When I teach, I try to apply the law of witnesses: "in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established," (See D&C 6:28, 2 Corinthians 13:1, Deuteronomy 19:15, 2 Nephi 29:8, Matthew 18:16) to my Lesson preparation. The idea is that as teachers, we're always looking for "witnesses" to the word. […]
Use a respected adult to help you teach the class. Separate into groups and have the other adult teach one group while you teach another. Give the students a few minutes at the end of class to share what they learned. EXAMPLE: When teaching Ruth, I asked my husband to take the boys while I […]
Where do you see the Savior in the story? Is His atonement or attributes represented in the verses you read? How could these verses be an example or type for Christ? Don't just look for direct symbols of Christ but look for things that show how Christ might act or how he may have influenced […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Think of ways to group your text to help you cover material effectively. Then WRITE VERSES ON THE BOARD to help students get through the material efficiently during your lesson. EXAMPLE: On the easel I wrote the following for Deuteronomy 8: Blessings of REMEMBERING v 2 v3 v4 v5 Dangers of FORGETTING v11 vv12-14 v17 […]
Oftentimes the Lord makes a list of attributes or qualities that are worth noting and titling in our margins. Have students "mark a list' of items in their scriptures. Look for items set off by commas, or lists of things to get a certain result. The items may be contained in more than one verse. […]
