Organizing Singing Time

Lo and behold, in my blog reader today, up popped a great post for organizing the 20-minute singing time from one of my favorite singing time bloggers, Mati Mayfield. I wanted to share it with those who are still using this blog. It is a very thoughtful post about how to structure your time each week.

And, since we are one the subject of organizing time, I will link back to my post about organizing singing time throughout the month. At the start of a new year, I hope you find these posts useful.

P.S. While Mati hasn't posted much lately, don't forget to look around in her archives. She has lots of experience and has posted some really good ideas!

Song Presentation - I Know That My Savior Loves Me

"A long time ago, in a beautiful place, children were gathered 'round Jesus..." I love this song and, happily, we get to sing it again this year in Primary. I thought I would post a link to how I taught the song 5 years ago.  I Know That My Savior Loves Me.

Yes, I'm still in Primary. I had 5 years of my very favorite calling, but our other pianist was recently called into the YW program, so now I'm playing the piano in primary. It will be a bit of a break, but I so miss leading the music.

Choose and Review - CTR Shields

Some time ago, for a Choose and Review, I selected several of the personal experiences shared by children in the “I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus” feature of the Friend magazine. I typed them up and mounted these on simple green CTR shields. During singing time, I invited the children to choose a situation and read it. The rest of the children listened to discover what the child did to choose the right, then we sang an appropriate review song. This was so simple and the children enjoyed it. Many wanted to share good choices they have been making as well. I love it when such a simple idea works so well! ;o)

Choose and Review - People in the Scriptures Made Good Choices

For a Choose and Review some time ago, I used figures from the Primary Visual Aids Cutouts, to illustrate examples of people in the scriptures and church history who were examples to us in making good choices. I wrote out a simple “Who Am I” kind of clue for each of these figures, indicating what choice that person made. After the children guessed who they were, we discussed their choice and sang a review song that reinforced the principle taught by that choice. Here are the brief story clues I used.

“One day, as I was walking down the road, I saw a man who had been beaten. I felt sorry and stopped to help him. I took him to an inn and even paid for his care before countinuing my journey. Who Am I?” (Good Samaritan) -Love One Another / Kindness Begins With Me

“I was instructed to build a boat. My brothers laughed at me because I didn’t know how. I prayed and God blessed me and helped me build the boat. When it was finished my family and I sailed to the promised land. Who Am I?” (Nephi) -Nephi’s Courage

“I had been taught that I should always pray, but in my country there was a law that said you could not pray. I obeyed the Lord and prayed anyway. I was put into a den of lions, but the Lord protected me and blessed me for being valiant. Who Am I?” (Daniel) -I Will Be Valiant

“The Lord asked me to go on a mission to the Lamanites. I was put to work tending sheep. I was able to defend the sheep against robbers, and the king listened to my message about the gospel. Who Am I?” (Ammon) -I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

“When the prophet Joseph Smith needed money to print the Book of Mormon, I mortaged my farm and took the money to the prophet. It was a lot of money, and put my farm at risk, but I wanted to help build the kingdom of God. Who Am I?” (Martin Harris) -Stand for the Right

“I lived at the time of the restoration of the gospel. I loved and supported my husband as he organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I also collected the first book of hymns for the church to use. Who Am I?” (Emma Smith) - I Will Follow God’s Plan for Me

“I was a faithful mother in the days of the Book of Mormon. Just like many other mothers, I taught my son the gospel and often shared my testimony with him. When he became a soldier, I assured him that if he didn’t doubt, God would care for him in danger and deliver him. Who Am I?” (Faithful Lamanite Mother) - Faith and/or We’ll Bring the World His Truth.

“I lived during the time of the New Testament. An angel appeared to me and told me that I would be the mother of a very special baby. The Holy Ghost whispered to me that this was a extraordinary responsibility. I wanted to do what God asked me to do. Who Am I?” (Mary) - Listen, Listen and/or Once Within a Lowly Stable

“I was a beautiful queen in ancient Persia. When I found out that all the Jews in my country would be killed, I knew I had to go before the king and ask him to spare my people. I fasted and prayed and then risked my life to ask this favor. Who Am I?” (Esther) - Dare to Do Right

Choose and Review - “Make a Choice” Scrambled Word Puzzle

This is just a variation on the Scrambled Word. For each song you wish to review, write a statement that begins with “I will” and is either a good choice or a bad choice. For example, “I will repent when I make a mistake” or “I will go to church only when I feel like it.” “I will obey my parents” or “I will cheat only if I need a better grade.” Write these statements on cards with one letter (on the reverse side) from the word joy for the right choices and grief for the wrong choices. You could also use glad and weep, smile and woe, or happy and sad. Choose a review song for each choice card that reinforces the principle.

Post the choice cards randomly on the chalkboard with letters facing out. Invite a child to choose a card and read the statement. Have the children decide if it is a good choice or a bad choice. As the cards are chosen, sing the song and then post the good choice cards on one side of the chalkboard and the bad choices on the other. Explain that the puzzle words describe how we will feel if we make these choices. Unscramble the words.

An alternate plan would be to write the statements on a list (make a coded list with the letters from each word, or use a different list for the different colors) and put the cut-out letters in a bag to draw from. I used two colors as a sorting aid because I have so many little ones in my combined group. But the same color for all the letters will also work quite well, especially for older children. When a child chooses a letter, read a statement from the appropriate list and then have the child place the letter in the appropriate group of letters. Then unscramble the words together.

Choose and Review - Scrambled Word Puzzle

Scrambled words make a great simple singing time. You can select letters that spell a word from the weekly or monthly theme, or just create a general word that could live in your primary bag or the closet at church to be pulled out in an emergency. Commercial “punch out” letters, designed for bulletin or other display boards, will make things especially easy, but you can do it yourself almost as quickly.

I try to use a word that has at least seven letters and not more than nine or ten, depending on the length of the review songs I’m using. I find that I can easily get through about 8 songs in the twenty minutes allotted for singing time. You’ll have to adjust the length of the word to fit your average time. If I’m using a theme word, I try to review songs that have something to do with the theme. General words will allow me to review any of the songs.

For Choose and Review this month, because we’re singing “Nephi’s Courage,” I decided to use letters from the word courage and I have assigned a review song to each letter. I’ll have the children choose a random letter from the bag and post it on the board and then we’ll sing the review song. At the end of singing time, we’ll unscramble the word and briefly discuss the courageous choices Nephi made.

Choose and Review - Scripture Fathers

So I have been looking for a nice, quiet, Father's Day singing time and naturally turned to my usual resource - The Friend magazine. I browsed through several past June issues and ran into a Funstuff quiz activity called “Scripture Fathers.” (June, 2004) The point of the activity is to identify the scripture father from the clue (and a scripture reference, if necessary.) The tie illustration gave me the idea of putting the clues on the back of paper ties for singing time on Father’s Day. I was going to cut the ties from scrapbook paper, but then I remembered seeing a pdf for these ties on Bridgette’s blog a couple of years ago. BTW, we are not going to do the "boppin" part, just because I'm not as outgoing or courageous as Bridgette. ;o}  So, I just printed out the ties, copied the clues text from the magazine, and cut and pasted the clues on the back of the ties. Now I need to choose some appropriate review songs. And maybe study just a little about how these fathers made good choices so that I can tie this activity to the monthly theme. Then I’ll be set for Sunday. I hope you all have a fun Father's Day!