Scripture Study Skills: Lesson 168

Annotating Scriptures

Improving Our Study through Marking, Adding Notes, and Linking Our Scriptures

Personal scripture study can help us develop a stronger relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Annotating our scriptures (marking, adding notes, and linking), can help us pay more attention to the words we study and feel closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as a result. In this lesson, students will learn to annotate their scriptures in a way that can help them feel closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

Student preparation: Invite students to ask a few people in their family, ward, or branch what they have found helpful when marking the scriptures. Students should come prepared to share what they learned.

Possible Learning Activities

Access to scriptures

To begin class, consider displaying or drawing a young man from Old Testament times, like the following. Tell the students that this is an Israelite teenager from 600 BC named Jacob. Invite students to imagine that they are interviewing Jacob. Invite students to discuss with a partner or small group how they think Jacob might answer the following three questions.

• How are scriptures produced in your day?

• What do you have to do to learn from the scriptures?

• What do your interactions with the scriptures look like?

  If students need help, you might share that scriptures in 600 BC were engraved on metal plates and written on wood tablets, or possibly on parchment. Jacob likely would have had to travel to where scriptures were available and listen to someone read them. He also may have listened to people share what they knew from memory.

• If Jacob were interviewing you, how would you answer these questions?

• What might he think about your responses?

To help students think about their unique opportunity to have access to the scriptures, share the following statement.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Consider the magnitude of our blessing to have the Holy Bible and some 900 additional pages of scripture, including the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. Then consider that, in addition, the words of prophets spoken as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost in settings such as this, which the Lord calls scripture (see D&C 68:2–4), flow to us almost constantly. … I suppose that never in history has a people been blessed with such a quantity of holy writ. And not only that, but every man, woman, and child may possess and study his or her own personal copy of these sacred texts, most in his or her own language. How incredible such a thing would have seemed to … Saints of earlier dispensations! Surely with this blessing the Lord is telling us that our need for constant recourse to the scriptures is greater than in any previous time. (“The Blessing of Scripture,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2010, 35)

• What impresses you from Elder Christofferson’s statement?

• What benefits can come from having your own set of scriptures?

  Consider showing your personal set of scriptures. (If you have them, you might bring the first set of scriptures that belonged to you.) You could share with students what it has meant to you to have a personal copy of the scriptures in your life.

  Share with students that one of the blessings of having personal scriptures is the ability to annotate them (mark, take notes, and link verses).

• What benefits can come from annotating your personal scriptures?

Invite students to look for ways they might better utilize their personal scriptures today through the skill of annotating.

You may not have time to teach each of the three annotating skills. Select the one(s) you feel will most bless your students. If you teach multiple skills, you may want to teach the “Define” and “Model” portions of each skill first, then have students “Practice” the skills at the same time.

Before introducing the skills, consider displaying or writing the complete verse of Moses 7:18 (or another verse of your choosing) on the board so it can be marked in different ways throughout the lesson.

Skill: Marking scriptures

Define

Marking scriptures is a way to emphasize a word, phrase, or verse that you feel is important or meaningful. This can help you remember what the verse teaches. Marking scriptures can also help you pay closer attention to what you are reading, which can open your mind and heart to a deeper understanding of Jesus Christ, His teachings, and the words of His servants.

Model

Consider inviting a few students to come to the board to illustrate different ways they might mark Moses 7:18, which is displayed on the board.

• What are different ways people might mark their scriptures?

  Answers might include highlighting a verse, underlining a phrase, or circling a word.

  Consider showing the video “A Marking System That Works for You” (1:56), in which Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discusses marking scriptures. After the video, you may ask students to add additional ways to mark the scriptures that were not previously listed.

  For digital scriptures, consider showing students how to mark their scriptures in different colors using the highlighting and underlining features. These features can provide greater variety in how students personalize their annotations. For help with this, click the three dots in the upper right corner of the Gospel Library app, then click “Help.” There you will find a video titled “Highlighting a passage.”

• What are some reasons why you decide to mark something in your scriptures?

Practice

One way to help students practice is to give each student a copy of the handout “Practice Annotating the Scriptures.” If your students use paper scriptures, instead of using the provided handout, you may want to copy a page of scripture that includes Psalm 116:1–9 for students to practice on. Providing one of these options allows students to try different methods of marking to see how they may or may not want to mark their personal scriptures. Students could read the first four verses of the handout (Psalm 116:1–4) using one method for marking and the final five verses (Psalm 116:5–9) using a different method of marking. If students are using electronic scriptures, they could read and mark the same verses in Gospel Library using different methods. You might show them how they can delete their digital markings, if they want to do so after the practice.

Skill: Taking notes

Define

Another type of annotating is taking notes.

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught the following about how and why we take notes:

Writing down what we learn, think, and feel as we study the scriptures is another form of pondering and a powerful invitation to the Holy Ghost for continuing instruction. (“Because We Have Them before Our Eyes,” New Era, Apr. 2006, 6–7)

Model

• What are different ways we can write what we learn, think, or feel as part of our scripture study?

Help students understand that they can write in the margins of their scriptures, in a study journal, or in an electronic note.

Using the verse on the board, demonstrate how students might write a note in the margins of their scriptures. Consider showing an example of how you have taken notes in your own scriptures or study journal. You could also show how to take an electronic note using the note feature in Gospel Library (see “Record your thoughts” in the “Help” section).

Practice

If you used the handout earlier, invite students to select something they marked from Psalm 116. Then invite students to write in the margins something that they learned, thought, or felt as they studied. If students are using digital scriptures, they could add a note to one of their markings from the same verses.

If time allows, you might invite students to share what they wrote with the class or in small groups.

Skill: Linking verses

Define

Because scriptures can add understanding or support to other scriptures, it can be helpful to cross-reference or link those scriptures together. One way this can be done is by writing one scripture in the margin of another scripture. You can also use the “Link” function in Gospel Library.

Model

Refer to the scripture on the board. Invite students to read the following scripture as a cross-reference. If you chose a different verse to put on the board, find a suitable verse to link to it.

Read Doctrine and Covenants 97:21 and look for how this verse relates to Moses 7:18.

• Why might it be helpful to link these two verses to one another?

Write Doctrine and Covenants 97:21 next to the verse on the board as though it were being written in the margin of the verse. For digital scriptures, show students how to link verses using the “Link” function in Gospel Library (see “Link related content” in the “Help” section).

Practice

Invite students to refer again to the handout. For this practice, consider putting students into small groups and inviting them to think of other scriptures that relate to what they marked on their paper. As they find examples, students can share them with their groups and read them together. Students can then add the cross-references in the margins of the paper or add links by using the link function in their digital scriptures.

Conclusion

Consider inviting a few volunteers to share what they have learned from practicing these annotation skills. You could ask them questions like the two below. Express appreciation for students’ responses.

• How has annotating your scriptures helped you come closer to Jesus Christ in your personal study?

• What is an insight or skill you gained today that could help you engage more meaningfully with the scriptures?

You might share your testimony of how annotating your personal scriptures has been a blessing to your life. Invite students to strive to feel closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through the practice of annotating their scriptures.

Invite students to think about how well they are utilizing the skill of annotation and to pick a skill they learned and try it in their personal scripture study.

Additional Resources

What benefits can come from taking notes during scripture study?

Elder Richard G. Scott (1928–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Write down in a secure place the important things you learn from the Spirit. You will find that as you write down precious impressions, often more will come. Also, the knowledge you gain will be available throughout your life. (“To Acquire Knowledge and the Strength to Use It Wisely,” Ensign, June 2002, 32)

Scriptures can communicate different meanings at different times in our life, according to our needs. A scripture that we may have read many times can take on nuances of meaning that are refreshing and insightful when we face a new challenge in life.

How do you personally use the scriptures? Do you mark your copy? Do you put notes in the margin to remember a moment of spiritual guidance or an experience that has taught you a profound lesson? (“The Power of Scripture,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2011, 6)

Supplemental Learning Activities

Additional ways to mark the scriptures

President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency shared his thoughts about how to mark the scriptures. This video, “Marking Scriptures,” (1:45) could be shown in place of or in addition to Elder Bednar’s video in the lesson.

Tagging scriptures

Another feature to help study the scriptures is called tagging. Tagging can help organize scriptures under one topic. For example, students might create a tag titled “Receiving personal revelation.” As they discover scriptures or statements from Church leaders on this topic, they can highlight those verses or statements, touch the “Tag” icon, and select the “Receiving personal revelation” tag that they previously created. For instructions on how to do this, see “Categorize with tags” in the “Help” section of Gospel Library.

For paper scriptures, students can create similar tags by writing topics in the back of their scriptures or inserting small pieces of paper into their scriptures that include the topics and associated verses.

You might give students a chance to practice by creating a tag titled “The calling of prophets.” Students could then add verses such as Joshua 1:1–9; 2 Kings 2:5–15; Isaiah 6:5–8; Jeremiah 1:4–10; andMoses 6:27–34. Encourage students to add to the tag and create other tags for topics as they continue to study the scriptures.