As we prepare for shorter second-hour class times, we can learn a lot from Primary teachers. These leaders have already been holding 20-minute lessons—all while balancing different age groups, learning styles, and attention spans.
In new training videos about the 25-minute lessons, Sister Tracy Y. Browning recently shared a few teaching principles from Primary that anyone can try.
1. Focus on This Question
Sister Browning said that effective Primary teachers have learned to concentrate their lesson plans around just one principle:
“The key … is to focus and to make sure that we’re not trying to fill our lessons so much with trying to say everything, but to really find a way to be prayerful about what the children need. …
“Ask the question, ‘What principle would be a blessing to these children that help them draw closer to Jesus Christ?’”
Sunday School, elders quorum, and Relief Society teachers can reflect on similar questions to help their classes draw closer to the savior. Try pulling out a single principle, quote, or scripture from the lesson material and planning your outline from there.
2. Keep it Engaging
Once you’ve identified a principle, Sister Browning suggests finding engaging ways to help every kind of learner apply it.
“Children also love variety,” she said. “They have needs that require varying learning styles. And that includes singing a song, [using] visual aids, … reading and answering and asking questions, and being quite participatory.”
Sister Browning encouraged teachers to reference Teaching in the Savior’s Way as they incorporate more sensory experiences:
“The resource … has a lot of really good strategies like how to help harness creativity, how to help the natural curiosity of children, how to respond [to] what may be perceived as disruptive behavior with love.
“There is a lot of good content that is already available for us to help us with that question of quality teaching.”
Teaching in the Savior’s Way not only includes creative approaches for teaching children but also shares tailored ideas for teaching youth, adults, and people with disabilities. For example, this tip focuses on helping adults take responsibility for their learning:
“Adult learners are capable of acting for themselves in gospel learning settings (see 2 Nephi 2:26). Invite them to prepare for gospel discussions by studying something ahead of time, and encourage them to share what they are learning by the Spirit. You might also ask them which gospel principles they would like to spend time learning about together.”
For more ideas on quality 25-minute lessons, check out these articles:
▶ Worried about shorter Sunday classes? Try exercising ‘generous authority’
▶ The question Elder Bednar invites you to start asking after church
▶ 3 ways to adapt your lessons to the new Sunday class schedule
