Dress Up

This is one of my favorite easy, but fun, singing time ideas.  I got the idea from another chorister friend many years ago.  It is good when reviewing songs for the Primary Program or when learning a new song.  

First, let the children know that if they are following directions, singing their best, and paying attention they will have the opportunity of choosing something fun for their teacher to wear during singing time, but you will be looking for an entire class that is participating well.  To empower the teachers, you let them know that they will be the ones choosing which child gets to pick the item they will wear from their class.

Sing the song through once looking for an outstanding class.  Have their teacher choose a child to come and pick an item out of the basket, bucket, bag (whatever you decide to use to hold items).  

After the first time a child picks something, and the teacher puts it on, all the classes will be paying attention because they want to have a chance to 'dress up' their teacher.  

  Look at the good sports from Paradise Hills Ward.  The kids sang their little hearts out to get them to look like this.  This was Junior Primary teachers and below was Senior Primary teachers.  Talk about dedication to our calling!

A note about behavior management:

This activity has the potential to get silly and loud unless you set the stage beforehand.  Let children know that you are going to do a fun activity and they may want to giggle, but they are only allowed a three inch giggle.  Practice how loud they can giggle before you even begin.  If they giggle too loud, stop and remind them and practice a three inch giggle again.  I usually put my hand in front of my mouth about three inches away and demonstrate how loud a three inch giggle sounds.

Below is a picture of items collected that I used for this singing time activity.  I almost always do it around Halloween because it seems to lend itself to dress up and costumes, but I usually do it a couple others times throughout the year because it is soooo much fun.  Whenever you see an inexpensive and appropriate dress up item, grab it, and put it away to use with this activity.

July 2014

The song for this month is "Baptism".  There are lots of good ideas out there for this song.  On Sugar Doodle there were a couple that were effective without a lot of effort.  There were also a few that may take some time, but would have a good impact.  The second one emphasizing who, what, where, when is a good way to have the story unfold while learning the song.  The third idea on the page is a beautiful adaptation of the song  "Baptism" and "When I Am Baptized".  The sheet music is free, but remember that if you use it you need permission from your Bishopric through the Primary Presidency. You can find the music here. 

There is a lot of vocabulary in this song that will need to be addressed.  Some of the words or phrases you may just want to tell the children what it means, such as, immersion (a picture of a baptism may help here), fulfill the law, kingdom (what does it mean in the context of this song), flow (have them act out the flow of a river).  There are a few words that you may want to spend extra time on because it is an important concept relating to baptism.  One of those words is obedience.  We want them to know this word because it is important that they understand that when they are baptized they are committing to being obedient to our Father's will and trying to follow the Savior's example.  

An outline for teaching vocabulary:

1)  Say the word and have children repeat after you
2)  Provide a 'child friendly' definition (obedient - to listen to and do what you are supposed to do)
3)  Provide concrete examples using either pictures or verbal examples (I am obedient to my parents when I clean my room the first time they ask me to)
4)  Ask processing questions (Are you being obedient when you hit your little brother when he makes you mad?  Are you obedient when you do your homework without being asked?)
5)  Have children give you examples and nonexamples
6)  Post the word on the board, with a picture that relates, if possible (hold onto the word/picture and post again if this word is in found in another song you are teaching--you won't have to teach it again just review its meaning)

You will have to adapt your approach on vocabulary depending on the age of the children.  It can be simple for Junior Primary and more in depth for Senior Primary.  Examples can be adapted to meet the needs of the age you are working with.

Another important phrase for the song "Baptism" is witness faith in Jesus word because when we are baptized we become witnesses of Christ.  It would be worth the extra time spent on teaching this phrase to the children using the same outline above.  

Singing Lips

Years ago, when I was first called to be Primary chorister, I had a good friend share this idea with me.  When you are introducing a new song, especially one that the children aren't familiar with, you can use these singing lips.  The first one is Ah, the second one is hum, the third one is Ou, and the last one is la la la.  

First, I would have the pianist play the song and have the children listen so they can become familiar with the tune.  Next, I chose one of the lips (usually the hum) and have them hum the tune with the piano.  Then, I would introduce another, like la la la, and have them hum and la la la the tune.  I would pick a child who was doing well to come up and hold up the lips the third time exchanging them during the song.  I continued this until the children had repeated the tune a number of times.

The Primary children really like doing this, especially when they had a chance to be in charge of the lips.  It made it a lot easier to teach a new song once they already knew the tune.  Usually we did this the last week of the month in preparation for learning the new song next month. 

 

Singing Time Planning Checklist

Megan from South Valley Ranch ward shared this with me in an email so I thought I would pass it on.  Good advice when planning your singing time presentations.  

A lady in that fb group just posted this, and I LOOOOOVE IT!  Just HAD to share with you:

This morning I came across some notes I made at a presentation given by a former member of the Primary general board at a church music workshop. I think I should review this checklist a couple of times a month.

Do I know the songs well enough to make eye contact with the children?
Do I connect the doctrine to the words?
Do we sing more than we talk or play games?
Do my attention-getters enhance the learning experience?
Do I vary my teaching plan to target different learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile)?
Do my questions encourage thinking?
Do my activities involve all of the children?
Do I bear testimony of the doctrine?

Isn't that a pretty great way to review our singing time teaching plans huh? :D

-Megan  :)