Outline for Singing Time on 4-19

Alright, I'm openly admitting that I had some major help with this week's outline. My two activities for the song, "The Church of Jesus Christ," are taken directly from the blog Teaching Primary Music. I love these ideas because they have the children directly engaging with the music as they're singing.  I'm excited to present these activities to my classes!

Junior Primary

Egg shakers are irresistible

"Mother, I Love You" (p.207) -Tap beat & rhythm with egg shakers. My egg shakers came from a music supply company, but you could definitely make your own. Just make sure they're sturdy and glued shut. :)  For this activity, I have the children tap the eggs on the palm of one of their hands. First, we tap the beat. Then, we repeat the song and tap the rhythm of the melody. I always let them go crazy with a wild shake before we pass the shakers back to the teachers. :)

Cut-away picture

"He Sent His Son" (p.34)-Cut away picture. This activity is one of my favorites. It keeps the children interested, but it has almost no preparation!  Find a picture that depicts one aspect of the song, and put it in a sheet protector.  Using only one piece of tape on the focal point of the picture, cover it with an opaque piece of paper.  Display the covered picture on the chalkboard, and as you sing, take scissors and cut away little chunks of the paper. I always leave the focal point for last so that the children feel more suspense as they're watching the picture appear. 

"The Church of Jesus Christ" (p.77)-Hops and sways.  This is an activity from Teaching Primary Music.  You hop with the beat, then sway and swing your arms with the beat, alternating every two lines. Simple. It also gets the younger kiddos up out of their seats and lets them move, which they will do whether you direct them to do so or not.  Might as well harness their energy, right? :)

ASL video with explanations

"I Know That My Savior Loves Me"-ASL-We're finishing up verse 1.  I go to not only lds.org but also a YouTube video to learn the signs, as the gal in this video also explains the signs she uses. That's helpful for people like me, who don't actually know ASL!

Senior Primary

"Mother, I Love You" (p.207)-Tap beat & rhythm with egg shakers. For the older children, I'll have half the room tap beat and the other half tap rhythm.  Then we'll switch. They'll think this is too elementary for them, so I'll caution them beforehand that things are about to get crazy, and they'll need this foundation.  Once we've sung the song twice, I'll ask them to place their shakers under their chairs, and then we'll tap the beat and rhythm simultaneously, one with one hand, the other with the other hand, on our knees.  This is crazy hard, so the kids will love it. :)

"He Sent His Son" (p.34) -Cut away picture. For the older kids, I'm going to choose a picture with a more obscure connection to the song. Before I sing, I'll ask them to think about how it relates, and after I finish the song, I'll hear their answers. I often learn something new!

The "I"s Have It

"The Church of Jesus Christ" (p.77)-The "I"s Have It-This is another activity I pulled from Teaching Primary Music.  My older boys, especially, love logic and word-based activities, so I'm trying to include more of those.  In this song, there are 9 statements that begin with the word "I."  I made wordstrips with the first two words of each statement, and the children will place them in the correct order as we sing.

"I Know That My Savior Loves Me"-ASL-We're starting verse 2. I often schedule this activity last, since it's easy to either lengthen or cancel, depending on the amount of time we have left. Also, it leaves the children reverently seated as they prepare for the closing prayer. 

If you try any of these activities, please comment and let me know how it went!  Also, any of you close to Maple Valley, WA are welcome to borrow my word strips for "The Church of Jesus Christ" if you like. :)


Happy Singing!