Music For Primary

Charades and Spin the Human

2011-03-27T14:19:00.002-06:00

This is so much fun. I purchased these charade cards from "Green Jello With Carrots." Click here. I'm giving them a plug because they have such awesome stuff.

Here's how I used them:

I "laminated" them with clear contact paper. Then I borrowed a swivel chair from the bishop's office, placed the cards face down all around the chair. Then using my "choosing can" I picked kids to come sit in the chair. With their legs straight out, I twirled the chair and whatever card was under their feet was the one the child could act out. There are Reverent actions and Rowdy actions. The primary kids were to guess what type of action was being portrayed.

I had brought a portable file box filled with a whole bunch of my songs and accompanying visuals. The child then got to pick a file, and help with the visuals while we sang. I usually am given more time on the 4th week, so we were able to get through about 7 songs.

*WARNING! Make sure the child is holding onto the sides of the chair when twirling. One little sunbeam twirled off the chair and halfway across the room! Although quite hilarious, it took a while to get the kids calmed down (especially me!). He wasn't hurt, but was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up. Ahhhh Primary!

Stand For The Right - Audience Participation

2011-03-05T14:57:00.005-07:00

When I was going to College, I eventually learned that I needed to employ each sensory tactic in order to really learn something.

That means I needed to HEAR it (via professor), SEE it (via books & notes), WRITE it (re-writing and editing my notes), and SAY it
(yes, reciting out loud to myself).

This is why I love participation more than just standing there talking to kids and asking questions. I know I find myself daydreaming in classes like that, at times....so it's a sure thing the kids do, too.

This week I'll divide the kids into four areas. Each area will be assigned a rhythm method for their line of the song. (i.e. clapping, snapping, leg slapping, foot pounding, etc.) All to the beat. It's in 3/4 time, so the rhythm is 1- 2 -3, 1- 2 -3, 1- 2 -3, etc. After practicing their rhythms, I'll sing the words, and the kids can sing along as they feel ready.

So Area #1 will clap 1-2-3, 1-2-3,...while singing "Our Prophet has some words for you"

Area #2 will snap to the beat while singing "And these are the words, Be True, Be True"

Area #3 will hit their legs and sing, "At work or at play, in darkness or light"

Area #4 will pound their feet to the beat and sing, "Be True, Be True and Stand for the Right." In which EVERYONE will STAND when the words, "Stand For the Right" are sung. That way, everyone must pay attention.

After each area knows their own line, I'll have everyone sing the whole thing, changing rhythm methods as they sing each line. It might be fun to have a child from each area come up and do the actions while everyone sings with them.....sort of a game to see who can go through the whole song without messing up.

New-Fangled Choose Sticks

2011-02-27T15:59:00.001-07:00

Move over tongue depressors. There's a new kid(s) in town! I found these at a store called Utah/Idaho School Supply. I'm sure any school supply store will do. They have great stuff.

The best thing about these guys is they're each basically a white board, so you can wipe off a child's name as they graduate, move, etc.

Just thinking, it might be fun to dress these guys up somewhat for each holiday. Like, I saw some foam cutouts of cowboy hats that could be taped on their heads for July. Maybe even tie a little piece of a red bandanna around the neck.... green boleros for St. Patrick's Day.....etc. It's these little details that the kids seem to respond to so much. ANYthing for the kids, right?

Teaching Scripture Power

2011-02-27T15:39:00.004-07:00

On the 4th Sunday of each month, when a member of the bishopric visits and speaks to the children, we get to have singing for the duration of the time left over. It's great since that's usually a review day.

I decided to begin teaching next month's song a week early due to my upcoming vacation. So......drumroll please.......let me bring your attention to this fantastic booklet I found on "The Ordinary Adventures of a Primary Chorister." I say "booklet" because it's better than a flip chart. It has a whole page dedicated to the words with a whole page picture to go with it. The pics are darling. Here's the link.

Scripture Power Booklet

I began by reading the "book" to them like a storybook. Then we sang it. On the front of the binder, I had taped the words so I wouldn't have to bend my head around to look at the pages. The kids LOVED it! The older kids remembered it, but enjoyed reviewing it.

I want to get the pages laminated and spiral bound this week, so it will really BE a book instead of just another binder/flipchart. That's how "The Ordinary Chorister..." suggested doing it, and it sounds like an adorable alternative.

I chose "helpers" to come up and get dressed in the armor, (picture above) which was also a big hit. I found the armor at the dollar store last year some time, knowing I would eventually use it. This was really fun. Next week I'll bring out even more pieces, such as the helmet, girdle, etc.

As I'm sure all of you have, we've been pushing for the kids to bring their scriptures. They were sure glad they did today, as almost all of them were able to heft them into the air for the SCRIP-ture Power Chorus. FUN DAY.

Traffic Light String

2011-02-26T15:15:00.001-07:00

When I was the pianist in another ward, the chorister made up one of these, only she used a 1 Liter pop bottle that she cut the middle out of, and fit the two ends together, to hold the string. Apparently, there is no such thing as red, yellow, and green multi-colored yarn, so I bought three small yarn thingys(?) and tied them together randomly.

Not owning a liter of pop, I needed to make use of what could be found around the house. Eventually I found a can of french-fried onion rings in my pantry, put them in a zip-lock, punched a small hole in the lid, covered the can with wrapping paper, printed off some pics I found online, and voila'!

A helper pulls the string steadily while we sing. Of course green="GO," Red="STOP," and then they'll hum when the yellow string surfaces.

Scripture Power! We'll be re-learning this song next, except probably not like this. But it's worth watching for a laugh.

2011-02-26T10:34:00.003-07:00

Looking Forward to St. Patrick's Day

2011-02-26T00:39:00.008-07:00

I'm going to be on vacation the Sunday before St. Patty's Day, so this will be the second activity for my substitute chorister. I borrowed this GREAT riddle idea from Kathryn, and added a little extra to it in lieu of the special day.

Everyone knows Leprechauns LOVE silly riddles. So I've added some super silly ones in addition to the song riddles.

So the activity will go like this: A child will be chosen to come pick a shamrock. (They will all be attached to the board with small magnets. ) On the other side are TWO riddles. The first one is a St. Patrick's Day riddle. After the kids have fun with that, the chorister will read the second riddle, which is a question regarding songs they know. After they guess the song, another helper will choose, from the "Silly Sack," the way they should sing the song.

If you want to download the silly singing cards, click "here".

This is basically a choose and review, with some fun songs mixed in. I chose songs I was pretty sure the kids would know. Here are the riddles:

1. Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day?
     Regular rocks are too heavy.
Song Riddle: I like to imagine what it would be like to hear Jesus talk to me.
   Hint: I would not listen with my ears.
   What song am I? "If I Listen With My Heart"
2. Knock, Knock!
   Who's there?
   Irish
   Irish who?
   Irish you a happy St. Patrick's Day!
Song Riddle: Heavenly Father has provided a way for us to get back to him.
   Hint: "Plan"
   What song am I? "I Will Follow God's Plan For Me"
3. What does Ireland have more of than any other country?
   Irishmen!
Song Riddle: Everyone needs to hold onto this.
   Hint: Lehi's Dream
   What song am I? "Hold to the Rod" (chorus only)
4. Knock, Knock!
   Who's there?
   Warren
   Warren who?
   Warren anything green today?
Song Riddle: The Lord wants us to be brave and courageous
   Hint: Another word for brave is "Valiant"
   What song am I? "I Will Be Valiant"
5. Why do frogs like St. Patrick's Day?
   Because they're always wearing green!
Song Riddle: The apricot trees don't have any of this right now.
   (No Hint on this one)
   What song am I? "Popcorn Popping"
6. Why can't you borrow money from a Leprechaun?
   Because they're always a little short.
Song Riddle: You need to build your house on the right foundation.
   Hint: Rain
   What song am I? "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man"
7. Why did the leprechaun stand on the potato?
   To keep from falling in the stew!
Song Riddle: I hope they do this when I've grown a foot or two.
   Hint: 2 years
   What song am I? "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission"
8. What do you get when two leprechauns have a conversation?
   A lot of small talk!
Song Riddle: Jesus wants me to be this...
   Hint: Sun
   What song am I? "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam"

Broken Hearts for "I Will Follow God's Plan" Let's try this again...

2011-02-22T20:38:00.002-07:00

Okay, for those of you who weren't able to pull up the broken hearts for "I Will Follow God's Plan" I'm re-posting links here. I sincerely hope they work for you this time. For some reason I wasn't able to e-mail the file to those who requested it. I'm so sorry. Let me know if this works. If you haven't already, you will need to sign up for the free "4-Shared" site for file sharing. I know a lot of you bloggers out there use it, and it seems like a great way to file share.

Just click "Download" when you see the word, "Download." :)

My Life Is A Gift.....in Heaven it Began
My Choice Was to Come....To His Word and His Love
I Will Work......Walk in His way
Then I Will Be Happy......In My Home Above

I Will Be Valiant

2011-02-19T23:40:00.004-07:00

I want to teach this song to the kids really, really bad. So tomorrow is the day. It is fun, upbeat, catchy, and different from the other songs we've been singing.

I've included a flipchart that I found on Sugardoodle. I'm just going to attach the pages on the board - not use them as a flipchart, and then once the kids have sung it a few times, pass out a bunch of Kazoos (from Oriental Trading) and let them sing through those. Maybe ... we'll even march around the room with them.

What could be funner than a kazoo? Huh? Here's the link:

http://www.4shared.com/document/COsVWmze/I_Will_Be_Valiant.html

Preparing for a Substitute Chorister

2011-02-19T23:11:00.003-07:00

Yes, It is true. I am actually going on a much needed vacation in March....for 2 weeks! However, it turns out that I'll need a sub for 3 Sundays. Yikes! Good thing we have Stake Conference as the second Sunday.

I don't want to overburden my fill-in with anything too complicated, so I think it would be fun and easy for her to use these primary matching cards.

There are TONS of cards in this collection....so just a few would be good, so as to make it less frustrating for the kids. When there's a match, a song will go with it. I'll pick songs they know fairly well...and include the flipcharts/posters, etc. for my sub ... in case the kids aren't sure of every word. Nothing's worse for a temporary chorister to feel like she's the only one singing.

Here's the link: Primary Matching Game

Finishing Up Teaching "I Will Follow God's Plan"

2011-02-19T17:50:00.003-07:00

My favorite singing times are when the kids are involved interactively. They responded really well to my "Broken Hearts" singing time last week, so I hope this one goes as well.

I'm going to put pictures, representing the key words in the song, under random chairs before primary begins. When we're ready to practice this song, I'll tell them to look under their seats for the pictures. We'll begin singing the song ... but STOP when a picture is needed. I plan to have a printout of the piano music with the "stops" indicated so the pianist and I will be on the same page. . .no pun intended :-)

Each time the music stops, the children must look at their picture and decide if it's the one that fits. Then he/she will bring it up and post it on the board. After all pictures are up, we'll sing it without stopping, then begin removing the pictures until they can sing it completely from memory.

Below I've listed the key words. Click onto the word, then copy and paste the picture onto a document. Size as large as you want, then print them out. I recommend laminating them (clear contact paper is cheap) and saving for future use. These pictures could be used for many singing times/activities in the future. Print out the pictures with an asterick TWICE, because the word is used more than once in the song.

Gift
Plan*
Purpose
Heaven
Choice
Home*
Earth*
Seek
Light
Birth
Holding
Word
Love
Work
Pray
Walk
Happy

Broken Hearts Bad Link.....Lame....

2011-02-14T10:58:00.000-07:00

Sorry my 3+ hrs of work on attempting to provide a PDF file didn't pan out. My new MAC computer is kicking my .... well, you know. If anyone would like the actual file for the broken hearts.....which could be used at other times than just for Valentines Day, I would be happy to e-mail the file to you. Just e-mail me at sbshreeve02@msn.com.

Broken Hearts for Valentines Day

2011-02-13T02:09:00.004-07:00

I've been spending the last ~~few~~ several hours trying to teach myself how to scan something I've created onto the computer....then post it here for you to click onto. I scanned my pictures on the flatbed...and it ended up in 4 separate pages. So there will be four URL's to click on here... Hmm...I'll try to do better next time.

I didn't really want to take a day off from teaching "I Will Follow Gods Plan" in order to just sing fun songs for Valentines Day. Tomorrow is Ward Conference, and the Stake folks will be there....so I wanted to teach the second part of the song.....while incorporating Valentines Day in a fun way.

I took this idea I saw from last year. I'm not sure who's idea this was, so if it's yours, please post a comment to that effect so you'll get the credit. Last year's version had the words from "He Sent His Son." So I just used her idea with this year's song for February.

My plan is to place one half of a heart into an envelope, address it to "Shadow Ridge Ward Primary Children,' place a sticker of "Christ with little children" I bought at Deseret Book, for the stamp.

I even postmarked it.....if you can see it. I know, it doesn't even resemble a real postmark, but it gives the effect....ever so slightly...... It says, "Created With Love..."

I worried that the kids would take too long opening the envelope the conventional way...so I just placed a heart sticker on the back to close it.

I'll have helpers pull the envelopes out of the Mailman's mail pouch, open them, then we'll sing the phrase which is on that half.

As we continue opening the envelopes, more pieces of the song will be revealed and the kids will try to match them up. If they get the whole song matched up, they'll get a valentine treat! (Oh heck...They'll get one anyway....) Hopefully, by the time the valentines are all matched up they will have learned the song fairly well. Afterwards....I'll have a valentine treat for them, which they will take from the mail pouch as they leave Primary.

Here are the PDF heart files.
My Life Is a Gift......
My Choice Was to Come.....
I Will Work....
Then I Will Be Happy.....

Here's the yummy treat I'll be handing out. I put a little bit inside a snack-sized ziplock for each child.

The recipe is on this link:
http://mycomputerismycanvas.blogspot.com/2011/01/valentine-bark-recipe.html

Primary Valentines Mailman

2011-02-06T21:50:00.001-07:00

I've been working on this little guy for next week, the day before Valentines Day. I found him on "The Divine Secrets of a Primary Chorister" Blog: http://divinesecretsofaprimarychorister.blogspot.com/2008/11/mailman.html

I blew him up and colored him on a thick foam board, then with a large needle and dental floss, I attached a little denim bag I already had.

To get the U.S. Mail on the front, I just printed off the words on my computer, using a red font, outlined them in thick black, cut them out, then attached them on the front of the bag with a product called, Aleene's Paper Napkin Applique Glue. You use it just like Mod Podge, but it bends with the fabric a little more. Mod Podge would probably work too. I just happened to have this stuff.

I'm going to jazz up the background some, not sure how just now, but I'll think of something... I'll have
valentines inside with the names of songs about love and caring. Then before the kids leave, I'll re-fill the bag with valentines just for them....with a special treat.

What will you be doing for Valentines?

I Will Follow God's Plan .. First Half

2011-02-06T13:46:00.001-07:00

I only taught the first half of the song today. I wanted to be sure we had both lines learned well, and still had time for fun. I know I said I didn't really want to use posters or flipcharts...but I changed my mind at the last minute and put a poster together this morning. I covered it with blobs, and planned to uncover each line as we learned it. The tan felt is covering the second half, which I'll have covered with the blobs for next week.

I began with this gift box, and had a helper open it up.

This was what was inside: (They expected it to be empty, like filled with love or something.)

Then we talked about the plan...

At this point we played the hot and cold game with the gift box. I used Mr. Crescendo Crocodile to help out the game a little.

After a few times with this, they had learned the line pretty well. On to Line 2:

I had been taking the blobs off the poster to learn the words.

Now with Line 2 it looked like this:

Then with the last blob gone, it looked like this:

So then it was time for another game. We hid this flashlight with a picture of Christ on it, to go with "to seek for God's light to direct me from birth."

That's all we learned today. I think we had fun learning it, and the kids paid attention.

That's always a plus!

I Will Follow God's Plan

2011-02-05T19:15:00.001-07:00

Okay... I think I'm ready to take this one on. I DON'T want to use the old standbys this time....that of flipcharts and/or posters. I want to do something unexpected and different.

I'll start out with a beautifully wrapped gift....ask the children to listen to the song as I sing it...to guess what's inside. I'll pick a child to unwrap the gift, and inside will be a paper with the words, "MY LIFE" written on it.

I downloaded this darling folder game off the Green Jello with Carrots Blog that is a great pictorial for the "PLAN." Maybe ... I'll have a helper(s) help me with placement of the pictures on the board. Or if time is an issue...as it usually is, I'll just show it to them already put together. I don't want to spend the whole time explaining it. Just a quick overview.

Then for the line "My choice was to come to this lovely home on earth, and seek for God's light to direct me from birth," I'll have a flashlight with a picture of Christ taped to it.

For the Line "I will follow God's plan for me, holding fast to His word and His love,"  will be scriptures.

Then ""I will work, I will pray, I will always walk in His way."  A pair of shoes.

The Line, "Then I will be happy on earth, and in my home above."  A small world globe, or I could just point to the earth and Celestial Kingdom on the "Plan."

Now as we learn each line, I'll choose a child to go into the hall, then we'll play the Hot/Cold Game with the objects, singing the particular line of the song that goes with the object. By repetition, they'll be learning the song in a fun, participatory, entertaining, and visual way.

Fifth Sunday Fun

2011-01-30T15:08:00.000-07:00

We got a new Primary Presidency last November, and they have some great ideas they're implementing.
On the fifth Sundays we are visited by various prophets from the scriptures. Today we welcomed Lehi and Nephi! They told stories, and interacted with the kids in a fun and informative way. Here's Lehi (I wasn't aware that Lehi wore a tie, were you?) He told about his dream, and what it meant. The kids were right in the palm of his hand.....

Here's his son, Nephi. He brought his bow and the actual sword he used to obtain the brass plates!

We weren't sure just how long these guests would take, so I brought my "Silly Singing Time" stuff, but added another item. This:

I put JUST Fun Songs/Activity Songs in this bag - to use with the "Silly Singing Time" cards. See this post here. It was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS and FUNFUNFUN! Can't wait to do it again.

*Note: I know, I know, I wasn't aware until I got to Primary that I had actually planted a "Sponge Bob" picture on this bag.... I'll see if I can find a replacement...

January Review Week 4

2011-01-24T21:35:00.001-07:00

I started out having the kids sing through IILWMH with the flipchart (see previous posts). Then I took the flipchart apart and placed the pages all over a table. I used my brand-new "Golden Helpers" book that I found on this link here. It really helped. No more hands and little kids running up to me to pull on my dress. Divine. The little yellow tab on the page is to let me know that child has had a turn.

As I called each name, the child was supposed to come up, pick a page from the flipchart and decide if it fit on row 1 (1st verse), row 2 (2nd verse), or row 3 (3rd verse)., on the board. They came up, but ... one teacher said it best, "I don't think they were really trying." Yikes! Luckily I brought my poster this week. Because the pages were all so scrambled it would have taken quite some time to sort them out on the board.

So we sang with the poster. Never mind my crooked phrases. Next time I'll use a level....sigh... I used the idea for "pitch sticks" I found on Kathryn's blog here. The little kids loved it, the bigger kids broke them in pieces. ...sigh #2... Did I mention we have mostly boys in our primary? I didn't even dare bring out the paint brushes I brought for "painting the music," also on Kathryn's blog. I loved the ideas, but found them to be more geared toward the Jr. Primary-aged kids.

However! For the 3rd verse I brought out Mr. "Crescendo Crocodile", an idea by Tifany that I found here. And they all picked back up and sang beautifully! The little guy was easy to make, and I could even draw it! That's something.....

I was exhausted by the end of Primary. It's tough keeping all ages interested when we're all together. But now I have a better idea of what types of activities keeps everyone engaged.

If it weren't for all of you.....and your great ideas, I couldn't function in this capacity. A big heartfelt thankyouthankyouthankyou to all you singing time bloggers Consider yourselves hugged!

The Iron Rod - One Awesome Flipchart

2011-01-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

I found this little gem on "The Ordinary Adventures of a Primary Chorister" Blog. I used it today. It's really well done, and the kids loved it. The Iron Rod - Flipchart

Teaching About the Holy Ghost

2011-01-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

The last verse of "If I Listen With My Heart" is all about the Holy Ghost. I know this has been done before, but I put a bunch of stuff in a bag that had attributes of the Holy Ghost. Then I had helpers pull out one object at a time as "clues." At this point I didn't tell them who we were talking about. After all the clues were out of the bag, I had each child holding an item come up to the front. Believe it or not, no one guessed the person the clues belonged to.

As I described what each clue meant, (omitting the name, "Holy Ghost") the child held up his/her item for all to see. It didn't take long before hands were being raised, as they recognized who I was talking about. These are the clues/items:

The little MOUTH is to help you remember that the Holy Ghost will SPEAK to you in a still, small voice.

The EAR in the bag will remind you to always LISTEN to the Holy Ghost so that you can always choose the right.

The Holy Ghost will COMFORT you like a warm BLANKET. The Holy Ghost will comfort you and give you strength when you choose the right and have to stand alone.

The RULER will help you remember that the Holy Ghost is a TEACHER. The Holy Ghost will help you understand and know the truth as you study the scriptures and learn.

The Holy Ghost will LIGHT YOUR WAY like a CANDLE and help you walk along righteous paths.

The HEART shows how much Jesus loves you. He wants you to show your LOVE for Him by obeying the commandments. Always stay close to Him and you will be truly happy.

THEN we learned the last verse of the song. I was so impressed with how well they learned it, and felt the spirit very strongly this week in singing time.

Silly Singing Time

2011-01-15T23:02:00.001-07:00

What kid doesn't love to be silly sometimes? Even some adults do....I know I do. It's a stretch to expect primary kids to be reverent at all times....prim and proper....etc. So, I made this "Silly Singing Time Sack."

Inside are a number of cards, covered with clear contact paper for protection. I will have a helper pick a card out of the bag....the card will tell us how we'll sing the song. This is for reviewing a song over and over

without the kids zoning out. The cards are like these:

I have the cards I could e-mail you, if you're interested. I used to use a square dice with ways to sing the songs, but there are so many more ideas on these cards. I can't wait to bring it next week for our song review.

If you would like the PDF file, just click HERE. Thanks for visiting!

2011 Music Schedule

2011-01-15T22:47:00.002-07:00

Remember how I said I was going to "cuten" up my schedule? Well, I saw an outline that I really, really liked. Easy to read, and fun to look at. So I shamelessly used it as my inspiration Here is the link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46125529/Primary-Music-Schedule-2011 I think the blog is called "The Ordinary Adventures of a Primary Chorister" and it's just fantastic! Anyway, here's my version. I've made one for each month.

If you would rather not re-invent the wheel, I would be happy to e-mail you my year's schedule. The Stake Conferences would be different, but you could plug them in the correct dates. Send your request to me at sbshreeve02@msn.com.

January Schedule and More "Stuff"

2011-01-11T10:50:00.001-07:00

Here is my schedule for January. The 2nd isn't on there cuz I didn't even type this up until last week. I used to do a much more detailed schedule, which included Jr and Sr Primary singing times. But this year, I teach EVERYONE at the same time. We only have 40-50 kids total in our primary, and we never see that many even on a good day. So.... no big deal. Sharing time is all together as well. That means I get to go to Sunday School with my hubby. Sweeeet! Anyhoo...here is my plan for Jan. It's not so cute. I want to "cuten" it up just a bit for next time.

I should be able to scan this puppy in and get a better look. But I didn't have time to monkey with it this morning, so forgive me for the crummy photo. But...you get the idea.

I did teach the chorus to the "Iron Rod" last week. I told them about a time during the week that I was trying to climb some outdoor stairs covered with thick ice....and how I had no treads on my shoes....and how I NEEDED to hold on the the railing (hence, the iron rod). Then went on with that line of thinking. It was really easy to teach them....even without visuals because it's so short....just two lines.

As for next week, we'll be singing some tunes we haven't sung for a while. "Seek the Lord Early" was sung in the 2009 program, but I don't think we sang it even once last year. I made a poster using pictures I had on some popsicle sticks. The pics, I believe, came from a resource called "Singing Savers" for the 2009 program. But I'm sure you could find similar pictures online. Here is my poster:

I use flip charts frequently too, but sometimes the ones I find online have really small words. The kids in the back just can't see them...I'm sure. So I downloaded the flipcharts off the Jolly Jen Flipcharts website, and made larger words to go with. I used a #72 font. I print them on cardstock or just regular paper, then insert them in clear plastic sheet covers, cut off the side with the holes, poke two holes at the top, and attach them to rings. I'm sure you all do the same....I mostly speaking to brand-spankin' new chroristers here.

I put the flipcharts in a folder with the same name, and file alphabetically.

Pie Plate, Rocks, and a Sponge

2011-01-11T09:59:00.001-07:00

Weird name for a post, but I wanted to share with you another object lesson I used in teaching "If I Listen With My Heart." It came right out of a terrific object lesson book I picked up at Deseret Book for $12.99.

It's by Beth Lefgren and Jennifer Jackson, and it's full of great ideas for bringing home the points we're trying to make. It's not just for kids, either. It's for teachers in all areas of gospel teaching. (No, I'm not getting a kickback, and I don't know the authors....It's just a great little gem!)

Anyway, I used little rocks, cuz all the big ones are outside under 8 feet of snow. I took them from one of my floral arrangements.... I put the rocks in one pie pan and the sponge in another. Then asked, "Which item will soak up more water? Then I poured half of the water over each item. There should be no water visible with the sponge, your water is clearly seen in the pan with the rock. Ask, "Why does one pan have more water than the other?

We are like the rock(s) when we read our scriptures without purpose or focus; the truths of the scriptures run off and cannot fully penetrate our souls. We are like the sponge, however, when we prayerfully study the scriptures; we absorb gospel truths because the Spirit is able to teach us.

A scripture goes with this, John 5:39; Mosiah 1:7 I think they liked the OL. You could hear a pin drop during the presentation.

Then I went on to teach the second verse of IILWMH. I changed the flip chart from last week by adding some key words. Like this:

I just thought it was sort of a stretch to expect the kids and teachers to comprehend the picture's meaning and put the right words with it. I can take the words off later as a game after we learn it better. BTW, the CD-ROM (last post) was also $12.99 at Deseret Book. I keep all my receipts and deduct them along with my tithing deductions at the end of the year.

If I Listen With My Heart

2011-01-02T15:32:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is what we did today: I decided to begin with an object lesson to introduce the new song. I began by bringing various devices in one by one and turning them on; a CD player, a radio, an Ipod, a cell phone, my Ipad, etc.

Then after all these machinery were doing their thing, I had a volunteer come up and read a scripture. (Any scripture will do, since it won't be heard anyway. That's the point.) Then I asked whether the electronic devices made a difference in how they were able to listen to the scripture. I likened the electronic devices to the business and complexity of the world around us, explaining that sometimes the everyday noises of the world make it difficult to hear the promptings of the Spirit in our lives. Then I asked, "How can we resolve that problem?"

That's when I introduced the concept of "listening with our heart." (eye contact, not being busy, etc.)

In order to introduce the 1st verse about listening to the scriptures, I asked the children to imagine...what if they had been children when Jesus lived on earth, what would they have liked to do? (This took some imagination.) After hearing several responses, they were gently guided to, "I would have liked to walk with him and listen to his words.)

Since we can't go back to that time, how we can hear his words today? (Pull out scriptures)
Read Matthew 7:26 quickly. Ask, "Was I really listening to what I read?"
Ask how to listen with your heart when reading (with the spirit)
Ask them to listen with their hearts while you read again (vs. 24)

Then I brought out my flipchart and discussed the words which go with each picture. (1st verse only) Then I played the song on the CD with the kids singing. (From the church website)

I had the words on the other side for me.....

The flipchart was from a CD-ROM I found at Deseret Book, called "Singing Fun!" which has visuals and ideas for this year's theme.

To be honest, they didn't really LEARN the first verse today, but at least they developed a concept of what the song is about, and what it means. AND they even seemed to like it!

Leading the Singing

2010-10-17T15:36:00.000-06:00

We had a blast at Primary today! I have noticed, on several occasions, many of the children attempting to duplicate my song-leading. Last week I asked the children if they would like to learn how to lead the music. They were really excited about it. Surely I wasn't the first primary chorister to take on this challenge, right? So I hit "Sugardoodle" and, sure enough, someone had handily posted a wonderful teaching plan...just what I was looking for. Here it is, her plan written by Brooke Wakefield, word for word:

"I substituted as the Primary Pianist today and thought our Primary Music Leader did such a great job today...I asked her if I could share what she did. She is trying to come up with ideas to get the children to watch her and understand conducting (how to do it and how to follow the conductor).

She started by tapping the music stand and raising her hands and watched everyone to see what they'd do. They looked at her and wondered what she was doing. She asked them, "Have you ever been to a musical performance or watched a conductor as he/she is getting ready to start? What does it mean when they tap their baton on the music stand?

It means that they are ready to start. When we do our Primary Program, I will do the same thing. She showed them how a conductor instructs everyone to stand and sit down. We practiced it a few times.

Then she gave each child a straw. (I used unsharpened pencils.) She told them if she saw them messing or playing around with it, instead of following her instructions, they would lose their leading stick and wouldn't get it back. It did the trick as they were really great with them. First she had me play, "Listen,Listen" and had them conduct "however it felt most natural"...to listen for the beat. Everyone did a pretty good job. Then she taught them how to conduct 2/4. I played the song again and they all conducted.

We tried another song and then she had them sing AND lead. After they got it down pretty well, she called three children forward to lead the Primary. She sat down on the front row and asked the three children to please raise their sticks until everyone was ready and watching. She also informed them that the pianist (me) wouldn't start until THEY told me to. We sang through the song and they did a great job.

She sent them back to their seats and called up three new children. She asked them, "Did you ALSO know that you are in charge of telling the pianist how fast and slow to go? How do you think they know how fast to play?" She then demonstrated to the three children that the faster you move your leading stick, the faster the pianist will play. We sang the next song and all three children started conducting at lightening speed (which meant that the children had to sing at lightening speed as I did my best to play that fast. Everyone struggled; however, she said, "Why do you think we only have one conductor and not three?" She got some great answers on that one...

Then, for senior primary she taught them a little more about beat and key signatures. She photocopied one of the Primary songs and passed a copy down each row and asked them to look for one of these symbols (she wrote them on the board) 2/4, 3/4, 4/4. She taught them how to lead each one. She also reviewed fermatas by saying, "When the conductor holds the leading stick still...you hold that note until they move the stick again." We practiced this a few times by singing "Listen, Listen:.

The children did SO well with their straws and following instructions. In fact, I would venture to say that the Junior Primary did even better than the Senior Primary. They were so excited to learn how to conduct. It will help them to know what all of her hand signals mean and why it is so important for them to watch her."

I pretty much followed this great plan as it was laid out. I just didn't have them practice standing and sitting because we'd already practiced that prior to the program. I passed out a bunch of primary songbooks for the children to find songs in the key signatures we were learning, then we sang and led those.

Afterwards our First Counselor came up to me and said she had tried many times to teach her kids how to lead music in their Family Home Evenings....without success. Now, today, she watched as her child lead the music perfectly. Compliments don't come any better than that!

It's Over!!

2010-09-30T19:16:00.000-06:00

Our Primary program was two weeks ago. I just wanted to post here and let you know how it all came off...after my perceived trauma (see previous post).

First of all, thank you-thank you to those of you who commented, gave advice, and most importantly, support. It meant the world to me...really!

Well...the program was absolutely wonderful. We compromised a bit and placed a couple of the recommended songs back into the program, leaving off just one of the songs the kids hadn't sung in a while. The two teachers DID sing, "This is My Beloved Son." However, they were a young husband and wife team who teach one of the older classes. They did a great job, and nobody seemed to notice that it was unusual. I don't know if they planned it or not, but they were even color coordinated. (smile...)

One thing that I did (which one of the teachers told me must have been "inspired") was to sit right next to the podium on the stage. Then when the kids sang, I held up a poster with graphics and words. I held it resting my left arm on the podium so that the poster would not be seen by the congregation. I led the song with my right arm. Having the words there really helped, I think, as an added assurance that they would SING! My primary is made up of ALL BOYS (well, maybe three girls, but you get the idea...) And typically, boys are not the most reliable singers.....

They sang their little hearts out! I was just so proud of them all.

Now that brings us to last week, when we had one of the most fun primary singing times all year. It took ZERO preparation, people! It's a "Name That Tune" kind of idea.

1. The children were to try to think of their favorite song without disclosing it to anyone else.
2. I passed out numerous primary songbooks to help them, if they couldn't remember the name of the
song.
3. I picked a reverent child to come up and whisper the name of the song to the pianist.
4. She played a few notes for the children to guess.
5. After the children guessed the song, the child got to lead it - or do the actions, etc.

I was A.M.A.Z.E.D. at the songs the children chose....and the fact that they could guess them! Even the teachers got into it. The older kids really got into it and tried to find the most obscure songs like, "The Thirteenth Article of Faith." But even that one got guessed. With the songbooks passed out, the kids could use them to help them sing the songs they didn't know all the words to.

A great time.... Since even I didn't know what the songs were, I got to "play" with the kids. I loved it.

Song Review and Mother's Day

2010-04-25T14:13:00.001-06:00

We Reviewed "I Belong to the Church...." I had them do an action every time they sang the word, "I" or "I'll." such as taking a step to the right, then another step back to the left, etc. Another way was to have them sit down and stand up each time they sang "I."

The "meat" of the time was spent reviewing "Mother I Love You," since our primary is singing for Mother's Day in Sacrament Meeting. To make it more fun, I brought out my beanbag game that I found at Zurcher's last fall. I've been meaning to add some cute name for the game in colorful letters, but I haven't come up with a primary game name that I'm satisfied with...yet. It doesn't matter to the kids, though....they always love it when I bring it.

For today, I chose the best singers, more reverent, etc. children to try a beanbag toss. If the beanbag landed in a hole, the child got to choose a page from the flip chart and pin it up on the board...anywhere they chose. When all the pages were on the board, the song was pretty scrambled. I let them try to sing it that way...which was pretty funny. The challenge was for the kids to unscramble the pages and get them in the correct order, singing the song from the beginning, and adding the new phrases as they were added correctly.

The flip chart is found on Jolly Jen's posters....

Next month we learn "The Holy Ghost." I'm really excited, because I'm planning on using handbells to teach it! I'll post the handbells arrangement and my teaching ideas later in the week. Hope you'll check back!

One TERRIFIC Idea!

2010-04-19T13:00:00.000-06:00

In my ward, this week was the first week for "I Belong To the Church......" Just like I thought, it was a breeze to teach, and the kids picked it up really, really quickly! Especially with this funner than fun idea I found on the "Primary Singing Ideas" blog. Here's the URL: http://primarysingingtimeideas.blogspot.com/2010/04/april-week-2-3-reinforce.html

Since I don't own a white board, I just pulled out some colored chalk and used that. We have two blackboards in our primary room. One is stationary at the front of the room, and the other is movable with a bulletin-type board on the other side.

I got there early so I could write the song on BOTH boards. One for Senior and the other for Junior Primaries. There wouldn't be enough time in between to re-write the song on the board again.

This picture is just to show how to write the song - with different colors. ('course I wrote the words to "I Belong....") The Primary Singing Ideas Website will give you step-by-step directions.....

The kids just LOVED the fizzy-white-powder-in-the-water-that-turned-color-like-magic idea! It was just so much fun. Even the teachers and leaders were stumped! They all came up afterwards and asked, "How did you DO that?" Awesome. You've gotta try this. Click on the URL above, and see what I'm talking about.

Two Weeks Off!!!!

2010-04-05T13:13:00.000-06:00

Because yesterday was General Conference, and next week will be Stake Conference, I won't even be introducing this month's song until the 18th. HOWEVER, I have a feeling that "I Belong to the Church...." will be a SNAP to teach. It has such a catchy tune, is upbeat, and has that kind of marching rhythm that kids love.

Here's a picture of a poster that I plan to use, which I purchased ready-made from ldsprimaryposters.com, clear last November. The kids in my primary really like the posters, as they're a little burned-out (so am I) on the flip charts. I'll include a game, (as soon as I think of one) to reinforce the song, once it's learned....First, I need to prepare this month's calendar - for the whole two remaining weeks of the month.

However, this time off will give me time to prepare ahead.... yeah, right!

Choose and Review Day

2010-03-28T14:00:00.000-06:00

This was one of those weeks that the only time I had to prepare for primary was late Saturday night. I changed my mind so many times about how I wanted to do the choose and review...while incorporating Easter into the mix, since General Conference is on Easter this year. So this is what I came up with. I covered a box with red wrapping paper (any color would do), and attached clear protective sleeves to each side. In each sleeve is a clue as to what the song to be sung would be. Then I placed the large question mark over it. To pick the helpers, I asked if anyone had pink shoes, blue tie, red hairband, etc. Just look around at the kids and pick out something exclusive and use that. It worked really well.

The "helper" would choose a side and pull out the question mark. He or she would look at the clue and try to think of the song. Most kids knew the song, but didn't know the title, so they enlisted the help of the entire primary.

Here's how it works. For most of the songs, I would take a page from the song's flip chart and stick it in there for a clue. Included in the songs to review were the extra two that they're learning for Stake Conference. It worked out sweet!

Here's the fun part. I put some slips of paper inside some Easter eggs. A "helper" picked an egg and opened it up. As you can see here, it says for the boys to sing. The other slips said, "girls sing", "blue and green eyes," "teachers sing," "pianist picks a class to sing," etc. If the group picked was small, I had them come up to the front so they would all be together, instead of spread out.

I wanted to give each child something for Easter that would remind them of our Savior. So I brought a basked of filled eggs. In thinking of what I wanted to place in these eggs, I visited Deseret Book in hopes of finding a small picture of Christ. I found some things there that were sooo CA-UUUTE!

Here's a closeup. First, I found stickers that say, "I Know My Savior Lives." So I put them on the front of the eggs. Then I found the most darling little taffy candies, that actually have I "heart" Primary in the Primary colors of red, yellow, and blue. THEN I found little stickers which are the same picture from the front of this year's primary program.

It all fit sweetly into the egg. The stickers on the front were of both boys and girls. I didn't notice that until I had almost filled all the eggs. But the kids noticed right off the bat!

So... in letting each child choose an egg, each one was very careful to take the correct gender. Hahaha! VERY fun today. Had a blast

Winging It....

2010-03-21T13:11:00.000-06:00

I got back in town late Thursday night, worked my usual job on Friday, then helped paint my son's newly finished basement yesterday. In between, I couldn't get hold of my substitute chorister to obtain all my "stuff." So.... I arrived at primary today without it. Although I was mildly stressed, we had fun anyway!

SENIOR PRIMARY: I had the kids vote on which verses they most wanted to sing for Follow the Prophet. They chose Adam, Daniel, Jonah, and President Monson. I chose the "People are Confused" verse, just cuz I think it's funny and cute. So those are the verses we worked on.

I wrote the words to the verses on the blackboard, then when we had sung them a couple of times, erased an entire line. I let the kids choose which line to erase. By the time all lines were off the board, they had learned the verse. No visuals, just me and the blackboard. The kids really paid attention, and seemed to like it. Sometimes the simplest things.......go figure.....

JUNIOR PRIMARY: I started out by singing a couple of wiggle songs, as the kids seemed pretty geared. We sang "Hinges", and "Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes" gradually getting faster and faster each time we sang it. The Sunbeams LOVED this!

Since many of our Jr's can't read yet, I opted for picture prompts, for our Follow the Prophet review, on the blackboard. That is, I drew simple pictures on the board for each verse. Now....I am NOT an artist, to be sure. And I just had to laugh along with the kids at my "drawings." But that just made it more fun, and the kids were paying attention, so....that's the important thing, right? These are what I drew:

Adam's name with a picture of a flower and tree - to represent the Garden of Eden. (One little boy said he could draw a better flower than I did. HaHa! I'm absolutely SURE that he could!)
Daniel's name with a picture of a lion. (The kids had several suggestions on how to make the lion "better") :-)
Jonah's name, picture of a big ~~fish~~ whale. (Even though it looked like Little Nemo....sigh...)
I drew an old-fashioned TV for the "confused" verse, complete with rabbit ears! (Had to explain that one!)

We already had a picture of President Monson in the Primary room, so I just used that for his verse. All in all, it was one of the more fun singing times we've had.

Next week I'll be reviewing all three songs we've learned so far this year. "I Know That My Savior Loves Me," "He Sent His Son," and "Follow The Prophet." I'll post my ideas for the review in a few days. Have a great week! And THANK YOU for visiting my blog!

Missing Primary ...and a Calming-Down Trick

2010-03-14T21:01:00.000-06:00

I'm in the sunny state of Arizona this week, visiting family. I missed teaching primary....I worry about my primary children just like a mother hen. "Are they learning the songs?" "Were they reverent and responsive for the substitute chorister?" I'm sure they were just great.

I DID visit the primary here in Gilbert this morning. What's so cool about our church is it's unity. Any primary on planet earth, that you may have attended today, was learning "Follow the Prophet." I was excited to see how someone else would approach it. HOLY COW!!! This primary had over 100 children! Mine has a total of 30. BIIIIG difference! The chorister was teaching the President Monson verse today, using pretty much the same idea I used last week. I felt for her, though, in trying to keep everyone's attention.

TRICK:
One trick I learned today was how to get children's attention when they're all over the place. This trick was used in settling down the kids after coming in from Sacrament Meeting:

The Primary President stood behind the microphone and said, "If you can hear me, put your hands on your head." As the kids took notice, she then said, "If you can hear me, stand up." "If you can hear me, fold your arms." etc..... It worked really well. By the time all the kids were listening, she sat them down and they were ready for primary to begin. LOOOOVE simple little ideas like that.....

I'll be back next week!!!! Have a good one, everybody!

Follow The Prophet - Week 1

2010-03-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

It took me quite a while to figure out how I wanted to attempt to slay this beast. There are lots and lots of fantastic ideas out there. I finally settled on an idea from the Primary Singing Ideas blog. I liked the interactive maze idea....made out of footprints.

Before I go any further, let me take a sec to say THANK YOU!!!! to all you creative people out there who make my calling as primary chorister so much FUN! People think I'm brilliant because of you. So....if I see a great idea, I'll be sure to give the author the credit....like I've done on this post. Now....moving forward....

The goal of this maze thing is to follow the"right" path, and not get sidetracked on our way to following the prophet. Each footprint has a phrase printed on it. Some phrases are incorrect, that is, they don't go with the song. I placed the footprints face down on the board. A "reverent" child comes up and picks a footprint, reads it to the children, and decides if it is correct or incorrect. If it is incorrect, it gets set aside. At the end, a clear path shows the way to following the prophet. The kids REALLY, REALLY liked it! This is how to set up the footprints. The red line is just to illustrate where to place the "correct" footprints.

This was a blast to do, and it helped the kids learn the words to the song in a fun way. I started out by teaching them the new President Monson verse found in the February Friend. I wanted to use this verse because all the other verses are about prophets from waaaaaay back. This one would give the kids someone to relate to....and realize WE have a prophet today.

That said, I found the verse to be rather tricky, taking some extra thinking and some quick pronunciations. So if you teach this verse, start sloooooow....... I tripped up a bunch of times. The kids seemed to really enjoy the verse though. It's a little more snappy with all the additional syllables. You'll see what I mean....

Some of the incorrect phrases on the footprints are pretty hilarious. You can download the footprints here. The kids and teachers laughed at them. I love when we have fun like that. Here's a sampling:

I taught the verse to the children, BEFORE playing the game, by using these visuals, found on the flipchart on the Singing Ideas blog here.

To keep all the "Follow the Prophet" stuff together, I created a three-ring-binder just for this song....with all the flipchart visuals I'm going to teach the children. I placed the footprints for the President Monson and Adam verses in the clear protectors with both those verses. The inside pockets make great places to keep game pieces and instructions. This is important because I'm going to be out of town next Sunday, and I wanted to have everything available for the substitute chorister - in a way that makes sense.

This Sunday I want them to review the Adam verse the same way, except Adam will probably be at the end of the maze. Nothin' wrong with doin' the same thing twice - if it works - right?

Sorry the lighting is a little on the yellow side. I think the camera was set wrong....

Goin' With the Flow...

2010-03-01T12:22:00.001-07:00

I got an e-mail from my primary prez mid week, informing me that the senior primary kids will be singing in Stake Conference April 11. We'll be singing "I Know That My Savior Loves Me," which they all know really well. Then a medley of "Teach Me To Walk In The Light" (verses 1&3) incorporated with "I Want To Live The Gospel." (verses 1&2).

So....I scrapped my previously made plans, and began teaching the seniors "I Want To Live The Gospel." Thing was, it was also Ward Conference yesterday.... So EVERYBODY was in there, which made me a bit more nervous than usual. I came up with the following, but honestly, I don't feel real great about how it went over.....the kids seemed really wired yesterday for some reason...and I didn't feel like I had their attention as well as I usually do. Plus, I went overtime....shoot! So much for a good impression for the Stake Leaders! Dang! But for what it's worth, this is what I did:

To teach this song, I sang the song to them while showing the flip chart (by Jolly Jenn). I guess they hadn't sung this in a while, because they really didn't seem to remember it. Then I asked them to identify some action words....things we must DO. They are: "Live, Know, Follow, and Live."

I had helpers attach the words to the edge of the umbrella. Each action word is a different color. I made flags to match each color, then handed a flag to four teachers. A child came up to turn the umbrella as we sang. The kids in each teacher's area would sing the phrase from the song with that word in it.

If time had allowed, I would have switched the flags around so the kids could sing different phrases. HOWEVER, the kids DID learn the song....that's the important thing, right?

JUNIOR PRIMARY

I brought my "Keyword Connection Jar" for reverent kids to reach in and pick a slip of paper with a keyword on it. Then the child would try to think of a song which either had the word in it, or was about the subject. All the kids ended up helping each child pick a song.

To make somewhat of a game out of it, I drew a road on the blackboard (two parallel lines with a dotted line in the middle) with a car cutout on one end, and a picture of Jesus on the other. The object was to get the car all the way to Jesus by the end of Primary. If they sang well, or at least made a darn good effort, I moved the car. They seemed to like this a lot, and one of the Stake Leaders said, "You had them right in the palm of your hand." Seriously! Glad that things went a little better in Junior Primary.

To pick the reverent kids, I used my huge yellow glasses as my "Reverent Child Finder." I showed them to you here...

New Props for Review Week

2010-02-22T11:21:00.001-07:00

We reviewed "He Sent His Son" this week. I wasn't sure whether they'd remember much, because last week was spent entirely on Valentine's Day. I was VERY happy to find that the kids remembered MUCH more than I even hoped! I had a poster made by ldsprimaryposters.com. It came complete with lamination. The kids responded really well to it.

I also had some 'blobs", which are nothing more than erratically cut poster board, then laminated. I had "helpers" come and place the blobs anywhere they wanted on the poster. It covered up pictures, text, or both. It was very helpful in pointing out areas where they needed more work.

THEN... I had put together a sort of singing meter to measure their progress. I didn't have time to doll it all up with pictures, etc, but they loved it anyway! In fact, the Junior Primary sang so beautifully, and with such heart, all the adults were in tears at the end of singing time. Besides learning the song, we really felt the children KNEW what they were singing about. It was one of the most touching singing times we've ever had.

This is just a blue foam board, covered with yellow poster board. I cut two slits in the top and bottom with an exacto knife...big enough to allow the bulk of two ends of ribbon to get through. Then I sewed together some white and red/white dotted ribbon. The words were cut from my cricut machine. I wanted to add some motivational pictures...smiley faces....but ran out of time. Maybe later......

This is the back of the board. You can see where I've written the location of "Needs Work," "Fair," "Good," etc. so that the person holding the board doesn't have to watch it from the front. I had the primary prez do it. She was awesome, and had a lot of fun messing with the kids, as she would lower it in places that the kids faltered in their words, etc. Honestly, it worked better than I ever expected. I love days like this. It makes up for the times when a plan flops. Gratefully, those are few.

Conference Packets

2010-02-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

General Conference is coming up in two weeks! Here are some adorable packets put together by Melanie, at Sugardoodle. she is SO creative! Just click on the link below and it will take you there. She has two packets prepared....one for Junior and one for Senior Primary. Check 'em out!
http://www.sugardoodle.info/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5851

Valentine's Day Singing Time

2010-02-14T14:14:00.001-07:00

It was SUPER FUN!! I shamelessly copied all the visuals and used all the ideas from the Beehive Blog. (The link is in my previous post.) It turned out really cute, and the kids just loved it. I had the kids sit in a circle to make it easier to pass the little stuffed pillow. I found the pillow at JoAnn's and used it instead of the suggested cupid cutout because it went along with the "conversation hearts" theme, and was less likely to get ruined. (The older boys can be a little rough. :-)

Preparation, however, was actually a lot more work than I had anticipated (isn't everything?) But it was worth it.

The best part was the surprise song for our pianist in our Senior Primary. (Also from last post.) When she realized the kids were singing to her, she started to cry, and could hardly keep playing. I gave her a hand-made valentine card with a message from me, and a copy of the words to the song. It was a lot of fun for the kids to participate in a surprise like that.

They also loved their valentines. I even scored a hug from one of the junior primary boys! It just doesn't get any better than that. . . .

What a fun singing time! We didn't review "He Sent His Son", which we learned last week. But with two more Sundays this month, I'm sure we'll be able to nail it.

If none of this makes sense, please check out the link I posted, last week, for instructions on how to use these visuals.

Love you guys! Thanks for reading!

Valentines Day Sunday

2010-02-09T18:38:00.001-07:00

This idea turned up on facebook this week, and I'm afraid it's BETTER than what I had planned. So I am totally doing this on Sunday. I'm sure the kids will LOVE it.

SugarDoodle.net Valentine Singing Time Idea - http://beehivemessages.blogspot.com/2010/02/primary-music-idea-conversation-hearts.html

However, I'm adding just one more item to this itinerary. In Senior Primary, the last song we sing will be "I Love to See the Temple." However, I'm going to pass papers out with different words to the song. This will be a big surprise for our pianist! After we're done singing, I'll present her with some flowers for Valentines Day. Pianists are our unsung heros, and I can't wait to spotlight her! The words are as follows:

Dear Sister (name), we love you
And love to hear you play
Your music brings such rev'rence
And joy to Primary.

We appreciate the gift you share
It helps us feel the spirit
We are blessed to have you here with us
And thank you for your service.

Valentines Day

2010-02-07T12:55:00.001-07:00

Instead of using the same old tongue depressor choosing sticks to pick helpers, I threw this together last night in the spirit of Valentine's Day. I got a Cricut Machine for my birthday, so I used it to cut hearts out of valentine scrapbook paper. Then I hot-glued a sucker stick on it, and wrote the kids' names on the back.
I cut out some white hearts to decorate the 35-cent bucket and added ribbons for a little flair.

It worked out great! I drew the names from the bucket, then hung them on the tree. That way I wouldn't choose the same kids over and over. The names from Senior and Junior Primaries were separated by placing them in zip-lock bags.

I figure I can change these out for all different seasons.

By the way, teaching "He Sent His Son" using the outline I posted last, was very effective. I used a lot of kids to help me pull stuff out of the bag, and hold the objects up when we sang about them. I like to use the kids as much as possible, as they pay more attention and seem to have more fun that way.

One little guy raised his hand and asked if we could learn sign language for this new song, too! CUTE!

Teaching "He Sent His Son"

2010-02-06T13:56:00.001-07:00

Here's what I'm doing tomorrow to teach this song. I have this gi-normous bag which I'll use as my "Show & Tell" bag.

I'll have some helpers remove the objects, one at a time, from the bag and tell what they are. After all the objects have been displayed, I'll talk about how Heavenly Father has "show and tell" too. More than anything else, Heavenly Father wants to show and tell us how much he loves us. The objects are things I have around my house, although pictures would work also. The objects are:

A Globe
Nativity figurine of baby Jesus in the manger
Path Sign
Shoes
Statue of resurrected Christ
Scriptures
Statue of Christ and Children

I'll also have some word strips to go with the objects. They are:

Love and Tenderness
Peace and Holiness
Sacrifice
Death
Question Mark
Faith
Hope

If I get to primary in time, I'll get a picture from the library - #213 Christ Healing the Blind

Anyway, here is the whole she-bang in three pictures:

The picture of Christ Healing the Blind would go between these word strips and the picture with the caption: "Help Others on their..." to portray "service" in "Live Like His Son."

Now, if you want to keep reading, I'll attempt to explain how I HOPE this will work.

After all the objects are displayed, I'll hold the globe up and sing: "How could the Father show the world" and place the "love and tenderness" wordstrip on the board and sing, "of love and tenderness."

Hold up the baby Jesus figurine and sing: "He sent his Son, a newborn babe" then place the wordstrip on the board and sing: "with peace and holiness"

Hold up the pathway sign and sing" "How could the Father show the world, the pathway we should go?"

Hold up the shoes and sing: "He sent his son to walk with men on earth, that we may know."

Place the wordstrip on the board and sing" How could the Father tell the world of sacrifice of death"

Hold up the statue of the Resurrected christ and sing, "He sent his son to die for us, and rise with living breath."

Place the wordstrip of the question mark and sing: "What does the Father ask of us?"

Hold up the scriptures and sing: "What do the scriptures say?"

Place the wordstrips on the board and sing: "Have faith, have hope"

Place picture of Christ healing the blind on the board and sing: "Live like his Son"

Place the next picture, with the caption, and sing, "help others on their way."

Sing: "what does He ask?"

Hold the statue of Christ with the children and sing: "Live like his son."

So that the kids won't get confused, I'll have my trusty finger pointer to point at either the object or wordstrip they should be singing. It's just a glove that I stuffed, sewed all but the pointer fingers down, and glued it to a ruler. A large dowel would look nicer, but I didn't have one... I change the ribbon to match the season when I use it.

This is a long post, and I hope it makes sense. AND I hope this all works out like I have pictured it. I'll let you know next post!

February's Schedule

2010-01-31T21:05:00.000-07:00

Here's my tentative schedule. Always subject to change at the last minute. . . but it saves my, uh. . .bacon... most of the time!
Hope it helps you, too.

Video - I Know That My Savior Loves Me

2010-01-31T13:27:00.001-07:00

For what it's worth, here's the link to see my senior primary kids singing and performing their sign language. We have a very small primary, as you will see, but it's still fun! The kids were excited to think they would be on You Tube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipmc6HBqlVs

In Junior Primary, we reviewed the first verse, then played Primary Bowling. They really liked that, and it was a break from learning, learning, learning songs.

Props

2010-01-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

I LOVE props! They make singing so much more fun! Here are a few things I have in my arsenal:

When we sing, "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission," the timing of the song makes me think of horses trotting along. I found these horse heads at the dollar store. I tell the kids that in the early days of the church, missionaries used to ride horses. The junior primary love these, and love coming up front to ride the horses.

I Can't HEAR you! Maybe if I use my GOOD ear. . . .

"Looking" for super singers. . . .reverent children. . . etc.

SINGING MEASLES!!

They're catchy. . .the kind everyone wants to catch! I walk in with "measles" all over my face, arms, etc. Each teacher is given one of these sheets, and places measles on their children as they sing well.

SUPER SINGER STICKERS

I found these wandering through the educational section of WalMart, (I think) Any stickers would do, though. These say stuff like, "Bingo," "Wow," and "Super."

CHOOSING HELPERS

So I don't choose the same kids each week, each child's name is written on a tongue depressor. One end is painted green, the other orange. The green tips are the kids I haven't chosen yet. The orange ones are those I have. I keep them like this week after week until they're all orange-colored, then start over again. I have some for senior and some for junior primaries.

You may already be using some of the same things here. I didn't make them up, but read them in various primary resources. But they DO WORK! And the kids have fun! That's what matters. . . .

Sign Language and Primary Bowling

2010-01-24T19:46:00.001-07:00

Most of the time today was spent teaching ASL (American Sign Language) with "I Know My Savior Loves Me." They picked it up quite well. Next week I'm planning to take a video of the senior primary singing with the sign language, then do another one later in the spring to see their progress. I'll try to post the video on here.

I had planned to do Primary Bowling if there was time left over. (There wasn't) But I'll use this idea at a later time. I found a cheap bowling set at the dollar store. You could probably find one at Oriental Trading, too. I put the names of some fun songs on the bottom of the pins with double-sided sticky tape. The plan was to set the pins up this way. . and have a child roll the ball. Whichever one rolled over was the song we would sing. Another way to play would be to divide into two groups, set the pins up the usual way, and have each team take turns sending a child to roll the ball. Score could be kept as to how many pins were knocked over. . .and the child could CHOOSE one of the fallen pins to reveal the song to be sung. Anyway, I didn't get to play this, so I can't tell you how it went over. I'll share my results when I actually get to do this.

Reverence Song Review

2010-01-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

In trying to prepare my outline for Opening and Reverence songs, I discovered that the kids just didn't know very many of the songs from the Children's Songbook. Sometimes we get so involved in teaching the songs from the program that we neglect the others. So I made this chapel with doors and windows that open to reveal a song for review. I had helpers choose a door or window to open.

I was amazed at how well this was accepted! They didn't want to stop! I'll be bringing it out every third week for a review of 1-3 songs. The songs will be rotated frequently so they won't be singing the same ones all the time. Songs like "The Chapel Doors," "When I Go to Church," "This is God's House, " etc. Then I'll keep track of what songs were reviewed, and use them in upcoming weeks.

Here is the drawing I based my chapel on:

I KNOW THAT MY SAVIOR LOVES ME - Song Review:

This week I randomly passed out pages to the flip chart, and had the kids put them in order. They did pretty well. I also began teaching them the sign language. MUCH more attentive with using sign language, although they'll need practice with incorporating both singing AND the sign language. Funny thing, the junior primary kids picked it up quicker than the older kids. Go figure!

Teaching Activities

2010-01-11T00:38:00.000-07:00

This week we worked on the second verse of "I Know That My Savior Loves Me." I hung the flip-chart pictures on a clothesline held by two tall kids. Then I removed the pictures/words one at a time, until they had learned it pretty well.

After singing the song a few times, they were ready for the dice. These are dice I inherited from a former chorister. They're made out of cardstock and covered with clear contact paper. The big one designates WHO will sing, i.e. everyone, boys, girls, specific classes, etc. The small one designates HOW the song will be sung. It also teaches them what the musical words mean, too. A child is picked to come roll the dice - or you could pick two children. One for each die. They LOVED it, and it was a lot of fun. A great way to get them to sing a song over and over without getting bored.

The sides of the Small Die:

Legato - I actually use my pink tape measure and slide out for louder, in for softer, all the way in to hum.

Staccato - This is really fun. The picture is of a chicken eating chicken feed. Perfect.

Allegro - Fast! Picture is a running rabbit.

Andante - Slow. . . Picture is a turtle

"p" - Soft. Picture of a finger with a butterfly on it.

"ff" - Loud. Picture of a lion.

The Large Die:

A Boy - Boys only sing

A Girl - Girls only sing

Boy, Girl, and Teacher - Self Explanatory, right?

Adult Male and Female - Teachers and Leaders

This side has a line drawn diagonally to divide groups.- CTR 6-7 (junior); Valiant 10-12 (senior)

In half again - Sunbeams, CTR 5 (junior); Valiant 8-9 (senior)

Here are a couple of templates for dice that I got off the Singing Fun CD for 2010. (purchased at Deseret Book) These look WAY fun. I'm sure I'll be using these in the future. As soon as I get around to making them.

Where Does it All Go?

2010-01-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

The bottom drawer of my filing cabinet is the designated spot for Primary stuff. I found that a simple alphabetical index system works best for me. I bought large A-B-C-D inserts, as you can see. Each song has a folder with the visuals in it such as flip charts, cut-outs, pictures glued on tongue depressors, etc. If it's a song from another source other than the Children's Song Book, I include a copy of the music, too.

For Posters, I bought two of these carriers. One to store them all in, and one to transport the poster(s) of the day back and forth to Primary. We sit on the side benches in Sacrament Meeting, and this little holder fits nicely against the wall. Love it.

New Birthday Song: Have a Very Happy Birthday

2010-01-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

Since Birthdays are the topic the last couple of posts, I thought I'd show my visuals for the last BD song I taught. When I was a new chorister, it soon became obvious that the kids only knew a grand total of two BD songs. . .very boring. So after the program, I took advantage of the free time and taught this one.

I tacked the visuals on the bulletin board and used the BD pointer to teach the song. Then after they'd sung it a few times, we played the hot/cold game, where one child gets sent out into the hall while we hide the pointer. The primary child comes back in, and the kids sing the song soft, and louder as he/she gets closer to the hidden pointer until it is found. Then another child leaves the room. . .etc. They had a ball, and learned a song at the same time!

Alternate Idea for Birthday Kids

2010-01-06T09:49:00.000-07:00

If you have lots of kids in your ward, purchasing birthday hats is an expensive venture. These cupcakes are cute, and the kids LOVE them! Just cut out of poster board, decorate with wrapping paper and markers. Cut a hole for the face, and VOILA! These kids' heads were a little large for the hole, so they didn't need to hold the cupcakes. The smaller kids hold the cupcakes in front of their faces. Either way, it's a fun way to celebrate the day. . .

Birthdays!

2010-01-04T11:41:00.000-07:00

I found this darling birthday hat at Zurchers, and bought three of them. Starting this year, the birthday kids get to wear the hat when the kids sing to them. I lead the birthday song with the giant birthday candle. It's made out of an empty wrapping paper roll, covered with red wrapping paper. For the flame, I just freehand - drew on yellow construction paper, cut out, stuffed with tissue paper, and stapled shut. Since the candle looked so much like a Christmas candle by then, I cut out strips of white paper and glued them on with a glue stick. You could also find printed contact paper to cover it with - which would probably be quicker. The whole thing was covered with clear contact paper for protection. The thing can also be used as a pointer when teaching a new birthday song!

Teaching I Know That My Savior Loves Me

2010-01-04T11:25:00.001-07:00

After we sang the song a few times, I tacked these question sheets to the board one at a time. These were to see if the kids really understood what they were singing about, and the reason for the message. The senior primary kids really caught on quick. The juniors needed help, but they still liked the activity, and were eager to try. Here are some examples of the questions and possible answers:

Who? The Savior

When? A Long Time Ago

Where? In a Beautiful Place

What? Love

Whose? Christ's Love

Testimony: "I Know He Lives!" "I know that my Savior loves me."

My Stake Music Leader provided a flip chart of this new song. I sat on a chair in front of the kids and read it to them like a story. Surprisingly, they were quiet as church mice!!! Afterwards we took the song a page at a time (1st verse only, and chorus). They picked it up pretty well.

January Schedule

2010-01-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

My first couple of months as chorister, I didn't have a plan. I was confused, and spent the late hours of Saturday and the wee hours of Sunday trying to come up with what in the world would take place in music time at 9 am Sunday morning. I was miserable. So. . .I developed this monthly schedule so I would know where I was going, and where I'd been. It was a life saver in December, which would have been more chaotic than it already was. At least I didn't have to worry about Primary!

After putting the schedule together, I create the month's worth of visual aids. That way, I hardly need prep time all month.

First Blog Post for 2010!

2010-01-04T10:37:00.000-07:00

I was called to be the Primary Chorister the first week we moved into our new home. It has been the most fun, most challenging, and the most rewarding position I have ever been in. I am able to implement so many creative gifts, which have been lying dormant for a while.

There are many, many internet sites and blogs which I have pulled ideas from, and added my own twist. Many of my ideas may be familiar, but everyone does them a little differently. I hope this blog will provide help for struggling choristers - just as the sites I've visted have helped me. My goal is to not only post what I have implemented, but to honestly post how it was received by the kids.