Last week we were doing housekeeping things during class and did not get to cover the stories that students were reading in as much depth as I would prefer. I used this method to quickly cover 4 chapters students had read before class, as an introduction to the next chapters in Acts. RULES: Each zone […]
This idea came from a Pinterest post by Erin Guinup. She didn't post a link to a website, but posted a picture of her chalkboard from doing this activity that you can see at right. You can see her pin on my Seminary Pinterest page. Basically, you start with a topic. Each student is given […]
Ah, the dreaded Pop Quiz. There's a reason that this old-style teaching method hasn't been thrown out: it's super effective. This evil-sounding tool can be used by the wise teacher to help cover a lot of material very quickly, review previously studied material, or to determine how well students are understanding material. Plus, it takes […]
Find a powerful footnote that helps explain, empower, or give insight to a verse in the block where you were reading. Look For: Look for the little letters that precede a word that indicates a footnote. Example: Doctrine and Covenants 50:28-29 28 But no man is possessor of aall things except he be bpurified and ccleansed from all sin. (Adapted from Panning […]
A literary foil is someone who highlights another character's trait, usually by contrast. The scriptures are full of these character foils. Examples include God/Christ v Satan, Cain v Abel, or Nephi and Sam v Laman and Lemuel. Often times a chapter or story will highlight events in two different people or groups of people. This […]
Assign students to make a movie about a gospel topic. You may want to have students plan their script so that a Primary child can understand it. My students happen to love anything dramatic, so this is very easy for us. I have a big box of dress up clothes and wigs that they use […]
Sometimes we get into the habit of saying that this particular chapter has nothing to do with us and there is no way to apply it to us or find something meaningful to our situations. But sometimes we must take a step back and look at the overview and then compare similarities to our lives. […]
The following is a report I wrote after a Seminary inservice meeting where I attended a class on Asking Better Questions: I had the good fortune of being in Brother Baraclough's class on Asking Better Questions. Watching him teach was at least as instructive as the material, if not more, and so I really enjoyed […]
The Lord often uses "formulas" to show how to obtain certain blessings or outcomes. Mark these with an equal signs. They signal a plain truth of the gospel. Look For: Look for places where the Lord defines something or ties two or more things together. Words like "is," "like," or "in other words" Example: D&C […]
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 […]
