This exercise requires a good imagination. After reading the verses silently (perhaps a few times), invite your class to close their eyes and take a few minutes trying to visualize the scene depicted in the scriptures in your mind. Try to imagine every detail, see how people walked, talked, and acted. What is the scenery? […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Before class, invite a student to prepare a short talk or devotional about a topic or scripture passage. You should give the student clear instructions about what you're looking for in the talk. For example, don't just assign a student to read Moses 7:18 and give a talk on it. Explain to the student that […]
We have done this a couple of times in my Seminary class, and it is always so fun! Use this to review material you've already covered or material that students already know very well. In our class, this ends up very silly, so it's best done at the very beginning or very end of class. […]
I learned this extremely versatile teaching technique from Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov. Basically, you assign a writing prompt. Everyone writes the answer. Then, as many people as you choose are invited to share. Sometimes I have each person share their written response. Other times, when there's a big group, I assign a […]
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" […]
Write a list of passages or references on the board that have something important in them -- something "worth underlining." Explain to the class that there is something important in each verse and that you will give each student a chance to read their passage and explain to the class what they thought the most […]
Ask the students in your class to imagine they have a pen with only enough ink to underline one word in a verse. What would it be? Why? I wrote Mark 1:18 on the board: "And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him." I told the kids to imagine that their pens were running […]
