SUNDAY LESSONS
LESSON MANUAL IDEAS: (from Lorrie)
I've had several requests for Lesson Manual #1 ideas for this year.
I'm sorry, but I won't be able to do this. One -- it would take up
more time and space than I have; and two -- since I am not currently serving
in the YW program, I don't even have access to this resource. May
I suggest that you either subscribe to the YW mailing list (which is a
wonderful source of ideas) or if you don't want to subscribe -- you could
use the archives search engine for ideas on this site: http://www.ldscn.com/
LESSON MANUAL ORDER -- 1999: - I recently attended
an area meeting with Sister Beck from the General YW Board. She emphasized
that the lessons in the YW manual must be taught in the order they appear
in the manual. Annette
TABLE CENTERPIECE: - There are always those lessons
where you need a pen to have the girls write something
right? Well you'll always have pens with this center
piece. Here is what you need:
large taricotta pot (few dollars at wal-mart)
flower arraging sponge ( 2 for .77 cents at a craft
store)
spanish moss ( 1.00 for a bag)
green floral tape
silk flowers one for each value color ( I went to
the dollar store)
pack of pens
You put the stem of the flower along side the pen
and wrap the green tape around it, all the way to the end of the pen. So
the pen looks like a stem and the flower is at the top of the pen. Then
you put you the flower arraging sponge in the pot and cover it with spanish
moss. Then you arrange all of your flower pens in the pot by sticking them
in the sponge.
Tie a bow around your pot and your finished. This
works great, you'll always have a pen handy as well as a cute center piece
for your lessons. Carla
in
Arizona
VALUES LESSON: - This activity could be used
as a Sunday lesson on values. Play Candy Land (the child's game).
Every time a girl lands on a color they must tell what it stands for and
one thing they can do to strengthen this area. Each girl should keep
a tally of the number of times they land on the value of the month.
When the game is over, count the number of tallies for each girl.
During the next week they must do that many things within the value and
come back the following week to report. (For example: if you
are talking about service. Every time a girl lands of a yellow, they
will repeat the scripture, tell a kind of service they could do, repeat
the motto, etc. When the game is completed, if the girl has 10 tally marks,
then she must do 10 acts of service that week for her family and
others. The following week she comes back to class and reports on
her experience.) Teena
Harrison, Taylor, Arizona
SHOES OBJECT LESSON (MARRIAGE): - When your
married, does love change over time? Think of love as a pair of shoes.
In the beginning, everything's brand- squeaky-new. You love the way
they smell; your first steps are a bit stiff, yet shiny and exciting.
Time passes. The high-gloss quality has dimmed, you've got a few
scuffs and scratches, but you feel comfortable and secure -- these are
shoes you can count on! More time passes. You hit a crisis
point: A heel breaks, a sole wears down--should you repair them or
toss them. Perhaps you could even try on a few other pairs for size.
Still, no shoes do it for you like these. No shoes fit you
the same way. So you do some work on
them. You fix them up to be keepers. And,
sure, maybe they aren't the dazzling special-company, steppin'out shoes
they once were. Maybe they aren't the shoes you'd wear for your big
Hokey-Pokey number at Cousin Gloria's wedding reception. Big deal.
Hokey-Pokeys may come and go, but these shoes have gone the distance.
And that's what it's all about!
TEACHING WITH THE
SPIRIT THOUGHTS AND IDEAS
ASSESSING THE NEEDS OF THE YW: - If you
look in the front of the lesson manual in the introduction under unit teaching
it states "In teaching these units, assess the needs of the YW in your
class by asking yourself the following questions:
What problems are they facing?
What do they already know about the subject?
What previous lessons have they had on the subject?
Which of these lessons best meet their needs?
When you have carefully considered the needs of your
YW, study the lesson titles and objectives of each lesson to determine
which lessons
will best meet those needs. By planning well
in advance, you can be sure that the YW will receive lessons in all units
and that you will
provide a complete, balanced curriculum."
STICKING TO THE LESSON MANUEL: - We had a training
a couple of years ago with Sister Pierce who was at the time a member of
the YW General Board, and she stressed the importance of teaching the lessons
in the manual. She explained that in the curriculum department at
Church Headquarters that they have charts on the walls that list gospel
topics that will be taught from the time we are in nursery until we are
in Relief Society and Priesthood quorums. She said we would be amazed
to see that topics we think are so basic may only be covered once or twice
in our life time. She was stressing the importance of teaching the
lesson in the manual.
MONTHLY VALUE LESSON: - When I lived in a large
ward, I had one sister who was called as the Value Speaker. She always
gave the lessons on Fast Sunday and they were about the Values. She
was terrific and used so many different teaching techniques. A great
resource book is "Teaching No Greater Call". It has some of
the best teaching methods and they will keep your lessons A-one!
In smaller wards(like the one I currently live in), you could have
a guest value speaker on Fast Sunday. I've used the best women and
a few men in the stake. I always get the names approved by the bishop,
which isn't a problem, and ask the speaker well in advance. They
have been the best!
Last month the sister compared quilt tops to Divine
Nature and the individuality of the girls. She brought several quilts
and had prepared
pieces of paper with a pattern of nine squares.
She divided the girls into groups and gave each group a paper, scissors,
glue stick, and a
baggie containing 9 squares of red and blue paper
to fit into the pattern. The groups could then make any design they
decided. It was
great and they all turned out so different.
Our presidency just stood back in awe!
HOLY GHOST LESSON: - I just gave a lesson in
young women's on the Holy Ghost. I discussed why the
Holy Ghost is so important
in our lives, the purposes of promptings, how promptings
come, why we get no answer even when we are living the commandments
... how to tell if they are from us or the Lord. Started the lesson
by giving a gift ... an NY subway token. Explained what the gift
was. Asked a youth if she could go from Times Square to the Empire
State Building, using her new gift. She explained she knew the basics,
understood the use of the token but, admitted that she wouldn't know which
subway to use. I Explained and tied that into the Holy Ghost.
We understand we have this gift, but do we fully understand its purpose?
Do we know how to use the gift? Do we understand its purposes?
MORALITY OBJECT LESSON: - My husband likes to
do an object lesson with a pencil: Dangle a pencil on the edge of
a counter or table. Ask the class if they can guess when the
pencil will fall as you push it closer and closer to the the edge.
(It falls when least expected). Then he takes the pencil to the back
of the table and says the pencil will not fall if it is not even near the
edge, much safer, etc.
AGENCY & M&M'S: - Pass a package of
M&M's around the class. Tell them to take whatever color of M&M's
they want, except don't pick the blue ones. As it is passed around,
the class members will notice that there aren't any blue ones and at the
end everyone will be asking the question "Why?". Relate it to Heavenly
Father's plan and giving us our agency or following Satan's plan and taking
out all the blue M&M's.
LESSON FILLERS: - For ideas on Lesson fillers,
when you've run out of lesson and not out of time, click
here
INDIVIDUAL WORTH: - I did a lesson on Individual
Worth and tied it into the family proclamation Paragraphs 2 &5.
I had a poster with a huge thumbprint on it saying "You are Thumbody
Special". It was really cute. I wanted to have the girls
stamp their own thumbprint on the poster and sign beneath it saying that
everyone's thumbprint is unique. -- Lisa
Hansen
CHASTITY LESSON IDEA: - I first used this 20
plus years ago when working with the Beehives as a
thought for teaching lessons on chastity and morality:
"Be chaste while being chased." ----- To make a picture
for your lesson, you could find a picture (maybe from a teen magazine
or something) of a girl with guys around her (you know the scene!).
Glue it to a piece of card stock or construction paper and add the thought
listed above: "Be chaste while being chased". My teacher did
it when I was a youth, and I still remember it.
MAN OF YOUR DREAMS....OR NIGHTMARES?: - For
ideas Click Here
AGENCY LESSON: - Last week I went through the
parable of the ten virgins. I read the scripture passage. Then I used Pres.
Kimball's explanation of the parable. I displayed an oil lamp. As
a hand out I gave out tiny vials of lamp oil. I told them that they got
a drop for being at church that day and another drop for their modest dress.
Another drop for listening and bringing their scriptures. This is the preparation
that Pres. Kimball uses as his example. The foolish virgins chose not to
be prepared and had to be accountable for their foolishness.
"SEEK THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD" HANDOUT: - (This
was written on a heart)
Seek the Spirit of the Lord
This is a spiritual experience in which you are involved.
Bright as you are, trained as you may be, you are not wise enough
to do it alone. Seek the blessings of the Lord and his favor, and you will
be blessed with success and happiness, and your work will be crowned with
that joy which will make it really fruitful, for God has promised His Spirit
and His power to those who seek Him and love Him.
God bless you to believe what I have said to you about
being important. You are.
HANDOUT BINDER: - We were given a binder with
section papers to keep ours in. We section them off into the values.
I personally am not much one for handouts, but I keep them anyway, because
I have some inactive friends that have some problems that I like to send
them to, to try and help them. So mine do someone some good!
TESTIMONY: - When I was in YW as a Miamaid,
my teacher gave a lesson on testimonies or faith. At the end of class,
she gave everyone a plant, I had it for years and it never grew....
Through this time I thought about throwing it out because it was an ugly
plant with one leaf on it. I didn't look at it much and didn't pay attention
to it. As time went on, I practically lost my testimony.
Later, I found a wonderful guy and was sealed in the temple. We brought
the plant to our home now 17 months later it has eight leaves!! It
has turned out to be a beautiful plant. I suppose my testimony was
the same as the plant grew. It gets bigger everyday and so does my testimony.
My mom was amazed when she came to my house and saw the plant after seeing
it so small and lifeless for so many years. So the moral to
the story is I kept one of my "handouts" though I didn't quite understand
the power of it then (10 years ago) I am glad I never threw out the plant.
MODESTY LESSON: - As an object lesson you could
take some New Eras and put Cosmopolitin magazine covers over them and then
discuss what they think the inside is like. My girls really took to this
because they want to be in style but not to give off the wrong message.
I don't think they had really thought about what they were saying to others
by their dress. They figured that if it met the standards listed in the
"For the strength of Youth" pamphlets it was totally okay. I have noticed
a change in their dress since I gave this lesson.
CHARITY: - (This is from the book
"Power Tools for Teaching", by Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson)
Objective: to demonstrate how charity can help us rise to our highest potential
as servants of our Heavenly Father.
Materials Needed: Two loaves of homemade bread-one
with yeast, one without yeast.
Procedure: Display both loaves of bread. Ask
what the class members think made the difference. (Yeast.) Point out that
the recipe was followed exactly for both loaves with the exception of one
ingredient, the yeast. T's easy to tell which loaf has the yeast.
Explain that in our lives we can have a similar experience.
We can develop our character and obey the commandments; gut if we omit
the important ingredient of charity for all mankind, it will all be for
nothing. Without this vital ingredient, we cannot rise to our highest
potential.
JESUS IS OUR "LIFE-SAVER" HANDOUT: -
Whether your ship is sailing upon calm waters or is
heading for uncharted seas
or you are struggling to keep your head above
the crashing waves…
Only one life "preserver" outlasts all others, it
is Jesus Christ.
(Poem is attached with a lifesaver.)
EXALTATION: - At the beginning of the lesson
ask for those who have NOT read their scriptures or prayed or whatever
that week. Now for those who HAVE NOT read Give THEM a Hershey's
kiss. Then continue with your lesson. Don't say anything else.
You will hear some murmuring. If they murmur say we will talk about it
later. At the END of the Lesson. For those who READ give them a HUGE
candy bar. Tie it into life today ... sometimes it seems as though
the wicked are receiving rewards NOW. Ask was it worth the wait to
get the bigger candy bar? Tie into worth the wait for celestial Kingdom
The reward is bigger better and worth the wait.
REVERENCE HELP: - This month we are focusing
on Integrity. For our combined lesson (Fast Sunday) we invited a
member of the bishopric to present the theme. It went VERY WELL!!
I was amazed at how quiet and respectful the young women were. They
actually listened and learned something! I think it helps the
young women grow closer to the bishopric. Another thing we
have started,
is having a member of the bishopric be in our opening
exercises each week. This really helps with the reverence problems.
TURNING YOUR HEARTS -- TO EACH OTHER: - (See
Lesson
idea)