Last month, we gained insight into some of the practical aspects of teaching Bible information class in a cross-cultural setting. Here are two related classroom tips that the teacher of a cross-cultural class may find useful.

Teaching Tip #1

DIVE INTO THE NARRATIVE

With the often-documented decline in biblical literacy in the United States, the teacher simply cannot assume that his learners will be familiar with the biblical accounts that may be so familiar to him. While this decline in knowledge is usually—and understandably—viewed as a negative, it can also be viewed as a golden opportunity for the teacher to showcase Bible stories and then discuss the important doctrinal content. Think of using the account of 12-year-old Jesus in the temple to lead into a discussion of worship or the parable of the prodigal son to lead into a discussion of God’s grace.

What are the benefits of starting a lesson with a Bible story?

• Students approach a “new to them” account with fresh and curious eyes.
• It places the focus on the Word from the outset of class.
• Our minds are naturally drawn to story arcs.

Students can actively participate by reading the account on their own and then summarizing the story in written bullet points, verbally sharing the highlights with a tablemate, or working as class to put provided images from the story into the correct order.

Teaching Tip #2

INCORPORATE MULTIPLE MEANS OF INPUT AND EXPRESSION

At the end of the first teaching tip, we mentioned ways to have students work with the material in a biblical account. They could write a summary, verbalize the highlights to a tablemate, or sequence a series of images from the story. All of these approaches end up with the same goal: that the learners are able to express the major events in a story. What if you set all three options before the learners and let each individual choose which option he or she would prefer? This is known as offering multiple means of expression. The learner has multiple ways to express knowledge.

In the same way, a classroom with a variety of backgrounds can often benefit from a teacher who uses multiple means of input. Remembering our biblical narrative example from above, perhaps the teacher or the students read the story, or the class listens to an audio recording (or someone else reading) and watches the teacher draw stick figure scenes from the story on the board.

Multiple means of input and expression add variety to lesson plans and allow more students to participate at a level they feel comfortable with.

Curriculum Connection

Looking for beautiful visuals to use as you teach? Old Testament and New Testament Pictures for Multimedia are downloadable products from NPH. Each download contains incredible illustrations and vividly colorful maps from beloved Bible accounts. Help stories from Scripture come alive in your students’ minds with these amazing visual resources.

This article in Devote Yourself was contributed by the team that previously created and distributed the e-newsletter, Teach the Word. For nearly ten years’ worth of archived teaching-related articles, tips, and advice, visit nph.net/teach-the-word.