Choose the Right

Purpose

To help the children learn that choosing the right can help them follow Jesus Christ.

Preparation

Prepare a blank name tag or badge for each child and one for yourself. Print your name on a name tag, but do not print anything on the others.
Be prepared to sing or read “Choose the Right Way” (Children’s Songbook, p. 160); the words are included in the back of the manual.
Materials needed:
1. A Bible.
2. A crayon or pencil for each child.
3. A piece of tape or a pin for each child.
4. A CTR shield for each child to color; the shield is included at the front of the manual.
5. A CTR ring for each child who has not received one in a prior year.
6. Picture 3-1, John the Baptist Baptizing Jesus (62133; Gospel Art Picture Kit 208).
Make the necessary preparations for any enrichment activities that you will be using.

Suggested Lesson Development

Invite a child to give the opening prayer.

Honoring My Name

Attention activity

Introduce yourself to the children. Tell them your name, and show them your name tag.

Give each child a name tag and a pencil or crayon, and have each write his or her name on the tag. Help those who cannot write their names. Attach the tags to the children’s clothing with tape or pins.

Why are names important? (Help the children understand that a name identifies a person to others.)

Say aloud the names of several people whom the children know and respect, such as the names of their parents, the bishop, a missionary, and the President of the Church. Ask them what they think about when they hear certain names and how they feel about the people with those names. Help the children understand that a name identifies a person to others; when a child knows someone’s name, he can hear the name and think of what that person looks and acts like.

Let each child say his or her name aloud to the class.

What would you like people to think when they hear your name?
How can you make your name represent good things?

Have the children suggest several ways they can honor or feel good about their names, such as doing their share of work, showing love, being polite, being honest, obeying their parents, obeying the commandments, and obeying laws and rules. Tell the children that we feel good about ourselves when we choose the right, and people will think of good things when they hear our names.

Choosing the Right Helps Me Feel Good about My Name

Activity

Show the CTR shield from the front of the manual.

What does CTR stand for? (Choose the right.)

Explain that by choosing the right, the children will feel good about their own names. Have them repeat the words choose the right with you.

Story

Tell the following story about a boy who had a very important choice to make:

Randy and his friend David were playing in their neighbors’ yard. The neighbor family was not home, and the two boys were having fun playing with some of the children’s toys. As they pushed each other in the swing, it broke and fell to the ground. Randy and David did not know what to do, so they ran away. They hoped that no one saw them there.

Randy felt bad that he and David had broken the swing. He thought about it often during the rest of the day but could not decide what to do. The next morning when he woke up, Randy remembered what CTR meant. Randy spoke the words that he had learned in Primary, “Choose the right”; then Randy thought about the neighbors’ swing.

He dressed quickly and went to the neighbors’ house. He stood outside for a while because he was a little afraid to knock on their door. Finally he knocked.

When the mother came to the door, he told her what had happened. While he told the story of the broken swing, she listened. When he finished, she put her hand gently on his shoulder and asked him his name. He told her that his name was Randy. She looked him in the eyes and said, “Randy, whenever I see you or think of your name, I’ll think of someone who is honest.”

What did Randy choose to do?
What helped Randy make that decision?

Show the CTR shield to the children.

How did choosing the right help Randy have a good name?

Song

Sing with the children or read aloud the words to “Choose the Right Way.”

Jesus Christ Wants Me to Choose the Right

Discussion

Explain to the children that you are thinking of another name. It is the name of someone who wants them to choose the right. Have the children guess whom you are thinking of while you give them such clues as—

He loves us.
He taught us how to choose the right.

Tell the children that the person you are thinking of is Jesus Christ. He taught us to always choose the right. He also taught us to be baptized the same way he was baptized.

What do you remember about how Jesus was baptized?

Picture discussion

Show picture 3-1, John the Baptist Baptizing Jesus. Read the first half of Matthew 3:16 aloud, ending after the words out of the water. Explain that Jesus was baptized by immersion, which means that he was placed under the water.

How would Heavenly Father and Jesus want you to be baptized? (By immersion, just as Jesus was.)

Ask the children how old they are. Point out that when the children become eight years old, they will be old enough to be baptized. They will also be responsible for their own choices. By being baptized and obeying the commandments, they will be choosing the right.

Why is it important to be baptized?
How does being baptized show that you’ve chosen the right way?

Explain that when they choose to be baptized, they choose to become members of the Church of Jesus Christ and take on his name. They promise to make their own names represent him. They promise to try to be like him and to do the things that he would do. Help the children understand that by choosing the right, they will feel good about their own names and will honor Jesus Christ’s name and the name of his Church.

Teacher testimony

Bear your testimony to the children of the importance of always choosing the right.

Song and ring

Help the children sing the class song, “Choose the Right Way.” Then give a CTR ring to each child who has not received one in a previous year.

Invite a child to give the closing prayer.

Enrichment Activities

Choose from the following activities those that will work best for your children. You can use them in the lesson itself or as a review or summary. For additional guidance, see “Class Time” in “Helps for the Teacher.”

Invite each child to tell of a time when he or she chose the right and to explain how he or she felt after making that choice.
Have each child color a copy of the CTR shield found at the front of the manual.
Have the children draw pictures of ways they can choose the right.
Have the children take turns pretending they are doing a daily chore that their parents have given them and then explain how this is choosing the right.