Scripture Mastery Ball

Here is our class 

Book of Mormon Scripture Mastery Ball

The is a soccer ball, but you can use any type of ball. Ask your students if any of them have a spare soccer ball that they can donate to the class. We had one for New Testament and this is something most of the students have asked to have again.

Toss, pass, kick, or volley the ball around in "hot potato" fashion. Have a person turn their back to the action and when they stay "STOP", whoever has the ball checks to see where their right thumb is. The student who has the ball must state which scripture mastery verse matches the key word their right thumb is covering. For an extra point or treat, they have the opportunity to recite the verse.
I dont always use this as a game. Sometimes at the end of class when we have a few extra minutes, I will toss it to the class and whoever catches names the scripture matching the key word their right thumb is covering.
It is easier to do this in our classroom where we have the keywords on the wall, but they love going in to the cultural hall for more movement and space.

Two Cent Prayers?

When we studied Enos, I asked the students:

Are you offering Two Cent Prayers

and expecting

Ten Thousand Dollar Prayers?

What type of prayer do you think Enos offered?

How can you increase the quality of your own prayers?

As a reminder to give more than Two Cent prayers, 

I gave each student 2 pennies to keep in their pockets as a reminder to have meaningful prayers and/or to improve the quality of their prayers.

This can be applied to any lesson on prayer, faith, commitment, goal-setting, and more.

"Pass It On" Game

This activity illustrates the importance of written records:
I used it to reinforce how important it was that the words King Benjamin taught were written down and sent to those in the far areas who could not hear him as he spoke. What would have been the result had the people verbally passed the word?
Use this activity any time you are teaching the blessing and importance of written records:
This game is known by name such as "telephone" or "gossip"

Whisper a phrase in a students ear (I started with "serving God is serving others") have them whisper to the next student and continue passing the message around to each student until everyone has heard the message. Have the last student repeat what they heard. Rarely is it the exact same message. In this case, the final message came out as: "something God says love one another"

I had the message written down and showed it to the students, then asked how many heard this message. It was interesting to see how early the communication was confused and diluted.

In addition to being fun, this created some great discussion and I am sure it had an impact on the students.

Making The Scriptures Part of Our Lives-Visual Aid

Showing a bottle of ibuprofen, I told my students that my Doctor recommended that I take 2-3 pills for my aches and pains. Then I opened the bottle, took out a few pills, and taped them to my jacket. I told them I have been using this medication for a few days and it is not helping. Of course, they noted the obvious and told me that I need to swallow the medication and put it in to my body in order to receive the benefit.

This opened the door for a discussion on the need to open our hearts and make the scriptures part of our lives, living the doctrines and counsel vs just reading or not reading at all.

We also discussed the need to do things differently if what we are doing every day does not seem to work.

Lots of great discussion with this visual.

It was effective and when class was over, I went on my way to the next phase of my day. I dropped my children at school and ran a few errands. It was not until my final stop a the grocery store that the clerk checking out my groceries asked me WHY I have pills taped to my jacket. 

If you are a Seminary teacher, you can relate to this. 

I am sure I provided some staring entertainment for many people while I was out and about.

Gingerbread Houses and Scripture Mastery

I hosted my Seminary class at my house this week for an evening class activity.

Thursday was a late start for public school and only 5-6 of my 27 students would 

have been able to attend class that day. 

By holding a class activity on Wednesday evening, 

everyone could attend and join in the fun!

We made my specialty gingerbread houses- something I have enjoyed sharing 

with hundreds of children and adults over the past 30 years!

Scripture Mastery verse, Helaman 5:12 - building on a strong foundation was reinforced.

 My students enjoyed spending time talking with each other and just 

getting to know each other better in a different setting. 

I got to know each of them better and I hope they felt the same about me.

 Every house was unique and turned out great!

We enjoyed a bonfire, roasting marshmallows, making s'mores, and singing 

Christmas carols. 

Scripture Mastery Obstacle Course

I set up an obstacle course for the purpose of reinforcing the key words in 2 Nephi 31:19-20 (this can be used for any Scripture Mastery passage or Article of Faith)
I used the gym, stage, the kitchen, and our classroom.
It was not as complicated as it may sound and it went quickly. We were able to work on more Scripture Mastery and have a short thought from the lesson.
Here is how it worked:

• While we were still in the classroom, I assigned everyone a partner.
• Each student was told to bring their journal and something to write with as they went through the obstacle course.
• I just used what I had at home to come up with each activity. I got some of the ideas from a fellow Seminary teacher, Katie Gurney, and adapted them to fit this activity.
• At the end of each activity, students were to look inside a brown bag to find the new key word (s) and write them in their journal.
• After completing the course and collecting all the key words, students were to return to the classroom, determine which Scripture Mastery verse(s) the key words were from, write the passage in their journals, repeat it to their partner, then go to the kitchen for the final key word (prize) "eternal life" which was a pot with gold foil covered chocolate coins.
  
• Here are the activities on the obstacle course
• Wheelbarrow race through the "strait and narrow" way (I put a long table on it's side up against a wall to create a narrow path)
• Balance a Book of Mormon on your head (Word of Christ)
• Balance grains of wheat on a spoon while walking to next table, then pour into a can (unshaken faith)
• Walk to next station without shoes/feet touching the wood floors-I provided paper plates for them to use however best they felt would accomplish this task (wholly on the merits)
• Lift hand weights on the way to the next station (press forward)
• Jump rope on the way to the next station (steadfastness)
• Use flashlights to go up the stairs to the dark stage and find the next clue (brightness of hope) This was good as I had a black paper pinned to the black stage curtains with the words "Brightness of hope" written in gold. It took some searching and effort to find this clue.
• Write on a small paper heart a kind word or words about someone in the class and glue it in your journal (love of God and all men)

• Using 2 forks (1 per team member), without piercing the orange, balance it on both forks as you walk to the next station (feasting upon the words of Christ) 
• Crawl to next station and do 10 push ups when you get there (endure to the end)
• Instructions at this station: Return to classroom, determine which Scripture Mastery verses contain these key words, write the passage in your journal, repeat out loud to your  partner, go to the kitchen to receive the final key word and ultimate prize (eternal life)

Here are some additional photos

Scripture Mastery Game

My class needed a little kick-start to re-kindle their enthusiasm for Scripture Mastery.
This game sparked that enthusiasm:

Preparation:
I chose all the Scripture Mastery selections that have only 1 verse ( I left out 1 Nephi 3:7 and 2 Nephi 2:25 because most of them know those two scriptures)
Using the Scripture Mastery cards, I wrote the key word/phrases for each scripture on a word strip.
Place the word strip inside a balloon, blow it up, and tie it.
Before class, I scattered the balloons all over the Cultural Hall (my students meet across the hall and did not see this prior to class)

Activity:
Each student was instructed to get a partner and depart for the Cultural Hall
Once there, each partnership could choose 1 balloon.
When I said "GO" they were to pop the balloon using these guidelines:

• No touching the balloon with Hands or Feet
• Both partners must be touching the balloon
• Once the balloon pops, they were to open the strip of paper and read the  key word or phrase 

Once they have the key word or phrase, they were to return to the classroom and determine which scripture reference it matched.

Each person was to write the scripture in their journal and then, with their partner, develop techniques to practice and memorize the scripture.

It was amazing to see how quickly they memorized a scripture and could pass it off to me.

When they passed it off, they marked our classroom Scripture Mastery Chart and got a treat from the Scripture Memorization jar.

Results: 

• Everyone memorized at least 1 scripture today.
• For 2 students, it was the first time they memorized a Scripture Mastery verse.
• About half of the students memorized another scripture once they had gained confidence by memorizing one.
• And the real BONUS? 3-4 students memorized three scriptures.

Of course, the true BONUS is that these scriptures become part of them and as Elder Richard G Scott teaches, to memorize a scripture is to gain a new friend. These are the best friends a person can have, especially a teenager who is faced with so much temptation.

As a follow up, I will call on each partnership at the beginning of class over the next days and ask them to give tips on how they memorized the scripture and any techniques they find helpful

Having them teach is a very effective way to reinforce the scriptures they are learning.

You may adapt this and put the same scripture clue in each balloon.

Happy Teaching!