Psalms by Students

Allison Koester, Crossways teacher at the Presbyterian Church of Sunnyvale, California, recently shared some innovative approaches to leading the course.

Psalms by students
For the unit on Psalms, Ms. Koester takes two weeks, rather than the usual one week. In the first week, Koester introduces the Psalms and the various patterns of their construction. Week two is spent looking at particular verses, singing hymns based on the Psalms, and listening to the students' homework from the week before: psalms they have written themselves. Koester says that many of them have written laments, particularly on the political situation. The Psalms from the classes are compiled into a booklet that is handed out to each class, a tradition started by Pastor Dale Bracey in previous years.

Dramatic presentations
The class utilizes a dramatic approach to certain Bible stories. Molly Hastings, a talented writer, is a Crossways class member. She has drawn upon her experience living in Israel to write dramatic presentations that help put "faces" on the participants in the biblical narrative. One presentation involves a first-century Sadducee, a Zealot, and a Pharisee expressing their differing points of view. Another is a monologue by an Orthodox Jewish woman who explains the law codes — an excellent introduction to the heart of the Old Testament.

Prophetic Collages
During the units on the Old Testament prophets, Koester asks the students to make box collages. She buys boxes in varying sizes to correspond with the size of each prophetic book. The box for the book of Isaiah, for example, is much larger than the box for Obadiah.

She then brings in craft items and magazines. Each student picks a favorite prophet. Then they choose pictures and other items that represent the prophet, and assemble a collage on the box. Finally, students explain the collage to the rest of the class.

The Crossways class at Sunnyvale is quite large—50 people. Yet Koester has found that activities involving the whole group are better received than small-group discussions.

Ms. Koester feels these activities satisfy a range of learning styles without detracting from the task at hand, namely, to understand God's Word.

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