“Resource Guides Now Separate from Conference Magazines,” Ensign, Nov. 2008, 127
Resource Guides Now Separate from Conference Magazines
The Aaronic Priesthood and Young Women resource guides for teachers, previously found in the general conference editions of the Liahona and Ensign, will now be published separately and shipped directly to wards and branches.
“The guides supplement and strengthen the Aaronic Priesthood and Young Women manuals by giving teachers the most current words of Church leaders on the subject of the lesson,” said Michael G. Madsen of the Church Curriculum Department.
The guides provide supplementary material for each lesson in the regular manuals by referencing recent stories and talks from current Church leaders and other Church magazine articles. Questions, quotes, and teaching tips for the instructors have been added to the new guides, giving instructors more material to draw from. The new guides are intended to supplement and update the material within the current manuals, not replace the manuals themselves.
The resource guides will now be published separately once a year. There are four components to the new guides: questions, additional resources, experiences, and teaching tips.
The new guides are printed in 27 languages and offer Sunday lesson material as well as suggestions for midweek activities with the youth. These midweek activities are designed to coincide with the Sunday lessons, giving the youth a chance to experience and apply what they have been taught. Many of the activities help complete Duty to God and Personal Progress requirements.
“We’re tying what they’re learning on Sunday to a weeknight activity to help get the gospel into their hearts,” Brother Madsen said.
Young Men and Young Women leaders are encouraged to use the new guides with their teaching materials. The guides include 11 specific teaching tips to help the instructors plan and present more effective lessons.
“If teachers follow these tips, they can greatly improve their teaching,” Brother Madsen said.
The new guides for 2009 were first available through Distribution Services on September 2, 2008.