[This post is part of my Guide for High School Bible Teachers.]
Since I previously listed 15 high school Bible assignments for the mind this post will focus on Bible assignments for the heart. We not only want students to know biblical content, we want them to feel it—to engage with it on an emotional and volitional level. Here are 11 high school Bible class assignments for the heart.
Heart: Creative Work (Feel it)
- Journal entry – Have the students write a journal entry for one of the characters in the story. You can specify whatever content you want (e.g. use the five senses) and how long you want it.
- Drama – There are many ways to incorporate drama into Bible class: act out the story using skits or mimes, create a talk show with characters from the Bible story, present TV commercials promoting a theme from the passage, and show a life situation illustrating a particular theme. If you want quality skits give plenty of class time for the students to prepare.
- Drawing – Allow students to doodle as you’re lecturing then collect and share with the class. A more structured assignment is drawing a biblical scene (on the whiteboard or on computer paper) and a major project could be creating a Children’s Bible.
- Reflection – Ask students to summarize the passage in their own words, record their own questions of the passage, pose questions to a character in the passage, and explain how the passage connects to some area of their life.
- Artwork – Many of the great artists painted or drew biblical scenes so incorporate these masterpieces into your lessons. (Use Google images to find these works of art quickly.)
- Article – Have students create a newspaper or magazine article from the assigned passage. The article should include a title, picture, summary, and interview.
- Questions on Feelings – Ask questions such as the following: How does this passage make you feel? Why?
- Craft – Bring play-doh, magazines, or other materials, and have students make something related to the lesson.
- Music/Poetry – Have students write song/rap lyrics or a poem that relates to the lesson. You can also begin class with a song or play an appropriate song during a lesson then discuss the lyrics.
- Prayer – Students can write a prayer incorporating the passage they’re reading. If you’re comfortable with it, you can also lead students through a meditative exercise where they imagine they’re in the biblical scene and then turn their thoughts into private prayer. Of course, you can always begin class with prayer or pray during class for a particular need. The degree to which you incorporate prayer, however, may depend on your school’s admission policy. If there are non-Christian students in class, you’ll need to be more sensitive to how you incorporate prayer.
- Case-Study – Give an example of a life situation then discuss appropriate responses. For example: You are a Christian counselor and a married couple with two children comes in to meet with you. They say they want a divorce because they no longer love each other. The feelings they used to have for each other are gone and they believe it is best to end the marriage. How would you respond?
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. For a deep dive into church history and the character of God, see my book Surprised by Hell.