Don't Be An Airhead

Doctrine & Covenants 130:18-19

18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

 19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

We discussed the importance of gaining knowledge from many uplifting sources and how to avoid becoming and "AIRHEAD". As students shared, they received and Airhead candy.

Give Me a Reason "Riesen"

This was an effective way to get my students searching and digging for answers this morning. 
It will work with many lessons. 
I posted a doctrine on the board and then asked them to tell me the REASON it is true backed up with a scripture (preferably from the section/verses from our lesson reading) 
When they shared the REASON, I gave them a "RIESEN" candy. 
Great discussion and interaction resulted. (And this happens to be one of my all time favorite candies!!)

When Life Gives You Lemons

We made lemonade out of lemons today as we studied the Saints arrival in Commerce, Illinois  and began to settle and build the city of Nauvoo after being expelled from Missouri.
The land was a swamp infested with mosquitos and many of the Saints contracted malaria, including Joseph Smith.
In spite of these circumstances, they cared for one another, worked to build their new home, dug ditches, and drained water from the swamps to the river, which made the land more usable and greatly reduced the mosquito problem.
Eventually, they built homes, businesses, schools, and other structures, including the Nauvoo Temple, which was considered by some to be one of the finest buildings in the country.

The Saints decided to improve the circumstances around them, which improved them as individuals, drawing them closer to Jesus Christ.

We discussed the lemons in our lives and how we can over come them and turn them into lemonade (strengths)

I gave each student a whole lemon and asked them how they could turn it in to lemonade.
A few answered, add sugar, etc.
Finally one said, cut the lemon.
I asked with what?
The student asked for a knife so I gave her a plastic knife and told her to cut it. At first it was difficult, but she got the job done.
She started to squeeze the lemon with her hands, with the juice dripping in to a cup.

We related this to using the tools that are available and making the best of our circumstances.
Then I brought out:
First, a better knife
Second, a hand juicer
Third, an electric juicer

We discussed each tool and how they would all get the job done, we just had to use them and have a positive expectation.

Each student  juiced their lemon with one of the tools, poured their lemon juice in a cup and added water.
I told them that was lemonade and to go ahead and return to their seats and enjoy it.

Quickly, they pointed out that it was sour and they needed sugar, to which I brought out a jar of "ATTITUDE": aka sugar.
I gave each of them a spoon and we related this to the positive attitude necessary to improve circumstances.
We did a lot of relating the Saints' circumstances to our own lemons vs lemonade experiences.
We concluded that a strong faith in Christ helped them through trials (lemons) just as a strong faith in Christ will help us do the same.

Adapt this lesson for teaching overcoming trials.

Seminary Award Plaques

When my older children attended Seminary and earned the Master Scriptorian Award, they were presented with these beautiful plaques.

Fast forward to the past 3 years when I became a Seminary teacher and wanted to find these plaques for my own students. It took some detective work, including THIS POST,  however, I eventually located the contact for ordering the plaques thanks to a fellow Seminary teacher who is a member of the LDSSeminaryTeacher Facebook Group.
Here is the information for ordering the plaques, with below photos directly from Barbara Williams, the contact person.

Barbara Williams
DCWill44@aol.com
931-223-5221
615-418-1967
Cost:
$9.75 per plaque plus shipping
Add to the cost:
1 line-  $2.10
2 lines-$3.10
3 lines-$4.10

MAKE SURE YOU ORDER 30 DAYS IN ADVANCE.

Each year has a design that compliments the course of study. The upper right hand corner is the Doctrine and Covenants-Church History design.

Below is a plaque I have not seen before, the Lamp of Knowledge

(Could be used for graduates)

Scripture Egg Hunt

Use this Easter ABC activity for a Scripture Egg Hunt

"Easter ABC Fill-in" from the Friend magazine, April 1996
There are 25 questions, all relating to Easter, each answer begins with one of the letters of the alphabet, excluding "x".

Idea #1:

• Copy the questions.
• Cut the questions in to word strips
• Fold the word strips and place each one inside a corresponding plastic egg (example, the "A" Question has an "A" written on the outside of the egg) 
• Hide the eggs 
• Have individuals or teams work to find 25 eggs, one for each letter of the alphabet, excluding the letter "x"
• After the eggs are found have participants open each egg and answer the questions, either verbally or written. 
• Use this as a base for an Easter discussion

Idea #2 (works will with larger groups) _I use 27 eggs for this method

• Copy the questions
• Cut the questions in to word strips
• Place the word strips for all 25 questions inside 25 of the same color egg, no writing letters on the outside 
• Have 1 color egg for each team to hunt for (example-if you have 5 teams, have 5 different colors of eggs, 27 of each)
• With the 2 extra eggs, I have one labeled "start" and one labeled "End" 
• In the "start" egg, I have a small paper with the written instructions such as:
• 1) where to hunt 2) not to open the eggs until they find all 25 2) come back to the group (or classroom) and work together to answer all questions, using their scriptures, if necessary.        3) Check their answers 4) Open the "end" egg once they have all the correct answers.
• In the "end" egg, I tell them where to go to look for a Happy Easter treat (small goodies, baskets, bags, breakfast, etc)

Other Ideas:

• Use this as a classroom or family game with everyone drawing letters of the alphabet to answer the corresponding questions.
• Use as an activity at Easter Dinner-great discussion.
• Simply print the sheet and have students answer as many questions as possible in a specific amount of time
• Use as "question of the day" in the days/weeks leading up to Easter.
• Seminary adaptation: Use the 25 Scripture Mastery verses with key word clues inside the eggs. So many directions to go with this idea as a base.

Leave a comment for other ideas and adaptations.

Wishing all a Happy and Blessed Easter