And so with the matter of organization. We skeletonize our thoughts
behind the scenes, but the skeleton is rather an unsightly specimen to
exhibit before a class. The outline should be inherent in the lesson as
presented, but it ought not to protrude so that the means will be
mistaken for an end. Subsequent chapters will illustrate both the
selection of an aim and its elaboration through suitable organization.
The successful preparation of a lesson involves at least five major
steps. They are named here that the problem of preparation may be
grasped as a whole. Later chapters will develop at length each step in
its turn.
1. _The Aim._ A generalized statement, a kernel of truth about which all
of the facts of the lesson are made to center. A lesson may be built up
on a passage of scripture, on the experience of a person or a people, or
on a vital question, etc. But in any case, though we are interested in
the facts involved, we are interested not in the facts as an end in
themselves, but rather because of the truth involved in the facts. In
other words, we seek to sift out of the material offered in a lesson an
essential truth which helps us in a solution of the problems of life.
Attention to the aim is a guarantee against mere running over of matter
of fact.
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