Hidden Pictures is a teaching method adapted from the second idea in the November 2006 issue of the Friend magazine (pg.16).
Collect 2 or more small pictures that illustrate each phrase of the song. I have a collection of pictures that I've printed from the illustrations in the Friend. Collect several more pictures, similar to the phrase pictures, to make a random background and post these on the chalkboard. Have the pictures for each phrase handy and in the right order. When you are ready to sing, ask the children to close their eyes and listen to the song. Tell them that when they hear the piano pause for a long time they should open their eyes for a moment to see a picture. The pianist should be prepared to pause at the end of each phrase. When the piano resumes they should close their eyes again until they hear the next long pause.
Sing the song, pausing after each phrase to show a phrase picture. While the children have their eyes closed, post each phrase picture among the others on the chalkboard. If your children are very clever, you may need to mix things up a little each time. After the final picture is posted, sing the song again, phrase by phrase and challenge the children to find the picture to match each phrase.
When they find the picture have them post the picture in the proper order. Invite the children to sing that phrase. Repeat, using the other pictures you chose to match the phrases, mixing the previous pictures into the rest of the background. Finally, invite the children to choose the pictures they think best represent the phrases and sing the whole song together. This method also works as a way to review a song you've already taught.
Thanks so much for your ideas! I'm using this one on Sunday. For sharing time, the children are going to draw pictures of creation. I thought I would try to use their pictures in singing time to teach a song, but since I don't know exactly what they are going to draw...it's a little difficult to plan it out. This idea works great! I can display all of the pictures they drew along with others that I choose, then use the pictures if they fit the words to the song, or not use them if they don't fit.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to use this idea on Sunday. This has helped me solve a dilemma of how to utilize the Primary childrens' artwork for my singing time. Thanks for the great ideas!
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