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 […]

Our SI rep has been teaching us that when you separate into groups you should assign every member of the group a role. This helps each student participate in the group learning process. No matter the size of your group, you should assign a role to each student. Assignments may be given by the teacher, […]

This technique is great for scriptures that have multiple great phrases of advice or wisdom, but that don't require a whole lot of discussion to understand. Either have students go in order through a passage, or write scripture references on the board and use Hey There Delilah or Cold-calling to have random students read verses. […]

You know how this works: each student's name is written on a piece of paper. You draw a name out and that's the person who reads or prays next. EXAMPLE: I use a bucket with craft sticks that have each student's name written on it. One end of the stick is red and the other […]

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 […]

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 […]

I encourage discussion in my classroom, and there are times when everybody is talking at once. Instead of scolding kids, focus in on one comment, and in a louder than usual voice say, "Hey! That was awesome! Did everybody hear that?" When I do this, I'm generally leaning toward the student to hear what they […]

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 […]