Lesson Plan: Sacrifice, Activities

Last time I gave a lesson in Primary, I ran out of material before I ran out of time. While I don't think that;s likely to happen this time, it would be foolish of me not to plan some kind of activity the class can do if we have extra time. In my previous class, the Go To activity was hangman. One child selected a word or phrase from the lesson, and the other children had to guess letters until they could guess the whole word or phrase. This time, I think I'll do something similar, but instead of letting a child choose the word or phrase (which can lead to trouble if the child accidentally marks down the wrong number of letters), I think I might choose several words that apply to the lesson, like Temptation, The Fall of Adam and Eve, The Atonement, Sacrifice, and Repentance, and I'll use those words for the hangman game. That way, we can have several shorter rounds rather than a few longer rounds.

I also, with my family's help, thought of another "activity" that might help the lesson sink in. At the beginning of the lesson, I'll give each child an Oreo and a promise. The promise will be that if they haven't eaten their Oreo by the end of the lesson, I'll give them a second Oreo. This will give the children a hands-on lesson on temptation, the blessings of resisting it, and (possibly) the consequences of giving in to temptation. I was almost willing to consider that the "activity," but it's not very fun, and it won't help kill time at the end of the lesson. Hangman should do the trick though.

When giving any lesson or delivering any message, it's important to consider both your audience and how much time or space you'll have to work with. A 45-minute lesson for eight and nine year olds is going to be very different from a 15-minute presentation to adults or a 5-page research paper for a college-level class. Tomorrow, I'll need to teach at my students' level, and I'll have to use all the time I'm given. I'll start, of course, by getting the kids' attention and teaching the lesson, but I'll finish with a time-flexible activity that will help the children remember at least the key terms.