Do It: Active Learning in Youth Ministry - Softcover

Schultz, Thom; Schultz, Joani

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9780931529948: Do It: Active Learning in Youth Ministry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0931529948 ISBN 13: 9780931529948

Publisher: Group Pub Inc, 1989

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Get kids off their chairs and involved in their faith! In this newly revised edition, you'll discover active learning-the process that makes learning fun and lessons stick. Here are loads of instant ideas you'll use in your youth ministry today, plus all the background information you need! Stop lecturing your youth...let them experience God's plan for them with active learning. Just do it!

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From the Back Cover:

Change How Your Kids Learn and Impact Their Lives Forever!

No more dull sermons, boring lectures or monotonous monologues-get your youth up off their chairs and involved in their learning! Find out how to get kids really learning with active learning-the process that makes learning fun, involving, and long-lasting.

In this revised and updated classic, veteran active-learning experts Thom and Joani Schultz will help you discover the nuts and bolts of active learning, show you how to use it effectively in your youth ministry, and give you tons of examples that you can use immediately with your youth!

In Do It!, you'll find...

*Explanations of how people learn

*Guidance on starting your active-learning adventures

*Tips for creating active-learning experiences that involve everyone

*Guidelines for using debriefing techniques to make learning stick
*Ready-to-use, active-learning scenarios on everything from acceptance to forgiveness to relationships, plus many more

You can lecture youth about God's plan for them...or you can let them experience it. To really make a difference in their lives, just do it with active learning!

Introduction

Laughter, shouting, and gentle teasing echoed off the canyon walls as eight young people and their youth leader hiked up the mountain trail. But nine teenagers had begun the hike earlier that morning.

No one noticed that Arnold had fallen behind.

In fact, people rarely noticed Arnold-ever. He was a quiet, pimple-faced kid. He started coming to Thom's youth group out of a desperate hope that someone would befriend him. But his shyness and lack of self-confidence seemed to make him invisible to the other kids.

At noon the mountain hikers stopped for lunch. Arnold finally caught up with the group and quietly sat on a boulder near Jennifer. She asked Arnold about his bulging backpack, which was stuffed with goodies. They talked for a half-hour before setting off for the summit.

This time Arnold didn't fall behind. In fact, he hiked at the front of the pack most of the way. His spirit seemed to soar. Somebody had actually noticed him.

When the group reached the mountaintop, Thom handed each person an index card with a small hole punched in the center. He asked each young person to peer through the hole and discover something he or she hadn't noticed before. The teenagers spent a couple of minutes examining the mountaintop through their makeshift "cameras."

Then Thom asked them to tell what they discovered through their peepholes.

"That dead branch," said one.

"There's a bird's next way up in the tree, " another said.

"A rusted beer can," said another.

The last to talk was Jennifer. She said, "I noticed that tiny blue wildflower over there."

Thom asked her how she felt about her discovery.

"Well," she answered, "it's such a beautiful little flower. And I almost stepped on it. I almost crushed this beautiful little thing. We all were in such a hurry to get to the top, we never noticed these tiny flowers."

"How is that like our group?" Thom asked.

Jennifer thought for a minute, then said, "It's exactly like our group." Some of the other kids giggled. "Arnold is that flower," she said. The giggles stopped. "Ever since Arnold joined our group, we've ignored him. I think we've walked right over him without noticing him-just like that flower. On the way up I got to talk with Arnold. I found out he's a neat person. I don't think we take enough time to stop and look-really look-for the good stuff in each other."

A soul-searching discussion followed. The young people made a discovery that changed their group from that point forward. They pledged to work together to uncover the God-given gifts in each other.

Using simple index cards, these young people experienced a change that altered their understanding of the world and their responsibility as part of God's family. They experienced active learning.

Through these pages we'll describe this process called active learning. You can master this fun process to guide your young people through powerful experiences that can enhance their spiritual growth.

You'll discover how your young people learn. You'll find out which methods (such as listening to sermons) usually result in little learning. And you'll learn how to create fun experiences that actively involve all your kids and stimulate permanent understanding within them.

This book consists of two parts. The first part provides a foundation for active learning: guidance on how people learn, tips for creating your own active-learning experiences, and instruction on debriefing your learning activities. The second part contains a hefty collection of ready-to-use active-learning experiences.

We encourage you to embark on a new learning adventure through the concepts and practical programs found within these pages. And we'd love to hear from you as you explore active learning.

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