Job

Computer Workshop Idea

...could also be used in a Bible Skills & Game Workshop

One of my favorite teaching techniques for LONG passages of scripture is to play the game

"How Low Can You Go?"

  ...aka  "How Few Can You Do?"

It's a simple but fun technique that can easily be turned into a fun little competitive game. Here's the basic idea:

After introducing the lesson, give each student a copy of today's scripture reading copied from the Bible. (Tip: enlarge the text to about 15 pts).  For JOB, you may want to create a summary reading of about 30 verses. Check your children's Bibles for such.

Give each student a red highlighter and AS YOU READ the passage (or take turns reading), tell them to highlight "key words and phrases" that they think are really important in the passage.

Now the game begins....

Round 1: Split them into teams of 2 or 3 students each and tell them to turn on the "Talk Now" module in the Let's Talk CD** (Sunday Software).  Tell them that they are to work together to DECIDE AND TYPE onto the screen the 20* keywords/phrases that sufficiently summarize the passage. Give them 5 minutes. They'll have to compare what words they highlighted and make some decisions.

*Depending on your passage, you may have them just include words, or completely sentences. Depending on the length of the passage, you might 'allow' them up to 30 words. The idea is to force them to make choices.

Once every team has done this first task, have the class move to each computer and play* each team's list of keywords/phrases.  The teacher compares and contrasts, and suggest why certain keywords might be important to the passage. 

*In Let's Talk CD, your students create an animated talking character who will speak aloud anything your students type.

Round 2:  Now tell them they have to REDUCE the number of their chosen keywords BY HALF.

Round 3:  Now how them REDUCE their list AGAIN by HALF.

Round 4: Eventually, you can even ask them to delete all their keywords but TWO, and then BUT ONE.

Of course, each time you have them reduce their list, you are asking them WHY they chose what they chose, and comparing it to what the OTHER teams have chosen.

Teacher Tip: When each team gets down to 10 or so keywords, write them down on a pad as you browse each screen and hear them played back. You'll quickly see which teams chose the SAME keywords, and those which chose different, and this is another great point of discussion.