ool lessons.

7. The law of _motivation_. Like other activities of the mind, memory
works best under the stimulus of some appealing motive. The very best
possible motive is, of course, an interest in and love for the matter
committed. This kind of response can hardly be expected, however, in all
of the material children are asked to commit. It is necessary to use
additional motives to secure full effort. The approval of the teacher
and parents, the child's standing in the class, and his own sense of
achievement are some of the motives that should be employed.

A very powerful motive not always sufficiently made use of is the wider
_social motive_ that comes from working in groups for a particular end.
For example, a school or class pageant based on some biblical story or
religious event has the effect of centralizing effort and stimulating
endeavor to a degree impossible in individual work. Hymns and songs are
committed, Bible passages or other religious material learned, stories
mastered, characters studied and their words committed under the stress
of an immediate need for them in order to take one's part in a social
group and prove one's mastery before an audience of interested
listeners. The church school can with great advantage centralize more of
its religious memory work in preparation for such special occasions as
Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, or other church celebrations or
pageants.

1. What reasons can you give why children should be taught to think
in their study of religion just as in the study of any other
subject? Do you find a thoughtful attitude on the part of your
class? What methods do you use to encourage reverent thinking in
religion?

2. One thinks best in connection with some question or problem
which he wishes to have answered. Do you plan in connection with
your preparation of the lesson to bring out some definite problem
suited to the age of your class and help your pupils think it
through to a solution?

3. What evidences can you suggest from your class work which show
that children readily think upon any problem that interests them?
Have your pupils asked questions showing that they are thinking?
When such questions are asked, how do you treat them?

4. What lessons of recent date in your work have you in mind which
especially required the use of imagination? Can you judge the
degree to which the de