[Teachldsseminary] SM: Help for slower students

[Julie Lowe]

I tried something this week that seemed to increase participation and
enthusiasm for scripture mastery review.  Recently I noticed several
students not even try to participate because they take too long to find the
references.  So they sit with their scriptures closed and just watch the
others.  I gave every student 5 sticky note strips (3" X 3/4" that I made
myself by cutting a stack of  5  3" square post-its into 4 long skinny
strips).  Each student could place them on the SM verses of their choice.
They also wrote the reference at the top sticking out.  Then when we raced,
they could use those as a guide to find the others.  They each only raced
against one partner.  The twist was that if I called for one they had
marked, it was an automatic win whether they got there first or not.  We
still waited for the partner to find it just for practice.  In case they
both had the same one marked, then it was based on who got there first
(which surprisingly never happened)  Since my class is still getting used to
the clues & references, I encouraged them to call out the reference as soon
as they knew, so everyone could start looking for it. Then the winners moved
one direction & the others moved the other direction and the next round was
with a new partner.  They were all engaged the entire time.

This might be a good idea for the beginning of next year if your students
are already skilled in finding the verses.