The Quarter Review lesson is a perfect opportunity to do something different with your group. It also gives you a chance to analyze how much—and what—your students felt really stood out in the quarter.

Start your lesson preparation by looking over the main points or objectives of each lesson. Consider what would be the best approach to this material. Will you want to use the overview lesson to show a tie between the previous lessons, or to illustrate how they build upon each other? Or does this set of lessons lend itself better to individual highlighting of some of the main points brought out?

Once you have settled on the most effective approach, you will want to look at specific ways to implement it. Let's consider first some possibilities for in-class presentation. (Some of these suggestions will be most appropriate for the junior level, others for seniors, and some would adapt to either.)

•  Bring visual aids or objects used as class openers for the previous lessons. See who can tell you what the lesson was about, or perhaps a main point of the lesson, by associating it with the visual aid.

•  Cut a sheet of posterboard into twelve puzzle pieces. Write the titles of the last twelve lessons on the pieces (one title per piece). Keep them in the correct order so the pieces will connect as you put them together. Scramble the pieces and hand them out to the students. As you review each lesson have the student with that puzzle piece attach it to your bulletin board. Be sure to time yourself so you have time to review all the lessons briefly and finish the puzzle.

•  Set up a contest matching key verse references and words between members of your class, or two classes. Make up two sets of cards (24 in each set) giving a key verse reference or text words on each card. See which team can match all 12 verses with their references first.

•  Run off on a copy machine or draw a simple game board for each student, showing a number of steps to a goal. Write a series of questions about the past lessons on slips of paper. Students will draw a slip of paper in turn, and if they are able to answer the question, they move ahead one spot on their game board. The first one to reach the goal wins. (You may wish to make the questions get progressively more difficult.)

•  Try a brainstorming session. Have the entire group come up with as many ideas as possible concerning what main points they picked up from this series of lessons.

•  Divide your group into small "buzz groups" to discuss one of the questions given in the Search lesson. (It might be interesting to combine classes for this activity, if your classes are not large.) Each group will have several minutes to talk over their answer, and then will choose a spokesman to present their conclusion to the whole group.

•  Make up Bible Tic-Tac-Toe games for two students to play together. (You may wish to make your boards so they can be used again as this activity could adapt to many lessons.) Under each square of the grid, write a question concerning one of the lessons. Cover the squares (perhaps with a hinged flap) so the question cannot be read. The students take turns selecting a space. If they are able to correctly answer the question under that square, they may place their X or 0 on that spot.

•  Set up a circle response within your group. Ask a question of the whole group, and have each participant in the circle give a brief answer. If one does not want to comment he may say, "Pass." Possibilities for questions appropriate for this activity could be worked out at round table, or with another teacher.

•  Try a word association exercise using words taken from the texts, names of Bible characters learned about this quarter, or words describing attributes or concepts studied. Each participant adds a word which is relative to the word given before.

•  Try making up a "Trivia" quiz for your final lesson of the quarter. Allow students to work together if they wish, and to use their Bibles. Be sure you have the answers ready! For a variation of this idea, let your students make up the quiz. Assign groups of students to particular lessons. Have them work together and turn in their questions a few days before the weekend so you can compile and reproduce them for class time.

Another aspect of the Quarter Review lesson in many churches is what to do during the review time. Look over the following list of possiblities:

•  Set up a mock interview. Have your students question someone who is acting the part of a character from the quarter.

•  Involve your students in the dramatization of events from the lessons. Set up tableaus, or brief pantomimes illustrating main events from each lesson. Have the rest of your group guess which lesson is being portrayed.

•  One or two Sundays prior to the Quarter Review Sunday, assign each class a time slot to make a presentation of one of the lessons on the concluding Sunday of the quarter. (You may wish to have this project take up the entire class and review time.) Their presentation could include a poster, puppet show, role- play, pantomime, interview, mural, or song. Encourage your students to be creative.

•  Set up a panel discussion. Have three or four students take the parts of people with differing view­ points on some aspects of the lessons you have covered. Let them discuss the issues before the entire group with the assistance of a moderator.

•  Many churches have found that the Quarter Review lesson is the perfect time to plan a contest or quiz. This could be done between classes, boys against girls, or by dividing into teams. There are many different ways to present and score contests. Find one that adapts to your group size and accommodations.

Some final thoughts regarding the Quarter Review lesson: Be sure to look through the Things To Do activities suggested at the end of the lesson. And don't be afraid to do something different! Talk it over with other teachers and see how creative you can be. Your group will find that the final lesson can be a really stimulating time of review, and a great springboard of enthusiasm for the next quarter.