General Strategies for Teaching BIblically, Part 3

In this last of three articles sharing general strategies for teaching biblically, we’ll consider the importance of making connections to daily life, telling and recounting biblical stories, and leveraging opportunities for student discussion and reflection to point students to the Lord. If you missed our first two articles, you can check those out here and here.

Connect to Daily Life

• Provide real-world examples. Our students want to know why they need to learn this stuff, so when we provide real-world examples (God's provision, servant heart, grace, pursuing truth, the complexity and beauty of His creation), our students can see how it applies. Usually, if I can connect it to myself or my experiences and share it with them, that also makes a big impact on my students. – Matthew B.

• At the level that I taught it was so important to integrate biblical principles into our everyday interactions as we focused on being kind, gentle, and forgiving (Ephesians 4:32). In the classroom I tried to slow the learners down to have right responses and understand the importance of asking and giving forgiveness and relating that back to Christ example of always being willing to forgive and forget our mistakes. – Name withheld by request

• Making biblical principles really practical was always helpful. Whether it was incorporating a hands-on activity or bringing God's truth into challenges amongst friends or groups in the classroom, making it relevant for their age level. – Katherine H.

• Connect Christianity, biblical stories, and class themes with real life to help students understand that what is in the Bible is true. Use practical examples that occur in real life, making comparisons with the stories we read or themes we cover. Talking to them about sin also helps them understand that even from a young age we are able to choose what is wrong, and that sometimes we just want to do what we like. – Eliana B.

• This year we're trying a more hands on approach including a year-long fundraiser to purchase Bibles, increased community involvement through peer partnering with high school students, gardening, and the local retirement home (Lord willing), as well as regular field trips to see God's creation (natural and social) and our role within it. We're starting each day with prayer for global churches and peoples to enrich our social studies and understanding of the world. These are definitely the most authentic ways we integrate the Bible. We've also been including writing journal prompts and math inspired video clips that help connect novel studies and arithmetic skills to God's nature and His image in us. – Sarah R.

Use Stories

• In my setting, overt biblical integration is not allowed. I do teach my students character lessons and incorporate stories from the Bible (the parable of the prodigal son, for example) to help further my students’ concepts of these character values, like compassion. But I have to be very careful about how I present these stories. I find storytelling is an effective way to help students understand abstract concepts, like kindness, thankfulness, etc., and the Bible is rich with prime examples of these values I teach. – Sarah H.

• For this age group, my Bible integration takes the form of storytelling. In most cases, I incorporate biblical truths when I introduce the lesson, through a short story or by writing phrases on the board that I want to explain in the middle of the lesson. – Winnie M.

• I also find it helpful to recount whole narratives from Scripture as opposed to merely slapping verses on certain topics like stickers. Stories, especially biblical ones, often resonate on a deeper level since they profoundly reveal both human nature and God's character. Plus, the Bible can be really weird in a way that draws students in. – Jacob C.

Invite Student Reflection and Discussion

• By always incorporating the one sentence question into every lesson (all subject areas): “What biblical link can you make with this topic?” (After years of struggling to do Biblical integration well, I have found this to be incredibly effective as no preparation is needed, it isn't forced as an add on, and students always come up with something! I usually first give students the opportunity to share their ideas with a partner and then take feedback. Most times, students make incredible biblical links that even surprises me!). – Toyin O.

• “What would Jesus say?” Students have to think about the text they have just read or essay they have written and then reflect on “What would Jesus say?” Students then have to choose a verse from verses that I have provided or, for older grades, find an appropriate verse to support what they have just read or written and explain its connection. – Bridget T.

• One particular strategy I implement is “WunderTalk” (a play on my last name). After a quiz, when there are only about 15 minutes left in a period, I will put up a philosophical/spiritual question relating to the topic – for example, Is math discovered or man-made? Can everything by quantified? What is truly infinite? I give the students an opportunity to think on their own, then we discuss the question(s) as a class. I push them to think outside the classroom and about what might be absolutely true. It inevitably leads to how God's truth helps us find answers to the questions. More often than not, the students leave with more questions than answers. – Calvin W.

• Middle school students are developmentally ready to wrestle with hard themes and big questions, and I don't shy away from raising hard topics in the classes I teach. – Danielle B.

• I have found that having class discussions are the most effective for my age group. I have noticed that modeling asking good, hard questions of the Scriptures helps the students be interested in wanting to dig deeper and understand further. Students seem to really enjoy thinking critically when they are given the chance to ask questions and consider the implications of historic events on Christianity and vice versa. – Kylie S.

• Avoid closed questions (e.g., “Who did Jesus commend, Mary or Martha?”) and instead have the Bible permeate my own thinking so that in class discussions on a wide range of topics I can think “with” students by asking questions such as “What does the Bible say about this?” Not always having a “pat answer” myself is important, too, so that students are less likely to feel that I am fishing for one answer (essentially making an open question a closed one). At times it's been most effective to listen to students’ discussions and then remind them at the end of the discussion if they forgot to consider biblical evidence which relates to the issue or affirm them when they have included biblical truths. – Jonathan P.

Daily life connections, stories, discussions, and reflections often give us natural opportunities to strengthen students’ biblical understanding and point them to the Lord. We invite you to share with us ways you have implemented the above strategies or ways you’ve incorporated similar ideas into your teaching practice. Reach out to us at onpractice@teachbeyond.org.