Preparing and Teaching Life Preparation Lessons: Inservice with Teachers
S&I Annual Training Broadcast 2025
Thursday, January 23, 2025
Brother Jaren Dyreng: Well, we’re excited to be here today, and for the opportunity we have to talk together. You’ve probably heard a lot about these Life Preparation lessons and the things we’re going to talk about today. The skills that we’ll discuss in practice are going to be a tremendous help as we prepare to teach these Life Preparation lessons this next year.
So to introduce our inservice today, I’d like to invite Brother Cavanaugh to read the introduction. Each of you have been given a handout, and I’d like to invite Brother Cavanaugh to read the introduction to that, which will give us kind of the context of what we’ll be discussing today together. Go ahead.
Brother Cavanaugh: Life Preparation lessons help equip students with the abilities to prepare for both life’s challenges and wonderful opportunities. Like all other scripture course lessons, Life Preparation lessons are designed to help youth deepen their conversion to Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, qualify for the blessings of the temple, and prepare themselves, their families, and others for eternal life with their Father in Heaven.
These lessons are centered on Jesus Christ, rooted in the word of God, and focused on meeting student needs. There are a few important skills that can help you effectively prepare to teach in order to accomplish the S&I objective. Consider the following analogy: An archery coach that is preparing to instruct will need to provide a target, a bow and arrow, and opportunities for every student to practice.
Let’s apply this analogy to preparing to teach a seminary lesson.
Brother Dyreng: Thank you very much. So I encourage all of us to keep a prayer in our hearts as we have this discussion today. Like I said, I’m so excited about this opportunity and know that this will be a tremendous blessing to us and our students as we implement these skills. So let’s start out by talking about the target and what that represents in this analogy.
I’d like to invite Brother Simmons to read the very first part of the handout there under lesson purpose.
Brother Simmons: The lesson purpose provides a clear target for what we hope students will know, feel, or do as a result of the learning experience. When we have a clear lesson purpose for student learning, we can be more focused in what we plan to invite students to do during the lesson. Skill number one: identify and mark the lesson purpose found in the last sentence of the introduction paragraph of the lesson.
Brother Dyreng: Okay, so in preparing lesson 177, which is “Taking Charge of Technology,” each of you have a copy of that. I look at the introductory paragraph and the very last sentence states the purpose of this lesson. And it says, “This lesson can help students apply safeguards and take charge of their technology use.” So I clearly mark that in the lesson.
Now we’re going to practice this simple skill. Lesson 185 is the next lesson on our pacing guide, and that is “Building Emotional Strength in the Lord.” So I’d like to give each of you just a moment to look at the introduction paragraph and identify and clearly mark the purpose of this lesson.
Brother Dyreng: We’re going to move now to the second skill. So I’m going to invite Brother Alcala, would you please read the definition of our second skill under bolded truth? We’re now moving to the bow and the arrow.
Brother Alcala: The bolded truth found in the scriptures and teachings of Church leaders, like the bow and arrow, provide students with the tools necessary to accomplish the lesson purpose. When the learning experience is anchored to the word of God, we increase the likelihood that students will learn by the power of the Holy Ghost. Skill two: find the bolded truth in the lesson and mark where it is found in the scriptures and the teachings of Church leaders.
Brother Dyreng: Thank you very much. So let’s return to lesson 177. As I prepare this lesson, I identify the bolded truths, and I notice that in this particular lesson, there are two truths. The first one states, “The Lord desires that we be anxiously engaged in doing good and not idle away our time.” And the second truth states, “That which edifies and persuades to do good is from God.”
I then study the scriptures and the two quotes from Elder Bednar, and mark the words and phrases that teach these truths in these sources. So as an example, let’s look at that first truth: “The Lord desires that we be anxiously engaged in doing good and not idling away our time.” And we’ll read the scriptures that are associated with this truth.
So if you could turn with me, let’s go to Doctrine and Covenants section 58 verses 26 and 27.
And as I read these scriptures, I mark the phrase “men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause and do many things of their own free will.” Now, let’s go to the next scripture, which is Doctrine and Covenants section 60 verse 13. And in this scripture, I mark the phrase “thou shalt not idle away thy time.” And then, I do this with the other scriptures that are listed in the lesson.
Now, let’s go to the quote from Elder Bednar associated with that truth. And as I look at this quote and I look at the truth, I have chosen to mark two phrases. The first one is where Elder Bednar states, “An immature or misguided individual may devote an inordinate amount of time playing video games, chatting online, or in other ways allowing the digital to dominate things as they really are.”
And then at the very end of that quote, I also mark where it says, “Progressively, seemingly innocent entertainment can become a form of pernicious enslavement.” Now let’s return to lesson 185 and provide you now the opportunity to practice this skill. So if you would identify the bolded truth in this lesson and then the scriptures and words of the prophets associated with that truth, and mark where in the word of God that truth is clearly taught.
Well, that brings us to our third skill. I’d like to invite Sister Robbins, if you would, to read our third skill definition.
Sister Robbins: Demonstrate learning. The learning activity near the end of the lesson allows each student to demonstrate their learning, or an opportunity to try firing an arrow at the target. Some examples of what students might do in this learning activity might include writing in a journal, explaining, sharing, making a plan, practicing a skill, or creating something. Skill number three is identify and mark the activity in the lesson where students are given the opportunity to demonstrate their learning according to the lesson purpose.
Brother Dyreng: So we’ve established a target. We have the equipment—the bow and the arrow. And now students are going to be given the opportunity to fire that arrow at the target. So looking back at lesson 177, I look near the end of the lesson and identify where every student is given the opportunity to demonstrate the lesson purpose. And I notice that in this particular lesson, there are two that help students to apply safeguards for their technology use.
One of these helps students practice making a plan in advance for how they will take charge of their technology use. And then the other one is an opportunity for them to make a plan of how they will pause their technology use when they encounter inappropriate media. And so I mark clearly in the lesson both of those opportunities for the students.
Now we’re going to go back to lesson 185 and give you an opportunity to practice this skill. So if you will look near the end of the lesson and identify where students are given the opportunity to demonstrate the lesson purpose and then mark that. I’ll give you a minute to look for that.
I want to invite each of you. Will you, as you prepare and teach these Life Preparation lessons this year, implement these three skills that we’ve discussed today?
ALL: Yes.
Brother Dyreng: I know that as we do this, we will help our students to deepen their conversion to the Savior, Jesus Christ. And in that process, something will happen in our hearts as well.
I have a testimony that we’re led and guided by our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that They will bless us as we follow and listen to the leaders that They’ve appointed to lead and guide us in these latter days. I’m grateful for this curriculum that we’ve been given and the opportunity that it provides us to help deepen conversion to the Savior, Jesus Christ.
And I leave this with you today in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.