Teaching Method - “First Letter Wordstrips”

On a strip of paper or cardstock, write the first letter of each word in a phrase or line of the song. If the phrases are particularly long, or to make it easier, you may want to make two strips for a phrase. When you are ready to sing, randomly post the word strips on the board.

Explain to the children that the cards are clues to the words in the song. Challenge them to listen to the song and figure out the clues so they can help put the phrases in the correct order. Be prepared to sing the song several times. When the strips are in order have the children sing with you, using the strips as cues to the words. Remove the word strips as you review the song. This method really only works for the kids who can read well and those who are sophisticated in their thinking. The others will benefit from hearing the song sung, but the littlest ones will just stare at you! Be prepared with a few wiggle songs as well.

You can find references to this method in the June 2002 and August 2009 issues of the Friend magazine.

Teaching Method - Synonyms

Choose three or four keywords from each phrase of the song and write them on one side of separate word strips. Now choose a synonym for each keyword and write the synonym, in a different color, on the other side of the word strip.

When you are ready to teach, post one synonym from each phrase on the board. Tell the children that you will sing a song about these things but NOT these words. Challenge them to listen for the correct words. As they give the answers, turn the keywords over, singing that phrase again. Repeat, using the other word strips. Invite the children to sing with you as they are able.

You really don’t even need to divide the song into phrases, especially if it is a short song. Just choose several key words and write synonyms for them. Post them a few at a time so that you have a chance to sing the song several times.

This activity obviously works best with children who can read and who understand about substituting words, but if you use clear synonyms (not always easy) and explain the word, the little kids can also participate. I've used it in my combined primary and the kids like it. It works because the big kids don't always get it right away and I can remind all the children, including the younger ones, that "we are listening for a word that means the same thing as (blank)" So even those who cannot read can still listen.

This is also a great activity to use with a song that the children know, but which needs some review.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. I'll be back on Friday (for those of you who are not shopping!)

Choose and Review - "Picture Hunt"

For one of the weeks this month, I’ve planned a singing time using several of our favorite songs about service. It’s a “Picture Hunt” which is loosely based on the idea of a treasure hunt. Clues in the song lead to a picture with another song title that has clues to the next picture, and so on.

We’ll begin by singing “I Will Be Valiant” and I’ll ask the children to listen for who is serving and who is being served. The answer for this song is “I” and “serve his people” and I can predict that the children will choose the picture that I used when they learned the song. That picture has the title for “Called to Serve.” Answering the question should lead the children to choose the picture of the missionaries. That picture has the title for “Smiles,” which leads to the picture of the smiling child with the title “Tell Me The Stories of Jesus.” The picture of a primary class has the title of “Jesus is Our Loving Friend.” The children will likely choose the picture of Jesus with the child. This picture has the title “Families Can Be Together Forever,” pointing to a picture of a family in family home evening with the title “When We’re Helping.” Two pictures are left showing children serving or being kind. Both pictures will have the title “I Want to Be Kind to Everyone” and “As I Have Loved You.” Either of these songs match the pictures so we can sing one or the other for either picture.

This is nine songs total and depending on how the time goes we can spend some time discussing these ways to serve others. If there is extra time, we can sing “Do As I’m Doing,” pantomiming and guessing different ways to serve.

Choose and Review - “Count the Words” Board Game

Make a standard board game on poster paper with spaces to advance from start to finish. Color the spaces, if you wish, or decorate the game board to match the theme. Write word strips with short phrases that also match the theme. For example, ways to obey the commandments, be a friend, be a missionary, follow the prophet, help others, etc. Make the phrases between one and four or five words long. Put these word strips in a can or basket to draw from. To advance, choose a word strip and read it out loud. Count the words and advance a marker that many spaces. Sing a song for each word strip chosen and continue until you reach the finish. If the track is a long one with many spaces and word strips, choose a reasonable number of songs to sing and put these on some of the word strips. Pause the game to sing the song. The point of the game is simply to move the marker from the start to the finish, briefly discussing the principles and singing the songs along the way. The picture shows the game I recently made to play on the Sunday after our program. It has a service theme for the month of November. I’ll put the game board on the chalkboard with magnets at the corners and use another magnet for a marker.




In case you are interested in making a similar board game, I’ll explain. Start with poster paper and a ruler and marker. Make some kind of track with spaces leading to a finish line. I used a pencil first to get the general shape and then used a permanent marker to draw over the pencil marking. I made this track long on purpose because I will likely have plenty of time on the Sunday we do the program. A longer track takes more time, but it does increase the participation for the kids. We won’t sing a song with every move.

After I got the track drawn, I paged through the digital copies of the Friend magazine, looking for illustrations of children performing service. When I found a likely picture, I printed the page, cut out the illustration and then glued it to the game board. After I had the big spaces filled in, I had to look specifically for smaller pictures. I trimmed some of them to fit. Depending on the track you draw, this may or may not be necessary.

After I had the illustrations in place, I colored the spaces with chalks. Crayons would work just as well, but chalks fill in large spaces fast. Unlike crayons, chalks are easily erased if I get just a little sloppy at the edges. I also liked the way the tone of the chalk matched the tone of the printed pictures, but that’s getting a little picky. The kids won’t notice or appreciate that. ;o)

There are 52 spaces in this track, so I made twenty word strips with a total of 60 words. The word strips for this service game are: dust, give a Book of Mormon, pick up toys, smile, help clean the church, donate toys, help cook supper, set the table, shovel snow, pick up litter, be kind, take cookies to someone, push the swing, hold the door, put groceries away, mow the lawn, bring a friend to Primary, be cheerful, wait my turn, say a prayer for someone. I tried to choose songs that matched the action on the word strip.

Successful Program!

We had our program yesterday and it was a smashing success. I am so relieved, as I always am, to have it successfully finished. We sang a total of 18 songs! The kids were flagging a little at the end, but everyone sang very well and I am so proud of them for learning so many songs. They had to learn 8 of them in a relatively short period of time. When I saw the program, I was immediately concerned with the number of songs and the fact that they didn't know many of them. But, I have a testimony of unity and although I expressed my concerns, I thought I would wait and let things unfold. I was certain that the counselor who wrote the program would make changes if they were necessary. I am so glad that we didn't change anything, because the Spirit was very strong. Everyone learned the songs and no one fainted from standing and singing so long.

So, on to the fun Christmas songs.

Boring Questions?

This is the second suggestion in reponse to the comment that using listening type questions has been a “bit boring.” I understand this problem. We seem to run the risk of being boring everytime we stand up in front of children. Maybe it's my gray hair speaking, but I sometimes think the kids just need to "deal with it." :o}

Using discovery questions doesn’t need to happen in isolation of other activities. It shouldn’t be an “all or nothing” method. I often try to enhance the questions with visual aids like pictures or wordstrips, if possible, to reinforce the answers. I can have the children hold the pictures while we sing the phrase or post the wordstrips and then put them in order. The song presentation suggestion in the Sharing Time Ideas in the Feb 2002 issue (pg. 32) of the Friend magazine illustrates how using pictures can enhance these discovery questions.

Instead of visual aids, I might use other activities that follow up on the question. For instance, if I were teaching the song “I Believe in Being Honest” I might ask the question “What do I believe in?” After hearing the answer, I might pass a beanbag while we sing the phrase once or twice again, asking the child left holding the beanbag to name one way to be honest. Or, I might point out how the eighth note in the rhythm perfectly matches the word “believe” and have them clap the rhythm while we sing the phrase again. Or, I could teach the ASL signs for the words “believe,” “honest” and “true” and sing that much again, using the signs. Then I would move on to another question.

Sometimes I do use questions one after another. In this case, I want to find an engaging way to deliver the questions. For instance, if I wanted to teach “I Often Go Walking,” I would put questions on blue silk flowers and scatter them around the room. The children would gather the “blossoms” one at a time, listening and answering the question on each flower as I sing the song. After making a bouquet and answering the series of questions, I would introduce other activities to review the song and explore other aspects of the music.

So the questions work really well as a kind of foundation to my overall teaching plan. Tying the questions to visual aids and activities keeps things from being too boring.