Divide students into pairs and have one student tell [or write] a story from memory in as much detail as possible, with the second student adding in as much missing detail as possible. Now, the entire class looks over the story in the scriptures and adds in any additional details. The teacher and students work […]

What are things in the scripture block that you could actually see, touch, smell, visualize?. Picture these in your mind or better find the actually object and see what it teaches you about the way it is used in the verses you are reading. Look For: Look for objects in the scriptures--things that you could […]

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 […]

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 […]

Have students read a set of scriptures or passage. Pick an Appetizer - verse(s) that tantalize your own spiritual taste buds Beverage - cross-reference that helps wash down the Main Dish Main Dish - verse(s) that give an overall understanding of the entire block or main principle Dessert - short phrase that is spiritual topping […]

Jigsaw was first developed in the early 1970s by Elliot Aronson and his students at the University of Texas and the University of California. To teach using the Jigsaw method, “divide a topic up into, say, four sub-topics. For example childhood diseases could be divided into mumps, measles, whooping cough and German measles. Alternatively students […]

Give each student a pencil and piece of paper. Tell your students that they will be cartoonists and should draw a cartoon of the story you are about to read aloud. Stick figures are perfectly okay -- this is not about drawing skill, but it's about picking out the most important details they hear from […]

You already know how to play Scriptionary -- one student draws a picture of a gospel story or item and the other students try to guess it. But in Seminary Scriptionary, I tell my students that they are going to draw a list of items that have to do with a certain gospel topic, like […]

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 saying, like "With Great Power comes Great Responsibility" […]

You think I'm kidding, but rearranging the seating has a HUGE effect on classroom management in my experience. Changing up the classroom causes the students to try to figure out what is going on, and they get excited about the lesson. If you normally use tables in Seminary, set up without them. If you normally […]