CONFIRMATION: What does this mean?

In the wonderful world of education, our main goals are to make sure students (any age) know any new information and have an understanding of it so that they can apply it in some way to gain deeper understanding. How we ask questions is imperative in making the connection from simply eliciting information to understanding and applying it. Unbeknownst to him, Martin Luther asked a pretty profound question in his Small Catechism with regard to education when he asked, "What does this mean?"

The problem is that when we teach out of the catechism we have kids read and memorize the answer without making them think about the question!  So... before you tell students to read and memorize ANY part of the catechism, ask them, "What does this mean?"

Give them a chance to talk to a friend or two about it and respond:

• verbally.
• written on a note card.
• written on a white board.

Then assign the memory work.  That way they know what they're memorizing before they do it!