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.
Showing posts with label discovery questions. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discovery questions. Show all posts
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Friday, November 12, 2010
A Good Comment!
"I haven't had great success with listening questions in the past..." I’ve been thinking about this comment (this post) for several days, mostly because it is such a sincere expression and because I need to acknowledge the problems you might have when you use this method of teaching. I think there are a couple of fundamental reasons why using questions might fall flat. I’ll address one reason today and another tomorrow.
When we use discovery questions, we are expecting the children to take part. They have to think of the question and then listen for the answer. So unless they are willing to truly participate, with their mind, they won’t be engaged in the process. Unfortunately, many of our primary children DON’T listen much of the time and some of their minds are not very disciplined. I know it seems cliche to say it, but it does feel like the children expect you to entertain them. Some are reluctant to do anything that doesn’t feel like fun, fun, fun! Many seem to be inclined to be more passive than to work.
You will have noticed that startled look when you call on a child with any question and they seem to say “What! Are you talking to me? I don’t understand what you want me to do.” There has to be a little bit of training on your part in order to help the children learn to participate in this method. But I think the children can learn to do this, and I think it is worth helping them learn this skill. The reasons are many and some of them don't have anything to do with learning the song. Our children need to learn to listen and to find the principle in what they read or hear. This is so fundamental to the way we are taught the gospel. Anyway, once the children catch on to what you are asking them to do, I find that they are mostly willing to participate.
Persistence is part of the training. You can’t give up if the children appear bored or if they don't seem to understand. You need to persist long enough to give both you and the children the chance to get the hang of it. You could begin training the children by asking a discovery question before you sing the opening song or the prayer song. Once they catch on to listening, you can add a few more of these questions to your teaching time. Ask clear questions and start out with the easy ones. If the children don’t understand the question, they won’t be able to listen for the answer. Don’t accept answers that are incorrect or that are imprecise. This is really hard for us to do. I certainly don't expect that anyone will be rude or hard-nosed, but I’m convinced that we are not doing the children any favors when we let them get by with a thoughtless response. Respectfully repeat the question, remind them to listen for what the song says and then sing it again.
A good attention getter at the beginning of singing time helps, as does learning how to redirect the attention back to you when the children get restless. There will always be one or two children who just resist doing anything that wasn’t their idea to begin with. I simply try not to react to them and continue to teach the rest of the group.
None of us wants to be boring, but part of our job is to help these precious children take responsibility for learning the gospel. Our job is to find active techniques that will invite the spirit and increase the probability that the children will discover gospel principles and be motivated to live them. This is a big job and a serious stewardship. Fun and games are completely secondary. I don’t want to stand before the Savior and report “Well, they liked me and I think they had fun!” There is usually time for a little fun as well, but sometimes learning the gospel involves work. If the children are challenged a bit, just remember that it is good for them.
Sorry, I didn't mean to rant --a (hopefully) helpful tip coming tomorrow.
When we use discovery questions, we are expecting the children to take part. They have to think of the question and then listen for the answer. So unless they are willing to truly participate, with their mind, they won’t be engaged in the process. Unfortunately, many of our primary children DON’T listen much of the time and some of their minds are not very disciplined. I know it seems cliche to say it, but it does feel like the children expect you to entertain them. Some are reluctant to do anything that doesn’t feel like fun, fun, fun! Many seem to be inclined to be more passive than to work.
You will have noticed that startled look when you call on a child with any question and they seem to say “What! Are you talking to me? I don’t understand what you want me to do.” There has to be a little bit of training on your part in order to help the children learn to participate in this method. But I think the children can learn to do this, and I think it is worth helping them learn this skill. The reasons are many and some of them don't have anything to do with learning the song. Our children need to learn to listen and to find the principle in what they read or hear. This is so fundamental to the way we are taught the gospel. Anyway, once the children catch on to what you are asking them to do, I find that they are mostly willing to participate.
Persistence is part of the training. You can’t give up if the children appear bored or if they don't seem to understand. You need to persist long enough to give both you and the children the chance to get the hang of it. You could begin training the children by asking a discovery question before you sing the opening song or the prayer song. Once they catch on to listening, you can add a few more of these questions to your teaching time. Ask clear questions and start out with the easy ones. If the children don’t understand the question, they won’t be able to listen for the answer. Don’t accept answers that are incorrect or that are imprecise. This is really hard for us to do. I certainly don't expect that anyone will be rude or hard-nosed, but I’m convinced that we are not doing the children any favors when we let them get by with a thoughtless response. Respectfully repeat the question, remind them to listen for what the song says and then sing it again.
A good attention getter at the beginning of singing time helps, as does learning how to redirect the attention back to you when the children get restless. There will always be one or two children who just resist doing anything that wasn’t their idea to begin with. I simply try not to react to them and continue to teach the rest of the group.
None of us wants to be boring, but part of our job is to help these precious children take responsibility for learning the gospel. Our job is to find active techniques that will invite the spirit and increase the probability that the children will discover gospel principles and be motivated to live them. This is a big job and a serious stewardship. Fun and games are completely secondary. I don’t want to stand before the Savior and report “Well, they liked me and I think they had fun!” There is usually time for a little fun as well, but sometimes learning the gospel involves work. If the children are challenged a bit, just remember that it is good for them.
Sorry, I didn't mean to rant --a (hopefully) helpful tip coming tomorrow.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Ideas for Using Discovery Questions
Because I like to use questions to teach a song, I’m always looking for creative ways to ask the questions. In some cases it works best to ask questions in a particular order. So, I just ask them without having the children choose them. Or, one or two questions may need to come first and then the rest can be random. These are some ideas I have used.The easiest way (other than just asking, of course) is to write them on index cards or slips of papers and have the kids choose them from my hand or from a can or basket or the pockets of my apron. Sometimes I write them on the back of a seasonal shape or picture or even just on cut-out questions marks and post them on the chalkboard. Once I made little scrolls with toothpicks glued to the end of the paper strip and rolled them up. I can’t remember which song I was teaching, probably one about Jesus, but I remember making the scrolls.
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When I taught “I Know That My Savior Loves Me” I used cutouts of children gathered around a picture of Jesus.
I often put the questions on the back of parts of a puzzle, building it up as we sing. This picture shows a puzzle of a sun which we built as I taught “Shine On.”
Sometimes I write the questions on the back of the letters of a related puzzle word, unscrambling the word as we sing. These letters spell “family.”
Its easy to put the questions in a little container of some kind like plastic Easter eggs or the Valentine heart boxes, or the glass snowman.
Maybe you all have some great choosing ideas. I’d love to hear them.
Sometimes I write the questions on the back of the letters of a related puzzle word, unscrambling the word as we sing. These letters spell “family.”
Its easy to put the questions in a little container of some kind like plastic Easter eggs or the Valentine heart boxes, or the glass snowman.
Maybe you all have some great choosing ideas. I’d love to hear them.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Teaching a Song - "Discovery Questions"
My favorite method for teaching a new song is to use questions. I call them “discovery” questions. These are questions that you ask before you sing. The children need to listen to the song to discover the answer. For instance, I would say “Listen to this song and see if you can discover one way the Holy Ghost will help us.” Then I will sing the song to them and let them answer the question. After asking two or three questions, and singing to them, I will invite them to join me in singing the answers. Soon they are ready to sing the whole song.
I like this method for a number of reasons. First, because children are naturally curious, this method works as a built-in attention getter. They want to find out the answer to the question and so will listen to the song. Also, the questions invite the participation of all the children at the same time. Everyone can listen, even the littlest ones. The question method allows the children to hear the song several times before they are expected to begin singing themselves. This is a very real help to the children. To have the pianist play the melody through once while saying the words, is a common introduction to singing a new song, but this is often not enough for the children to confidently join in. Finally, asking questions is easy and comfortable for me. There is very little preparation. As long as I know the song well, I can teach it at the drop of a hat. So I can take advantage of extra time here and there. And, because I am not juggling or timing a lot of visual aids, I can really interact with the children. I can look into their faces as I sing to them and smile and engage them in what I’m doing. This interaction seems to go a long way toward getting them to sing with me. I love visual aids and I use pictures and flipcharts often, but to introduce a song that is completely new, I usually use discovery questions.
If your primary children are trained to expect a poster or a flipchart to learn a new song, be patient while they get used to this method. It does take a little focused thinking on their part. But this focus is a good thing for everyone. One of the real benefits of asking these questions is that the children learn the process of pulling the principle out of what they hear us teach. This is an important skill. How many times do we read a scripture with the children and ask “What did that say?” This is simply the same method using the message of the songs.
This “discovery question” method is thoroughly taught in the old Primary training video “How to Teach a Song to Children” and in the shortened video clip online at lds.org. A number of examples of song presentations, using this method, are illustrated in the Sharing Time Ideas in many back issues of The Friend magazine.
I like this method for a number of reasons. First, because children are naturally curious, this method works as a built-in attention getter. They want to find out the answer to the question and so will listen to the song. Also, the questions invite the participation of all the children at the same time. Everyone can listen, even the littlest ones. The question method allows the children to hear the song several times before they are expected to begin singing themselves. This is a very real help to the children. To have the pianist play the melody through once while saying the words, is a common introduction to singing a new song, but this is often not enough for the children to confidently join in. Finally, asking questions is easy and comfortable for me. There is very little preparation. As long as I know the song well, I can teach it at the drop of a hat. So I can take advantage of extra time here and there. And, because I am not juggling or timing a lot of visual aids, I can really interact with the children. I can look into their faces as I sing to them and smile and engage them in what I’m doing. This interaction seems to go a long way toward getting them to sing with me. I love visual aids and I use pictures and flipcharts often, but to introduce a song that is completely new, I usually use discovery questions.
If your primary children are trained to expect a poster or a flipchart to learn a new song, be patient while they get used to this method. It does take a little focused thinking on their part. But this focus is a good thing for everyone. One of the real benefits of asking these questions is that the children learn the process of pulling the principle out of what they hear us teach. This is an important skill. How many times do we read a scripture with the children and ask “What did that say?” This is simply the same method using the message of the songs.
This “discovery question” method is thoroughly taught in the old Primary training video “How to Teach a Song to Children” and in the shortened video clip online at lds.org. A number of examples of song presentations, using this method, are illustrated in the Sharing Time Ideas in many back issues of The Friend magazine.
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