses, or testimonies, we help it sink deeply into the hearts of those we teach.
Here's how it works: Say I'm teaching on 2 Nephi 13. Nephi, the author of that book, is my first witness. I'm teaching directly from the scriptures, which means the Holy Ghost can be there. That's two witnesses. Now I'm looking for my third witness. Is it a cross-reference to another scripture? Have I had a personal experience with this topic? What questions can I ask that will cause my students to share their own witness? Is there something in General Conference that will help? How about a great quote or story?
All of these witnesses will bear testimony of the core truths in the passage, helping establish it with the power of the law of witnesses I find that my additional witnesses are most effective when it's my students who bear testimony. If I can get more than three witnesses, that's even better!
Repetition is a key way to help students learn. Using the law of witnesses establishes truth and helps students learn and retain teachings.
Where do you see the Savior in the story? Is His atonement or attributes represented in the verses you read? How could these verses be an example or type for Christ? Don't just look for direct symbols of Christ but look for things that show how Christ might act or how he may have influenced a person's behavior.
Look For: Look for verses or phrases that describe Christ's attributes, atonement, miracles, love, etc.
Example: Jeremiah 9:24 shows a list of attributes that the Lord delights in. If we are to "know" him to have eternal life, ought not we know his likes and dislikes?
In Jacob 5, we can look for how the master of the vineyard cares for and preserves the trees as an example of how Christ cares for and yields his patience unto us.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
Great for: Helping students find meaning in the scriptures, Lesson preparation
Class size: Any class size
Helps Students: SEARCH the scriptures or text
Prep Time:
Student Age: Any age
Equipment needed:
Have students come up with a single word that best describes a verse(s) or principle/doctrine.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
In Luke 10:25-37, we find a lawyer trying to trip up the Savior with his disruptive questions and justify himself in sin:
And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He [Christ] said unto him [the lawyer], What is written in the law? how readest thou?
[Here, Christ is establishing a starting point. He's asking the lawyer to explain what he already knows so that he, the Master Teacher, can know where to begin. Christ could have gotten upset or angry or zapped the questioner, but he chose instead to treat the lawyer's tempting, or provoking, question as a teaching opportunity. When a student asks a "tempting" question, teachers must keep their cool.]
And he [the lawyer] answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he [Jesus Christ] said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
[At this point, the Savior reaffirms the man's correct understanding of the law. He has treated the lawyer respectfully, and caused the man to bear his own witness of the truth. Teachers can help students recognize core truths by referring to the scriptures.]
But he [the lawyer], willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
[The lawyer is trying to provoke or trap the teacher and excuse his own sin. This question indicates that the lawyer understands the rule, but he does not understand the gospel principle. Now, the Savior has something to work with -- a lesson to teach. Christ recognizes this question is a teaching opportunity. He does not get angry or upset, but in this case, he answers the question with a story: the Good Samaritan.]
And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. … Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
[Christ ends his story with a challenge to the lawyer to help him change his behavior.]
We can learn a great deal from studying the Savior's teaching methods in the New Testament. Christ rarely answers a question harshly. He treats every question respectfully, defusing the situation. As the situation calms, the Spirit can enter, allowing both parties to be edified and guided to an answer. With calm patience, the real reason behind the provoking question will become apparent. You'll be able to answer it and establish a classroom where love and gospel scholarship can exist.
Does this sound difficult? Are you unsure of your ability to handle difficult questions? Remember that you've been set apart to teach. You have access to the Holy Spirit, as do the others in your classroom. Your students are children of God who belong to him, and He will help you reach them. Ask your other students to help respond when there's a difficult problem. They may be able to help. If after trying you can't get to an answer, explain to the students that you don't know the answer. Promise to provide the answer at your next class, or bear your testimony of the related truths you do know.
Where are the symbols or figurative language in these verses? What are the symbols trying to teach? Contemplate the symbols and figurative language.
Look For: Look for words that are symbols for something or someone.
Example: In the book of Revelation, John continually chooses to represent Christ as the conquering hero but symbolically calls him the "Lamb of God." Why this symbol and not an animal more powerful? Why is the Devil described as a Dragon? Looking at the symbols helps us to understand their characteristics and ways to defeat temptation. Normally we would fear a dragon more than a lamb, and that is what Satan wants. But when we realize that the seeming simpleness and purity of Christ's message of salvation, we can conquer even the most seemingly dangerous of foes.
During your lesson preparation, use reliable commentary like the Student Study Guide or Institute manual to help you understand difficult to understand symbols. The Student Study guide is full of great definitions for scripture terms and symbols, so check there for fast help.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
Great for: Lesson preparation
Class size: Any class size
Helps Students:
Prep Time:
Student Age: Any age
Equipment needed:
Assign students a passage or set of several verses to read. Have students imagine they are the prophet who would like to tweet the main idea of this passage or set of verses to his followers. What might he write? What will tell followers the most important information in fewer than 140 characters? After a few moments, share the tweets. Encourage them to write the best tweets in the margin of their scriptures.
You might even have students share the tweets online in real time on Twitter or as their morning streak for Snapchat.
Here is a worksheet you can use with scripture tweet:
http://www.mormonshare.com/lds-clipart/scripture-tweet-worksheet
Great for: Eliciting thoughtful responses, Getting the attention of uninterested students, Giving every person a turn, Helping shy students participate, Helping students find meaning in the scriptures, Lesson opener
Elder Richard G. Scott taught, "Never, and I mean never, give a lecture where there is no student participation. A 'talking head' is the weakest form of classroom instruction." (Address to CES Religious Educators, February 4, 2005)
Lecture has its place in teaching, but teacher presentation or lecture should not be your entire lesson. It should not, in my opinion, make up the majority of your lesson either. I learned a great thing from a veteran seminary teacher. He said, "A lot of times you hear teachers in the church say 'I learned more from this lesson than you will.' If you're learning more than the students you're doing it wrong." I love that. When we prepare lessons we're looking for ways to help students discover truths THEMSELVES, rather than pushing our own idea of what is important or cool on them.
Elder Bednar has said, "any faculty member at BYU-Idaho who does not believe that he or she can learn something from a student does not deserve to be a faculty member at BYU-Idaho." While Encouraging student participation, develop some positive Classroom management skills that you "let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that when all have spoken that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege." D&C 88:122
Read the same block with different eyes looking for different things, as if you were wearing a new pair of glasses with different lenses. A parent, a bishop, a missionary, a teenager, someone tired and depressed, someone newly married, someone needing repentance, someone who doesn't get along with their parents, etc.
For example, ask the students how this scripture verse might affect a person who has recently experienced a great loss. How might you read this differently if you were a teacher/parent/missionary? How will your students react to this verse based on what you know of their personalities and situations?
You can use this technique during your lesson preparation or during teaching, by asking students to read with different lenses.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
Jenny says: I have used this technique successfully with all ages of student, from child to elderly adult. Usually I cut out eyeglass shapes and write the role the person will be assuming on the glasses.
