Please feel free to print, reproduce and distribute these hints and tips to your fellow teaching volunteers.

• Ages 2 - 3 • Ages 4 - 5 • Grades 1 - 2 • Grades 3 - 4 • Grades 5 - 6

Hints and tips for teaching ages 2 - 3

Why? Why? Why?
To stop an unending series of "whys", give the child a clear explanation, then ask her to repeat it back to you. Explain to her that you want to make sure she understands it. This works best with three-year-olds.

Egg Heads
Use plastic Easter eggs to make play people for your children. Pull the eggs apart and glue pebbles into the bottom half of the egg. (If you want your play people to make a rattle noise, use pebbles without any glue.) Glue the two halves of the egg together and decorate the egg with drawn-on eyes, nose, mouth, and hair using a non-toxic, permanent pen.

Edible Play Dough
Combine 1 cup peanut butter, 1 cup honey, and 1 1/2 cups dry powdered milk in a large bowl. Mix together well. Place the dough in a covered container and store it in the refrigerator. Cover a table with a clean plastic tablecloth and make sure the children wash their hands before playing with the dough. This mixture can also be used for no-bake cookies. Let the children decorate, then eat their own cookies.

Transform your crafts into learning activities
Crafts are for adults. Learning activities are for children. By turning your crafts into learning experiences, you give the children worthwhile lessons that will be with them long after the craft is gone. Here's how: Focus on what the children can learn rather than on what they can make. Do this (1) by allowing the children to make their own creations even if they vary from the suggested pattern; (2) by describing to the children the sensations they are feeling as they experience their creations; and (3) by pointing out acts of kindness and relating them to what the Bible says about being kind (for example, you might say, "Taking turns is one good way to be kind.").

"Me. Mine."
Twos and threes do not understand sharing. This is evident in the frequent use of the words "me" and "mine." This is not all bad. It is a necessary stage before sharing can take place. Before a child can learn to share something, he must learn to possess it. Sharing is voluntarily giving up what we possess.

"My best friend is a stuffed animal!"
Twos and threes are likely to see their toys as persons and their peers as things. They see other children as nothing more than another toy to play with. It is important that we teach each child that he or she is special. And it's just as important that we teach them other children are special, too.

Make your own picture books
Here are two easy-to-make picture books:
(1) Use a photo album with magnetic pages and insert pictures to show the children.
(2) Use reclosable plastic bags to make a flip picture-book. Sew four or five bags together at the bottom, using a zigzag machine stitch. Cut colored poster board to fit the bags to give the plastic bag book stability. Insert appropriate pictures. Another way to bind the books is to punch holes along the reclosable edge of the bag. Then use yarn or shoestrings to fasten the bags together like a book. Besides pictures, you can also display various objects, like colored leaves or feathers, in the bags.

Now that's a story
Find ways for young listeners to participate in the storytelling. Create a phrase that can be repeated many times when you give a hand signal. For example, you might say, "Jesus said" (extend your arm, then move it toward you), "follow me." The children will say "Follow me" each time you do that motion. This works best when a co-worker can prompt the children.

Pro-Noun, Anti-Pronoun
When you speak to toddlers, be specific. Emphasize nouns, not pronouns. Instead of saying, Scotty, put them over there, say, Scotty, put the books on the bookshelf.

Tour guide for life
Toddlers are their own best teachers. Don't think of yourself as a teacher; think of yourself as life's tour guide. Your task is to plan the itinerary, show toddlers to the place of learning, and then let them explore and discover. Talk to them like a tour guide. For example, while they are finger painting, talk about the colors and texture of the paint. Describe what you and the children are experiencing. By linking language with sight, sound, and activities you will teach the children important pre-reading skills.

Diaper discourse
Some twos are still in diapers. Don't waste diaper changing time ---­ it's an excellent opportunity for one-on-one teaching. Play these simple learning games while changing a child's diaper: Using the child's name, say, God made Aaron's legs! (Touch his legs.) Say, God made Aaron's arms! (Touch his arms.) Say, God loves Aaron! (Hug him.) Sing nursery rhymes or short songs together or recite simple, rhythmic poems. Choose three or four vocabulary words a week and put numerous pictures of these on the wall next to your changing area. Occupying the child with interesting things to look at and do will make the process go more smoothly. Lots of times toddlers fight and squirm out of boredom. Don't' neglect the opportunity for a special hug at this time.

Spiritual Building Blocks
Twos and threes are laying a foundation for future spiritual development. One basic foundation block for every child is learning the difference between right and wrong. Teach them that some things are always right and some things are always wrong. But remember when correcting a child, two-year-olds (and younger threes) respond better to distraction than to reasoning.

One Eye + One Ear = Two learning opportunities
Everyone knows that twos and threes learn through sensory experiences. But do you know which senses provide the best learning experience? Studies have shown that children learn 1% by taste, 1 1/2% by touch, 3 1/2% by smell, 11% by sound, and 83% by sight! The more senses a child uses, the more learning that takes place.

Hard at Play
Are your toddlers playing or learning?
If they're playing, they're also learning! According to psychologist Gary R. Collins, playing performs four important activities:
(1) it provides a release of energy,
(2) it stimulates thinking,
(3) it develops motor skills, and
(4) it encourages the child to act out role models for future reference. And you thought they were just having fun!

Clean Finger Paint
Mix 1 cup powdered soap or detergent with 1/3 cup of liquid starch (or 1/4 cup of water). Beat with an egg beater until fluffy. Use this mixture as paint on brightly colored construction paper. The contrast between the paint and the paper will provide a delightful experience for your children.

Animal fun for twos and threes
Help your twos and threes develop their imagination and motor coordination by imitating God's creatures:

• Gorilla or Chimpanzee: Scratch your sides as you bend your knees, jump or walk, and make appropriate noises.
• Flamingo: Stand straight and lift one foot, raising the foot as high as you can. Spread your arms as wings, and then tuck them in close to your body.
• Donkey: Bend over so your hands touch the ground, then kick one leg out behind you while saying, "hee-haw."
• Cat: Arch your back, reaching down to the floor with your hands. Then scratch the air with your claws while saying, "meow."
• Elephant: Hold your hands together, bend at the waist, and extend your arms down to the floor, swinging your arms back and forth as your trunk. Take large steps.
• Bird: Flap your arms as wings while running around the room.

In Other Words
One way to reinforce beginning language skills is to rephrase a child's request into complete sentences. When a child says, "Me play outside." You might respond with, Do you want to play outside?

Scribble Artists
A blank piece of paper is confusing to twos and threes. They don't know whether to draw on it, crumple it, or eat it. When you give a child a paper activity, it is always best to have some kind of basic drawing on the paper, even if you have to draw something for them. Don't worry that you are not an artist. Twos and threes will think your drawing is great and will love scribble coloring it.

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Hints and tips for teaching ages 4 - 5

Threading Activities Made Easy
Before using yarn for threading activities, dip the ends of the yarn in glue, twist them, and let them dry overnight. Or tape the ends with a small amount of clear tape. This will give the yarn a firm point to work with. For smaller threading projects, use chenille wire.

Preschool Vocation Guidance
Preschoolers are always wondering what kind of person they will grow up to be. They test possible vocations, consider future goals, and learn what it is like to be grown up by pretending to play the role. All of this is important to their future development. Help your preschoolers begin to discover what kind of person God has planned them to be by providing props, dress-up clothes, and opportunities for them to imitate and role play a variety of vocations.

Special Delivery
Send letters to your children. Be sure to include a stick of sugarless gum or a plastic bag of raisins. The parents will appreciate the letter and the child will remember the gift. Sending letters to absentees is always a good idea, but don't forget to send letters to your faithful memebers, too.

Taming Tempera Paint
When mixing powdered tempera paints, add a small amount of powdered detergent. This will give the paint body and will also make it wash out of smocks and clothes more easily. Adding a pinch of salt will keep the paint from souring.

Well done, good and faithful preschooler
Self-respect is an essential building block for healthy personalities. You can help your preschoolers lay a solid foundation of self-respect. Teach them the satisfaction of achievement by praising them for good work. Teach them that their accomplishments are significant. Give them small tasks they can do for the good of the group.

Language Explosion
At ages four and five, a preschooler's vocabulary increases tenfold, from 150 words to 1500 words! You can help them manage this explosion of words by doing two things. First, teach preschoolers how to use their new words correctly by speaking to them in complete, literal sentences. Second, let them practice using their new words by asking them to retell a story.

Jesus (Stop talking, Brian!) loves you - As a teacher, you talk about love, you read Bible passages about love, and you sing songs with your children about love. But do you give your children opportunities to practice loving one another? A Bible class that talks and sings about love but doesn't let the children talk to each other long enough to become friends is a contradiction in terms.

Let your fingers do the story telling
Try using finger puppets if you are telling a story with many characters. Finger puppets can be made from strips of construction paper that are decorated with crayons and then taped around your fingers. Finger puppets can also be quite elaborate creations made from felt and yarn. Fingers of gloves can be decorated so each finger becomes a different story character. Keep fingers bent when those characters are offstage, and raise your fingers as the story characters appear.

What's in a name?
If it's a child's name, plenty! The sum of a child's existence is packaged in that name. And most children hear their name only when they're in trouble. They hear, Stephanie! How many times do I have to tell you to stop hitting Chris? Children need to hear their names spoken in positive sentences. When each child arrives for class, greet him or her by name. Say, Jason! I'm glad you came today! When a child does something well, use his or her name with a compliment. Say, Philip, you did an excellent job cleaning your work place! When a child does something commendable, include his or her name in the recognition. Say, Andrea, letting Matthew borrow your crayon was a kind thing to do! Saying the child's name at the beginning of the sentence helps capture their attention so they are more likely to hear the rest of what you have to say.

Handle with Care
The way you handle an object shows how much you value that object. If something is cheap, you don't mind tossing it around. If something is valuable, you handle it with care. Show your children that you value the Bible by handling it with care. Whenever you pick up your Bible, use it, or lay it down, let your actions demonstrate your reverence for God's Word.

They lived happily ever after, again!
When you've read the same story for the hundredth time and one of your students asks you to read it again...read it for the one hundred and first time. Repitition is an essential learning element for this age. Children will often go back to the book on their own and, using the pictures to prompt their memory, "read" the story to themselves. By doing so, the children are developing important pre-reading skills. Don't insist on variety simply because you are tired of the story. Read it again.

Puzzling stories
Tell your next Bible story with a puzzle you make yourself. Glue the lessons picture to a piece of cardboard and cut it into six to eight pieces. Be creative in cutting your puzzle pieces. Cut at least one puzzle piece into a recognizable shape. For example, if your lesson is on love, make one puzzle piece in the shape of a heart (other lessons might have a star, an apple, an animal, etc.). If your are not artistic, draw around a cookie cutter as a guide for the shape. Letting the children play with the puzzle afterwards provides an excellent review of the story.

Unreasonable Reasoning
It is unreasonable to expect a preschooler to understand reasoning. Preschoolers do not understand logic. For the preschooler, right is what adults approve, accept, and reward; wrong is what adults stop, condemn, and punish. Lack of reasoning skills also hinders their ability to make proper choices. Don't ask a preschooler to make a decision about something that requires independent reasoning unless he is correct in whatever choice he makes.

The Do-it-Yourself Sound of Music
Fours and five's love making music and it's good for them. Playing instruments strengthens their hand-eye coordination and listening skills. You can make simple rhythm instruments from materials found in most homes. Ask parents to begin collecting the items several weeks before you actually need them. Drums can be made out of three-pound coffee cans with plastic lids (remove rough edges and tape lids in place), ice cream cartons, large shortening cans, or plastic wastebaskets. Shakers can be made by filling small boxes, plastic Easter eggs, or empty salt containers with dried beans, popcorn, rice, or anything else that makes an interesting sound. (Packing tape works best as a seal.) Sand Blocks can be made by gluing sandpaper to old toy blocks or lumber scraps. (Sand rough edges of lumber smooth.) Bells can be make by sewing three to five jingle bells to a six-inch length of elastic. Sew the ends of the elastic together to make bracelets that can be used on wrists and ankles.

Storytelling dog
Help your students learn sequencing with a storytelling dog. Make a simple dog's face out of construction paper. Cut a slit for the mouth. Cut a long red piece of construction paper for the dog's tongue. Make simple sketches of the lesson's story elements on the tongue and feed it through the slit at the dog's mouth so that only the tip is showing (for example, for the story of the first sin, story elements on the tongue could picture
[1] A tree with an X through it;
[2] a snake that shakes its head;
[3] an apple;
[4] the same apple with two bites taken out of it;
[5] a bush with two ducked behind it;
[6] A fiery sword.
As you tell the story, pull the dog's tongue out as each element of the story is told. Review by pulling out a section of the tongue, and this time asking a child to tell that part of the story. Each child who successfully tells a part of the story gets licked by the dog.

Measuring an attention span
Don't think of a preschooler's attention span in terms of time. Think of it in terms of activity. Is the activity an appropriate level of difficulty for this age? If it is too difficult, the children will give up and feel frustrated. If it is too easy, the children will get bored. At the proper level of difficulty, the activity will hold the child's attention.

Your Creative Child
Keep in mind that creativity means doing the "extra" ordinary. There's no wrong way to mold clay, paint a picture, build with blocks, etc. Offer suggestions or assistance only when your child requests help or gets frustrated. And never push your child to try (or continue) an activity he doesn't enjoy. The process and the creation need only be pleasing to your preschooler, not to you. Find something to compliment in each of your child's works, but don't overdo it to the point it becomes insincere. Display your child's pictures and works of art around your home, make a scrapbook of art he can flip through, and send card-size creations to relatives. Show off your own creativity (arranging flowers, cooking up a new dish, painting a piece of furniture, hanging a new picture, making up a story or song to share, etc.) in front of your child. Let those creative juices flow!

Peek-a-Boo Story Review
Place last week's story picture in a large envelope or folder. Review the story by pulling the picture out of the envelope an inch at a time. Tell the children to examine the revealed portion of the picture and see if they remember what the story was about. Even after they correctly identify the story, continue revealing the picture an inch at a time, asking for specific details of the story as new elements of the picture are revealed.

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Hints and tips for teaching grades 1 - 2

Helping Primaries Become Good Communicators
Proverbs 22:6 commands us to "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Many child development experts confirm that teaching children to become good communicators is essential for helping them get along in life. Knowing how to listen and make oneself be understood enhances a child's school success and his relationships with other children and adults. It's never too early to begin helping your children develop this skill. Following are some tips from the experts:

• Look your child in the eye and give him your complete attention when he's talking.
• Encourage your child to speak up in conversations (but not to interrupt). Help him understand that his opinions count.
• Teach your child how to communicate effectively and respectfully in a variety of situations - with teachers and adults, on the phone, with younger children, at the dinner table, etc.
• Begin family listening times where conversations are given top priority - at a dinner, on walks, during TV blackout nights, before bedtime, etc.

Proverbs 4:1 reminds us, "Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding." We can help our children to hear instruction from parents and teachers by teaching them to listen and communicate effectively.

A Blooming Story
Here's a unique way for a story to unfold. Cut identical size circles, one for each element of your story plus one more. Use one circle as the center of your story plus one more. Use one circle as the center of a flower, glue an appropriate picture or print the title of the story on it. Use the other circles as flower petals. Attach them with staples. Print or put a picture of each story element on the petals so they are in order clockwise. Then beginning with the last element of the story and working toward the first element of the story, fold all the petals behind the center of the flower. Now you are ready to tell the story. Introduce the story with the center of the flower, and fold each petal forward as each story element is told. When the story is finished, the flower will be in full bloom.

Color Day
Help your students remember lessons better. Design the lesson around a color featured in the lesson. (For example, blue can be used for a lesson about the children of Israel crossing the sea or Jesus walking on the water.) On Blue Day (or whatever color you choose) everyone must wear something blue. (Have some blue ribbons or bandanas available for children who don't wear blue.) Snacks must be blue. Everything you do must have something to do with blue. What do you do as a follow-up to a color day? Why, have black and white day, of course!

Party Tablecloth
Help your students design their own party tablecloth. Use a flat, white, twin-size bed sheet. Place newspapers under it to prevent the colors from bleeding onto the floor. Use fabric dye markers for drawing or writing. Use acrylic paint in a shallow pan for hand prints. Personalize the tablecloth with everyone's signature. You can use the tablecloth again and again throughout the year for special events or to add interest to your room. If you wish, choose a central theme or make the tablecloth for a special occasion.

Primary humor
Ordinary things out of place are funny to primaries. Mix things up. Do things backwards. For primaries, silly is fun. When you plant a seed, don't use a flower pot (that's too ordinary); plant your seeds in an old tennis shoe. That's something your students will talk about.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a lesson visual!
When setting up visual displays, don't limit yourself to bulletin boards. Other possible display areas include the classroom door, the sides of a desk, the sides of a file cabinet, or the back of a piano. You can use large cardboard boxes for movable stand-up room displays. If you feel adventurous, use the ceiling and have everyone lay on the floor for the lesson!

This week, shape the future
Most people only talk about making the world a better place, but you are doing something about it! In a series of experiments on the moral development of children, a significant discovery was made: children who are enrolled in Sunday school showed significantly better conduct in the areas of honesty, cooperation, persistence, and inhibition of undesirable behavior! How important is this week's lesson? You are making this world a better place. You are shaping the future!

Keep it concrete
Primaries are making tremendous intellectual progress. By this age they can manipulate data mentally, come to some logical conclusions, and define, compare, and contrast things. But they still do not understand symbolism. After touring the defense plant where her daddy worked, one first grader resisted when told it was time to go home. She cried, "But I haven't seen where Daddy makes the money yet!"
When teaching primaries, say what you mean and mean what you say. Always teach them in literal concrete terms.

Emergency game box
What do you do now? You've completed everything in the lesson plan and class time is only half over! Get out the emergency game box! Prepare this box by decorating a medium-size box and labeling it with the name of the class. On slips of paper, write the names of several games your children like to play (ask them, they'll tell you). Then the next time your lesson runs short, have one of the children pull a slip from the game box and play the game named on the slip. Whenever you learn a new game, add it to the box!

Bulletin Board Basics
Backgrounds are vital: Besides colored construction paper, use textured fabrics, crepe paper, newspapers, aluminum foil, or maps. Borders make the bulletin board: Use corrugated paper, twisted crepe paper, yarn or rope, or duplicated pictures strung together. Lettering conveys the message: Make your letters big and keep the message short and simple. Mounting the same letters in two colors, one on top of each other, gives a shadow effect. Variety adds spice: Add a third dimension to your bulletin board by placing a thick piece of cardboard behind lettering. You can also glue cotton balls, twigs, feathers, yarn, rope, drinking straws, etc., to the board. Make sure you save your masterpiece for future use.

Build a Bible verse
Play a Verse Builders game to help children memorize the Bible verse. Have the children sit around a small table. Review the memory verse together several times. Designate a child to begin. That child places his hand, palm down, in the center of the table while saying the first word of the verse. Proceeding clockwise, each child takes a turn saying the next word in the verse while placing his hand on the top of the previous player's hand. After everyone has his hand in the pile the bottom hand is removed and placed on top as that player says the next word of the verse. Continue in this manner until the verse is complete. The next three children say the book, chapter, and verse. Repeat, using different children to start.

Thumb very funny critters
Provide an ink stamp pad for this fun activity. Have each child make several thumbprints on a piece of paper. Encourage him or her to experiment with the placement of the prints (make some thumbprints verticalme horizontal, some spaced evenly apart, some alone by themselves, some linked together). Use markers or crayons to transform the thumbprints into animals, insects, or critters of the child's imagination. Use more than one color of ink for variety. Provide damp paper towels or wet wipes to clean up little fingers.

All for one and I'm the one
Sharing and taking turns is still difficult for primaries. Being first is still important to them. Provide activities where everyone takes turns. Provide opportunities where everyone has a chance to win and everyone has a chance to lose. Then teach them about winning and losing. Provide activities that call for teamwork. Primaries are just developing the ability to work with others. By providing primaries a balance of individual and group activities, you will help them learn about themselves in relationship to others.

Missionary Media
Your class crafts, paintings, and drawings are excellent missionary tools. They take the Gospel message into the community. First, they present the Gospel to parents who don't come to church. Then, they present the Gospel to friends who come over to play and see them displayed in your student's room.

Popcorn Fireworks
Spread a large, freshly laundered tablecloth or bed sheet on the floor. Place a popcorn popper in the middle of the sheet. Pop popcorn with the lid off the popper. Let the children watch the popcorn fireworks from a safe distance. When all the popcorn is popped, remove the popper and let the children sit at the edges of the sheet and eat the popcorn. Colored popcorn works best for this activity.

Teachable treats
Always try to use your snack time as a teaching moment. Think of ways a treat might be used to emphasize or review a portion of the lesson. You might serve tiny fish-shaped crackers if your story was about Jesus multiplying the boy's lunch. After telling the story of Moses and the buring bush, one teacher used pretzels for bushes and cheeze spread for fire.

Giving positive feedback to primaries
Children respond well to positive feedback. The key is to teach your point in a positive way, even when you feel like saying something negative. Following are a few tips...

• Positive feedback must be a result of student behavior. This tells children that you are aware of their performance individually and in a group. Children will begin to see that you give feedback to the best performance of every individual.
• Positive feedback should be given matter-of-factly. Flowery, emotional praise can embarrass primaries. Positive feedback should not imply that you are treating children any differently from the way you would treat an adult.
• Use descriptive statements that briefly tell students what was worthy of comment.
• Positive feedback to individual students should be relatively private. Primaries can be embarrassed by comments that single them out as the "teacher's pet."
• Give feedback to student groups whenever possible. Frequent group praise helps establish a sense of cooperation and community among your primaries.
• Be persistent. Some children feel uncomfortable with praise because they have had so little. But every student needs to learn that he or she has enough self-worth to accept recognition from someone else.
• Give negative feedback in private. Conclude by praying with and for the student.

Keep it Concrete
Primaries are making tremendous intellectual progress. By this age they can manipulate data mentally, come to some logical conclusions, and define, compare, and contrast things. But they still do not understand symbolism. After touring the defense plant where her daddy worked, one first grader resisted when told it was time to go home. She cried, But I haven't seen where Daddy makes the money yet! When teaching primaries, say what you mean and mean what you say. Always teach them in literal, concrete terms.

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Hints and tips for teaching grades 3 - 4

Three Principles to Improve Conversations with Kids
Edward Ford and Steven Englund, authors of "For the Love of Children", suggest three principles to improve conversations with kids. Begin by praying for your children on a regular basis. Then try these tips:

• Talk about common interests. Discuss topics you are both interested in, such as family experiences, church activities, an up-coming event, or a movie, song, or book you both know.
• Stay non-critical--Try to exercise patience and be open to hearing your children's ideas. Begin by just listening without offering advice, judging, or criticizing. Wait to express your opinion until tempers have cooled and you can do it in a nonconfrontational way.
• Ask questions that require more than one-word responses. Think through your questions so your children must respond with more than a one-word answer: "How would you have ended that book?" "What would you have done differently in the game?" "How could she have handled that situation better?"

If communication becomes especially strained or difficult, try writing notes to your children rather than talking. Ask for God's guidance regarding the best way to communicate with your children.

Seven Learning Styles
We learn things in seven different ways. Are you providing activities for children that use all seven learning styles? For children who are WORD-oriented, provide reading, writing, and story activities. For children who are LOGIC-oriented, provide brainteasers, puzzles, and strategy games. For children who are ART-oriented, provide crafts, maps, and visuals. For children who are MUSIC-oriented, sing songs and play instruments and rhythm games. For children who are PHYSICAL-oriented, provide plenty of play time, sports activities, and active games. For children who are SOCIAL-oriented, provide sharing time, relationship activities, and parties. And for children who are INDIVIDUAL-oriented, provide personal activities like diaries and independent study projects. By using all seven learning styles, you will be helping every one of your students to succeed.

Sing a Song of Symbols
Help your children make a rebus of their favorite song. (A rebus is a form of writing that substitutes pictures and symbols for key words.) Look for key words in the song that can be illustrated. Print the rest of the words on a poster board, leaving space for the key word pictures and symbols. Add illustrations drawn by the children and sing the illustrated song vigorously.

Get the most out of your Bible stories
Before you read or tell the Bible story, brainstorm ideas regarding the topic of the story with your children. Ask them to write down their feelings regarding the topic or to remember a time in their life when they were faced with similar circumstances. Then read the Bible story to them. After you have read the story, ask your students open-ended questions to prompt discussion about the story itself. Conclude the story time by bringing the children back into the present by asking them to relate modern-day examples of the Bible story's lesson.

Make the most of memorization
What is the goal of Scripture memorization? Are you looking for perfect recitation or are you looking of a connection between the verse and the child's behavior? After a child recites a verse to you, ask her to tell you what it means in her own words, or ask for an example of this verse in daily life.

Seldom is heard an encouraging word
Elementary school age is an age of teasing, criticism, and nicknames. Your students need positive feedback to balance the barrage of negativism they receive. Make an effort to compliment each of them about something in each class session. Provide plenty of opportunities for them to enhance their self-concepts.

Bible navigation
To help the children find the books of the Bible, let them try doing a little exploration. Ask, Which book do you think you will find if you open your Bible in half? (Psalms) Try it. What if you open the back half of your Bible in half? (Matthew) What if you open the front half of your Bible in half? (I Samuel) Continue opening your Bible in eighths, then sixteenths, as the children guess which book of the Bible they will find at that point.

Bounce this idea around
Think of your words as tennis balls. Every idea or lesson point is one ball. When you teach using the lecture method, you are tossing several balls to the children and expecting them to catch and hold on to all of them. (How many balls do you think the children can handle before they start dropping some of them?) When you teach using a question/answer method, you toss out a ball (your question) and ask a child to hold it and then toss back a ball of his own (a stab at an answer). Is your teaching a singles match between you and one other child or do you see that everyone gets a chance to handle the ball? When you use group discussion, you toss out a ball and ask a child to toss it to another child, then to another and to another. How many balls can your children juggle at one time? By thinking of your words as tennis balls, you can visualize what you are expecting the children to do with the concepts you toss their way.

A mile of nickels
One way to increase interest in your missions offering would be to have all offerings given in nickels. Tape the nickels side by side on a heavy gift wrap ribbon approximately _ to _ inches wide. As you complete one roll of ribbon, safety pin another roll to it. For every foot of nickels you collect, you will have 70 cents; for every yard, you will have $2.10. If your ribbon stretches to the mile mark, you will have collected $3,696.00 and your ribbon will weigh approximately 925 pounds!

Seven learning styles
We learn things in seven different ways. Are you providing activities for children that use all seven learning styles? For children who are WORD-oriented, provide reading, writing, and story activities. For children who are LOGIC-oriented, provide brain teasers, puzzles, and strategy games. For children who are ART-oriented, provide crafts, maps, and visuals. For children who are MUSIC-oriented, sing songs and play instruments and rhythm games. For children who are PHYSICAL-oriented, provide plenty of play time, sports activities, and active games. For children who are SOCIAL-oriented, provide sharing time, relationship activities, and parties. And for children who are INDIVIDUAL-oriented, provide personal activities like diaries and independent study projects. By using all seven learning styles, you will be helping every one of your students to succeed.

Memory verse chain
Challenge your students to memorize as many Bible verses as they can in one month. As each child says his verse to you, add a link to a paper chain with the student's name and the memory verse reference written on it. This is something everyone can contribute to, even if it is just one link. At the end of the month, present the chain to the church and request that it be displayed in a prominent place with a sign indicating that the chain represents the Bible verses memorized by your class in one month.

Making a Difference
Children this age are beginning to realize that their activities and beliefs can make a difference in their lives and in their world. They are anxious to use their abilities in beneficial ways. They need projects that show them they can make significant contributions at home, school, church, and play. Involve them in church workdays and

A get-well tree
Make this clever tree to cheer up a sick classmate. On a poster board, have one of your students draw a large tree with no leaves and print:
To _____ (the name of a sick member), and
From _____ (the name of your class).
Cut large leaves out of various colored construction paper. Have each student write of draw a get-well message on a leaf and then glue it to the tree. Have one or two of the students go with you when you deliver the get-well tree to the class member who is ill.

The key to student involvement
The key to involving elementary-age students in any activity is to capture their interest. They have an adequate supply of energy to work diligently for increased periods of time on projects that interest them. Capture their interest and challenge them. They will respond.

Good Graffiti Corner
Post a large sheet of newsprint or butcher paper in a prominent place. Inform your students that his is a "good graffiti" wall, a place where they can jot down their thoughts and feelings, messages to friends, etc. A "good graffiti" wall is a great ice breaker. It gets student involved and encourages interaction and communication. Keep the good graffiti wall up for several weeks. Some students will come early or stay late just to put something on the wall.

Four-letter word day
Announce that you are going to have a Four Letter Word Day. Make a list on a chalkboard, whiteboard, or poster of four-letter words that will not be allowed on that day, words like fail, zero, can't and similar negative connotation words. Also list four letter words that will be rewarded: able, kind, love and similar positive connotation words. On Four Letter Word Day give each person ten tokens (tickets, slips of paper, etc.). Every time someone gives a compliment, using one of the good four letter words on the list, the person complimented must give him or her a token. Every time a person uses a forbidden four letter word, he or she must surrender a token to the teacher. The person who has the most tokens by the end of the session gets a prize.

Reinforcing Positive Qualities
Now that your students have started to get to know each other, give them a chance to reinforce the positive qualities they've noticed in each other. Divide your middlers into two or three groups. Hand out a pen and a large index card to each person. Have each student write his name at the top of his card. At your signal, have the students pass their cards one person to the right and write a compliment or positive comment on the cards they are holding. After a minute, have everyone pass the cards to the right again, until everyone has written on each group member's card. Collect the cards and write a compliment and Scripture verse on each one. If you wish, laminate the cards before returning them to the students to use as Bible bookmarks.

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Hints and tips for teaching grades 5 - 6

Positive Feedback for Preteens
All students respond well to positive feedback. The key is to teach your point in a positive way, even when you feel like saying something negative. Following are a few tips:

• Positive feedback must be a result of student behavior. This tells students that you are aware of their performance individually and in a group. Students will begin to see that you give feedback to the best performance of every individual.
• Positive feedback should be given matter-of-factly. Flowery, emotional praise can embarrass preteens. Positive feedback should not imply that you are treating students any differently from the way you would treat an adult.
• Use descriptive statements that briefly tell students what was worthy of comment.
• Positive feedback to individual students should be relatively private. Preteens can be embarrassed by comments that single them out as the "teacher's pet."
• Give feedback to student groups whenever possible. Frequent group praise helps establish a sense of cooperation and community among your student group.
• Eliminate pauses after giving positive feedback. For preteens this can be very uncomfortable. Instead say, (Julie), good job on reading that Scripture, now let's turn to…
• Be persistent. Some students feel uncomfortable with praise because they have had so little. But every student needs to learn that he or she has enough self-worth to accept recognition from someone else.
• Give negative feedback in private. Conclude in prayer.

A Record of Faith
Even though God's work is incredible, we often forget about experiences not long after they happen. Keep spiral notebooks on hand and let your preteens write their names on the outside. Encourage them each week to keep journals of their faith journey. They might write prayers or record answered prayers, describe how they saw God at work in the previous week, jot down thanksgivings, or write what this week's Bible memory verse means in their life. Keep the journals in a special place and allow the children to write in them once they have finished any class projects.

Bible Verse Word Search
For your students who enjoy word-search puzzles, prepare this simple Bible memory verse review activity. Write the week's Bible memory verse on the bottom third of a sheet of paper. Underline ten or more key words in the verse. Above the verse, create a word-search puzzle that includes the underlined words. Make a copy of the page for each preteen. Hand out a piece of candy or a sticker to each student who completes the word search and brings it back to you the following week. Follow up by having the children take turns creating a similar word-search puzzle for each memory verse of this quarter. Have them create a corresponding answer key too. Each week, have the child say his verse for the class. Then duplicate that puzzle for the entire class.

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