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:
Use LDS.org's website to help students hear and read a talk.
EXAMPLE: I asked the students if they had ever heard the story about "What have you done with my name?" Some had. I told them we'd watch a movie about names, and I asked them to listen for the role that commandments play in protecting our names.
I put up What Have You Done with My Name by Elder Mervyn B Arnold in the November 2011 general conference (http://www.lds.org/ensign/2010/11/what-have-you-done-with-my-name) up on the TV through my laptop. I had planned to show them the movie, but it was really choppy for some reason. Instead, I played the audio and scrolled the talk on the screen for them. This proved to be very effective -- much more so than I would have guessed. Somehow, hearing and seeing helped them pay attention better.
They liked the bit about the cow. I asked the kids about the emphasis of the talk -- that we will answer to the Savior about what we did with his name that we took on at baptism, the kids were eager to respond and comment. I bore my testimony, and this again, turned out to be a really, really good lesson.
While reading a scripture block, what are the things, phrases, allusions, etc that you don't understand? What questions do you have after reading some scripture verses? ALSO, look for actual questions in the block. Can you answer them? What if you had to answer the question aloud, especially if they were asked by the Lord or His prophets?
Example: Alma 5 is full of questions! Going through them asking them to your self and really answering them is like a powerful personal priesthood interview!
(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:
Anciently, making an oath or covenant was the strongest form of commitment one could use. When the Lord swears something to us, this should be very serious to us. Look for such language as "As I the Lord liveth," "I am the Lord," or when the Lord uses a certain Name (ie. "the Lord of Hosts is my name, or "Holy One of Israel," etc), or when he calls someone else by name with a promise: "Thou art Nephi . . ." "Blessed art thou Simon Barjona . . ." Prophets also give promises. When you find an oath or covenant, it is helpful to look for the conditions of the promise and also the consequences/blessings. Sometimes they are stated and other times they are implied.
Look For: Look for the words above that mark off covenant language.
Example: 1 Nephi 1:20 In the middle of the verse, Nephi makes an oath to those who are chosen of the Lord. The covenant language is when he states "I, Nephi." He promises us that the tender mercies of the Lord will deliver us if we are faithful. Thus, Nephi is swearing to us that God will fulfill this promise in our lives as the Lord has in his and his fathers.
The Old Testament is especially full of these examples of oaths and covenants. For example in Leviticus 19:18, the verse ends with the statement "I am the Lord." It may seem strange to us, but the Lord is making an oath to us. If we seek revenge or "bear grudge" against our neighbors, then it is as if we have done it unto Him. If we will love our neighbors as ourselves, then we will be favored by the Lord and He will love us.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
Go to http://lds.org/music/ Click on "Library". Choose a song you want to sing. Click on the play button that will show up as you mouse over the song to hear the MP3, OR, click the title and see the totally awesome music player. It will play your music at the tempo you choose and even transpose the music into a key you can sing. It's FANTASTIC. We use it every day in our Seminary class. I put it up on the TV screen and we all follow along as the words scroll.
This is great resource for when you need to use music in your lesson but don't have access to a pianist.
As Nephi taught, we should "liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning" (1 Nephi 19:23).
Where could you or a student place your name or situation into the scriptures and make an appropriate application? Could you substitute your name for someone else's or personalize the situation to make the scripture speak directly to you?
Look For: Look for ways to put your name or situation into the scriptures.
Example: Alma 48 What if all the things said about Captain Moroni were said about you? How would you act differently? What would it mean to you if "all men had been, and were, and ever would be like unto {YOU}, behold the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men" (v. 16)?
(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, Eliciting thoughtful responses, Lesson preparation
Class size: Any class size
Helps Students: SEE a gospel principle in action
Prep Time:
Student Age: Any age
Equipment needed:
The pilcrow symbol can be very helpful in understanding the Bible. It marks off a new paragraph. Use it to identify main themes between "paragraphs" and new trains of thought. Just look for that cute little curly backwards 'P'--¶!
Example: In Jeremiah 21, the man who throws Jeremiah in the stocks asks a question in v. 2. There are three parts to the answer, each part marked with a ¶ and the third one continues into chapter 22 where the next ¶ is. Realizing what these marks indicate helps us understand confusing transitions in the scriptures.
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
Don't be afraid to take the your students outside for a field trip to help them learn a lesson.
EXAMPLE: Next I took the kids up the hill to our apple trees. With some small pruners, I pruned off a few branches while explaining to the kids that I had a plan for these trees. I knew that in order for the apple trees to reach their full potential, they must be pruned. It's probably unpleasant for the plant. But I'm the Master Gardner, and I can see the future somewhat and can tell which branches will compete with each other or are sick. We talked about the symbolism of this, too. I told them the famed CS Lewis / George Macdonald story about God building a palace where He can reside, not the cottage you had in mind.
"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
At what point in the scripture block did the Spirit touch you and whisper to you that something you read was true? Maybe a particular part was something with which you have already had experience. Bear testimony of it during class, and invite students to do the same.
Look For: Be aware of your feelings as you read. What verses touch you? Look for phrases that speak to you.
Example: There are a lot of great verses in the New Testament, not to mention the specific book of James. But look how Joseph Smith reacted when he read James 1:5. (JSH 1:12-13). WOW! The Spirit really hit him with that one verse. What verse or phrases really "hit" you when you read? Does anything stand out to you, even though it's just a seemingly normal scripture (but really the Spirit knows it's for you)? Once before my mission, a few days before I entered the MTC, I had been set apart but had not entered the MTC yet. I was studying my scriptures one morning and a passage struck me with such force. I was wondering if I was truly worthy to be a missionary and represent Jesus Christ. And a verse in Alma 22 verse 15. I felt just like the king and wanted every wicked part "rooted out of my breast" and I too was willing to "give up all that I possess" to serve him. There spirit testified to me and I knew the scriptures were truly the Lord's word. When have the scriptures touched you? Can you become more aware of when the Spirit of God touches your heart and speaks with you through the words of scripture?
(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, Eliciting thoughtful responses, Lesson preparation
Class size: Any class size
Helps Students: SEARCH the scriptures or text
Prep Time:
Student Age: Any age
Equipment needed:
How does connecting different parts of the story in the same or other chapters help make one scene more powerful and meaningful.
Look For: Put parts of a story or teaching together (don't forget previous and future chapters!) and "look for" connections.
Examples >1 Samuel 1 --2 Hannah's sacrifice of giving up her firstborn Samuel when you connect it with the suffering she went through (v. 6-7). It also makes her song (ch. 2) much more meaningful. How often do we get blessings from the Lord after much suffering and then forget to thank him? Are our thanks a simple one or worthy of being its own song like Hannah's?
(Adapted from Panning for Gold: Various Methods to Understand and Apply the Scriptures to Ourselves by Eric Bacon, Northwest Area Seminaries)
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.
