Preparing a Lesson

[daenvgiell]

Ok so I've been teaching in RS for a few months now, once every month, but I've only taught from the Joseph Smith book which has the teaching suggestions. Well now I have a lesson from the ensign, which has no suggestions, I was wondering, how do you prepare lessons that have no help? I don't know what to do, I'm completely stuck!

[pam]

Do you have a specific talk from the Ensign you are asked to teach from?

[Jenamarie]

I'm the Teachings For Our Times teacher in my ward, and I actually prefer teaching from the Ensign than from the manual!

Basically pretend you're preparing a Sacrament Meeting talk, with the Conference Talk as your main source, and include class participation.

Here's how I come up with an outline for my talks:

1. Pray about what the message is the Lord wants you to present to your class. (duh)

2. Read the article (duh)

3. Read any scriptures included in the footnotes of the talk (often a great source of inspiration)

4. Highlight any quotes from the talk that I especially liked, and that presented the key points of the message. I usually use these quotes as the "points" of my outline. I'll read the quote, or have someone in the class read it, then discuss it more indepth with the class. I'll do this with some of the scriptures as well. If any of the quotes are particularly long (like personal stories from the speaker) I'll paraphrase them.

Basically what I do is present a Cliff's Notes version of the talk, broken into 3-4 segments upon a common theme, to the class, then discuss each segment.

[Just_A_Guy]

I would basically try to (prayerfully) strip the talk/article down to one or two key points, and then use those to build a completely new lesson--using the original talk as appropriate, but also using whatever external materials* I thought would be helpful.

*In accordance with the Church's policy on external teaching aids, of course!

[beefche]

I'm the 4th Sunday teacher as well and love teaching from the Ensign.

I second the suggestions already made. But I would add to ask good questions. When thinking about what questions to ask, I think about the sisters who are in my class. Since I have grandmas, single sisters, married with kids, married without kids, etc. I try to think of how can we, as women, apply this to our lives. Ask "how do you/we" or "why do you/we" type questions. Don't get caught up in asking questions that people will know the "right" answer. We learn to apply principles by asking the hard questions and then waiting in silence until people start thinking about it. Don't be afraid of silence. It's ok to have long pauses after you ask a question.

[Misshalfway]

Usually Conference talks are constructed with a certain structure. They often have bolded headings that can help you move from subject to subject. Perhaps you could take each section and then create one or two questions for each section. These talks also have a list of supportive scriptures at the end. Perhaps you could search through them and assign one or two to each section as well. I like questions that start discussions and make people think. Sometimes I just like to ask people what they think about a quote or a scripture.

[pam]

I would love to teach in RS. I'm actually jealous of those of you that do.

[Jenamarie]

I would love to teach in RS. I'm actually jealous of those of you that do.

This is my second go round as TFOT's teacher in Relief Society (took a 2 year "hiatus" to be in the YW's presidency). It is my FAVORITE calling. I'm also my ward's Activity Day leader, and while my girls are all adorable, I think my heart would break more over being released from RS than being released from AD.

[beefche]

I would love to teach in RS. I'm actually jealous of those of you that do.

Easy. Tell the Education Counselor and each of the teachers that you are available to teach as a substitute--even last minute notification. Once you teach, you'll be on the radar screen....

Or move to Indy--we need another teacher.

[pam]

No noooo last minute notifications. lol I don't want to teach THAT bad.

[beefche]

chicken....

Did I tell ya'll here that about a month ago, I taught Gospel Doctrine with absolutely no notification? Bishop came into our class, said he dropped the ball and forgot to ask someone to teach so we would be on our own for the class. I raised my hand and offered to lead our class in a discussion. The topic was "Eternal Marriage"....funny coming from the single sister........

The secret to teaching last minute is asking GOOD thought-provoking questions.