The youth were studying Romans 2:17-29, which was is written to Jews who treat the externals of their religion as if they were sufficient for true faith. Paul soundly criticizes an "externals only" attitude. But how they studied it is actually a great technique to understand Scripture for anyone at any age.
The youth broke off into two teams and rewrote this passage to an audience of modern-day teenage Christians. It was a difficult exercise, but the results were excellent. Both teams clearly understood the passage because they so clearly reiterated the main ideas in modern language and circumstances. (You might even ask one of them about what they wrote.)
Here's the best part - I didn't have to teach a thing! They taught the passage to themselves. That's exactly what we want to create in all believers - the ability to study and understand Scripture on your own. Without it being an exercise "to learn how to study Scripture on your own," that's exactly what they did.
The lesson for us: One way to understand a passage is to try to rewrite it with modern trappings and language, without losing the meaning. If you can do with some level of accuracy, then you're obviously understanding the passage.
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