Elder Ian S. Arden (Oct. 17): "See Ye Out of the Best Books"

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The Activity:

Elder Arden urges us to greater action, obedience to and faith in the restored gospel.  Then, speaking of questions that may arise, he counsels us to “seek answers and guidance” out of the best books.  The strategy that follows is more of a questioning technique than an actual teaching strategy, but it is useful here and can be used similarly with many other talks.

1.     Ask class members to consider the journalist’s questions for the idea of seeking learning out of the best books.  To do so, use the following questions:

a.      Who should seek learning?

b.     What are the best books?

c.      Where can we seek learning out of the best books?

d.     When should we seek learning out of the best books?

e.     Why should we seek learning out of the best books according to all of the above answers?

f.       How should we go about seeking learning out of the best books?

2.     Give class members a few moments of silence to read over and ponder these questions.

3.     Discuss the answers to these questions as seems best to you.  You might . . .

a.      Give class members time to review all of the questions at once and then discuss them all at once.

b.     Divide the questions into groups that make sense to you and have the class discuss a particular group of questions at a time.

c.      Simply work your way through each question one at a time (read—ponder—discuss—repeat).

4.     Push for answers that expose connections and deeper understandings of these questions (some questions are better suited for that than others).



Using the Activity:

As I said earlier, this is more of a questioning strategy than a particular discussion or teaching strategy.  Sometimes questioning strategies are more useful because they offer us a way to organize our thinking.  In particular, this strategy helps us move from more concrete, discrete answers to more abstract, personal answers.  This movement from more universal answers to more personal ones can help some people participate more because the answers at first are “easy” enough that more people are willing to participate.  This participation makes it easier to participate again—even if the question takes more thought and one person’s answer may not be the same as her/his neighbor’s answer.  Sharing these personal insights can be powerful both for those who share and those who are listening.

Please let me know how this works for you.  Also, feel free to ask me questions or make specific requests.  I will do my best to keep up.  Thank you for visiting.

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