Names and Titles of Jesus

As we are studying the book of John, I challenged my students to be explorers and discover all the different names and titles of Jesus. Daily, they come in to class and add to our growing list. 

As they do their research, I told them that this poster board would be filled with at least 3 columns of names and titles, without duplication. So far, we are on the way.

Scripture Chase and Scripture Mastery

Less expensive than laminating...

I used heavy duty page protectors for each of the Scripture Mastery references and clues.

They have stayed on the wall (cabinet) since October using "sticky tack".

Not one has moved from the original spot.

I use the page protectors for anything I want to use and re-use during the year.

I have not spent one dime or minute on laminating.

For now, I allow the students to refer to this wall when we are scripture chasing, but if they rely on it during competition, they usually don't open their books to the scripture in time to count for points.

We have 2 teams for Scripture Chasing and we keep a running score, 

adding points from new matches to previous scores.

Here is how we do Scripture Chasing:

• I call out "Books Up" and students close their books and place their books out in front of them with the spine down and their hands on the front and back covers. No fingers touching the pages.
• I call out a clue, key word, or state ask a question that can be answered in a specific scripture, then I say GO.
• The first student to find the scripture yells CONTACT and holds their book up high.
• The clock starts ticking for 10 seconds as soon as the first student yells CONTACT and I confirm they have the correct scripture.
• During the 10 seconds, students from both teams try to find the scripture and yell CONTACT when they do.
• After 10 seconds, I yell stop and students keep their books held high with their finger on the scripture.
• The team with the student who yelled CONTACT first has the opportunity for 3 points
• 1 point for being first and correct
• 1 point for a student on the team being able to recite the scripture from memory (each team member may only recite a scripture 1 time until all team mates have had a turn) Team gets 2 tries (can be 2 students) to recite the scripture, otherwise, the opposing team may "steal" the point by reciting the scripture (they get 2 tries, also)
• 1 point if everyone on the team finds the correct scripture within the 10 seconds.

We do individual scripture chasing most every day in class. Once a week, we divide in to the two teams for competition. It has been fun to see the students progress and develop confidence. They surprise themselves sometimes and the looks on their faces is priceless. 

It is easier to have another adult helping during the competition as you have to be in so many places at one time as they are yelling out CONTACT in rapid fire. I have 24+ students so another set of eyes is always helpful.

We have some very competitive students and I feared this could become a problem, but so far, not at all. I told them from the beginning that this was to be fun and for the purpose of learning and that if it ever got out of perspective or too aggressive, we would stop immediately. Knowing my students, this warning was not necessary but I covered my bases.

We are preparing to compete with another Seminary Class in our Stake and I am confident they will do well.

How do you Scripture Chase with your class?

Christmas Candy Ball Game

What does this have to do with Seminary, you may be asking. 

This was an ideal alternative to a class Christmas gift exchange. I did not want to ask anyone to bring a gift as it may have been a hardship for a few of my students and I did not want to single out any one of my 24 students. 

However....I wanted to have a fun gift-type game. The Candy Ball game fit the bill on so many levels. It was so much fun and very different than a regular gift exchange. 

I got the idea on Pinterest. There was a photo and no instructions so I had to figure it out on my own. Scroll to the end of the photos for instructions on how to make the ball and play the game. 

To make the candy ball:

I used about 75 pieces/ packages of candy. I used all sizes and types. 

To start the ball, I used a large jingle bell elf as the center. (It was fun for the kids to hear the jingle inside as they pulled off layer after layer. The closer they got to the center, the louder the bell jingled)

I wrapped it in bubble wrap and taped it with packing tape.

Then I placed a piece of candy on the ball that was forming and wrapped it up with shrink wrap (the sturdy wrap used for packing and moving) I would not recommend saran wrap as it is not sturdy enough.

I continued this process of placing a candy on the wrapped ball until it was a little larger than a basketball.

Every few layers, I would use tape to seal up the recently wrapped layer (this made it a little more challenging and I recommend doing this)

To Play the game:

A player hold the ball and starts removing the layers.

The player on their left is rolling 2 dice as fast as possible in an attempt to roll doubles

When the player to the left rolls doubles, they pass the pan and dice to their left and the ball is passed to them.

They tear as many layers as possible while the player to their left is rolling the dice

And so forth.

As the layers are removed, the candy starts to come out. 

Players keep any candy that comes out during their turn.

This took us about 20 minutes with 24 students playing.

This was fast moving and kept their total attention.

Everyone got at least 1 piece of candy.

To make this more challenging, have players wear gloves. If you plan on using gloves, you may not want to use as much tape when assembling the ball.

Back To Class

It has been too long since I posted my Seminary ideas.
I had the best of intentions to update my blog, clean out my seminary closet and tote, plan my lessons for a month, etc
Instead, I enjoy family and getting some extra sleep.
I had a substitue the first week back to class due to a funeral I had to travel to and then, boom-back to Seminary hit.
I found it hard to get my head back on the Seminary schedule but this past week, everything came together again and we are moving forward.
I am so proud of my students.
I have 6 Scriptorians. 3 of them are Master Scriptorians.
I have 3-4 more who will become Scriptorians before the month is over.
We are preparing to have a Scripture Chase competition with another Ward so they are very serious about Scripture Mastery.

Here are my questions for other Seminary Teachers:

1) Did you have a difficult time starting in January after such a long break? 

How did you handle it? How do you stay motivated?

2) How do you make Scripture Mastery exciting? 

3 How much class time do you devote to Scripture Mastery?

Share your answers so we can all learn.

Stay tuned...I have so much to post and share.

Counting Blessings Activity

I got this idea from HERE
Needed:
A Rock for each student's shoe
A Piece of Candy for each student's hand

Have students assemble in a line and have them remove their right shoe.
Give them a rock and tell them to place it inside the shoe and then put the shoe back on their foot.
Give them each a piece of candy-tell them they can eat it now or save it for later.
Tell them you are going for a walk.
At the end of the walk, have them share their thoughts as they walked.

We did this the day before Thanksgiving break. I had the students go for a walk inside the building as we were looking for a surprise to use in an activity we did later in class.
As I asked them their thoughts, all they could talk about was the discomfort of the rock, etc.
No one mentioned the lollipop they had in their hands.

I compared this to looking at negatives more than positives.
No one focused on the candy (sweetness) in their hands and right under their noses.
No one chose to open their candy and enjoy it.
They all focused on the rocks(negatives) and over looked the positives.

As I compared this to our lives, it was interesting to see their faces light up when they "got it". I could have stood in front of the class for an hour telling them to be grateful and count their blessings, this simple activity taught more than any words ever could.

Gratitude Doors

It is one thing to teach gratitude, but another to live it.

We studied the 10 Lepers this week as we learned about gratitude.

The 1 Leper who returned to Christ to thank him was healed on the inside and the outside, 

while the other 9 were only healed on the outside.

We spent time last week discussing Disciples vs Hypocrites. 

It tied in to most of the lessons and I would always go back to the question,

What are YOU?

This brought us to gratitude and how to live with a heart of thanksgiving every day.

We decided we needed to thank people for specific things.

Hence, Gratitude Doors to greet our Bishops.

Yesterday, the students made notes of gratitude for the Bishops.

My Seminary class includes students from the 2 Wards that meet in our building. We have the unique blessing of having both Bishops present every morning during class. I know that they usually go to their offices while we are in class, so this was their greeting this morning. 

Seminary In My Pocket

Seminary In My Pocket

This is my 7th week teaching Seminary at Six AM. I LOVE it! I have 24 amazing students. 

The first lesson, I gave each student a rock to keep in their pocket as a reminder of our lesson that day. Little did I know that "Seminary In My Pocket" had been born.

I shared a story with them about an experience I had when I visited the death camps in Poland and showed them a rough, rugged rock I found while I was there that had one shiny side and could be easily over looked. I compared it to people in our lives who may appear rough and rugged, yet if we will look at them the way Christ does, we will be able to find something "shiny" about them.

To remind them to look for the shiny side in everyone, I gave each of them a shiny rock to put in their pockets. I told them that each time they reached inside their pocket and felt that rock, to remember to view people as Christ does and always look for the good (the shiny) Seven weeks later, they are still showing me their rocks (a few have asked for replacements when they can't find theirs) Read on for more ideas...

You can use rocks with so many object lessons (Build upon my rock, solid testimony, etc)

 When we discussed Temptations of Christ and our own personal temptations, I gave each of them a rubber band to wear and told them to memorize something that they could keep in their minds that would push bad thoughts out (a Scripture, the Sacrament prayer, the Young Women Theme, a Hymn, etc. are some of the ideas we came up with for memorization) When they have a bad thought or are tempted to do something wrong, I told them to snap the rubber band and recite whatever they memorized to bring their mind and spirit back to Christ. (That was 4 weeks ago and they are still wearing them)

When we learned about the widow's mite and sacrifice, I gave them a penny for their pockets

 When we learned about choosing our words carefully and using uplifting language, I gave them a button. They were challenged to know when to keep their lips "buttoned" and when to open their mouths and share uplifting words of love and encouragement.

Last week, they received plastic spiders  as we discussed honesty and not getting caught in webs of deceit and lying. I challenged them to not weave their own personal webs like spiders do. We also did a fun group activity with yarn as we were standing in a circle and the yarn represented lying and dishonesty. We passed the yarn back and forth as we discussed lies and deceit until no one could move inside the circle due to all the lying and dishonesty. It was interesting to see the kids figure out that if they crawled down low, they could avoid the webs, yet it was awkward for them so I reminded them of how awkward it becomes when you have to constantly think of ways to avoid your own messes (webs)

 25 Scripture Mastery Scriptures= 1 Quarter with a red happy face painted on the back. I told them that there are 25 scriptures set apart from the others that they are to know inside and out this Seminary year. The other scriptures are valuable and for our benefit, but the 25 Scripture Mastery scriptures are to "stand out" in their hearts and minds. I used red nail polish to paint a simple happy face on the back of each quarter to make it "stand out" from the other quarters that they may have in their pockets that are also valuable.

Parable of the Sower. To represent the seeds, I gave them a popcorn kernel. I knew it would not sprout or break apart in their pockets as they year goes on. I really wanted to give them some beautiful black soil from Belle Glade, Florida (right next to where we live) but I was not sure how that would last through one school day, although I am still trying...

I dont have one specific day of the week I give them an item for their pockets, in fact, there will most likely be weeks that I don't give them anything. The items always go with a lesson and are designed to reinforce what we learn in Seminary. It is way for my students to carry a tangible reminder of Seminary throughout the day. At first, I thought they would throw the items away, but a day does not go by without a student showing me the items from their pockets. 

I have had the experience of  sitting in Sacrament Meeting and one of my students will catch my attention to show me they are wearing their rubber band. It has become "cool" to have all these little things that most teenagers would have lost or thrown away by now.

Most of my students are the only Latter day Saint in their schools. As they leave our class each day, it is my goal to send them armed with the spirit. I know these little reminders in their pockets are an effective way to re-inforce their experiences in Seminary class.

As I add more items to their pockets, I will share.

At the end of this week, I have a small drawstring fabric bag for each student who would like to keep their items in it. I know this will work better for some of them who don't have pockets or do not want to move their items from pocket to pocket each day. 

I ordered the bags from HERE . I wanted to make them, but this was a great price and the bags are the perfect size. I am going to write each students' name on their bag with a sharpie marker.

Please share any ideas you have for "Seminary In My Pocket" in the comment section below or

email me at shaunahh at gmail dot com