Showing posts with label cooperation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cooperation. Show all posts

Monday, July 30, 2018

Using Primary Music in Other Callings


Pioneer Sunbeams sing as they walk.
Confession time: I haven't been a Primary music leader in years. I've forgotten how many years, actually. But Primary music is so much a part of me that I take it wherever I serve, so I don't feel as if I've ever left! I wanted to share with you a few examples of how I've used Primary music to help me in other callings. 

If Primary music isn't your current calling, I hope this gives you some ideas. If Primary music is your current calling (as I expect is the case for most of you!), then please consider whether this post could be useful for your friends and ward members. Then feel free to share the post, so as to fill the world with more music. :)

Seminary


I love using Primary music in seminary! Here is a short list of ways I've had it work well.
  • Take a month and focus on Primary songs for the opening hymn.
  • Ask them their favorite Primary songs, and ask them what gospel truths they've learned from them. See my post on this activity here.
  • Have them write their own verse to Book of Mormon Stories or Follow the Prophet, as a way of sharing which scriptural personalities they connect with. See my post on this activity here
  • Bring in Maori sticks to learn the memorization song for your current book of scripture. (For example, The Books in The Book of Mormon). Sharla has a great post with a video of how to use Maori sticks. It's complex enough that my seminary students loved it!
  • Show a video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing a Primary song in General Conference. Here is one of my favorites, "He Sent His Son." I have done this numerous times with different songs to help the Spirit testify of a principle we're learning.


Course 12/13 Sunday School


Youth Sunday school might seem like a harder stretch for using Primary music, but remember, the point isn't to make Primary music fit. The point is to help the youth think about the principles, feel how important they are, and then want to live them. Primary music is fantastic for helping accomplish those objectives. Here are some ways I did that with my 12- and 13-year olds.
  • Show a video of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing a Primary song in General Conference, as described above.
  • Bring in Primary song books and have the students find a song that teaches the principle you're learning.
  • Write their own verse, as described above.


Sunbeams


Ok, guys, I've been in this calling for one month now, and I have to say, this has got to be the easiest calling for including Primary music! The manual already gives suggestions of songs almost every week, so all I have to do is choose a way to make the songs really engaging. Hint: most of the time the children won't sing with you, but that's okay. :)
  • Sing "Families Can Be Together Forever" while the children put together 4-piece puzzles of pictures of families. (Full post on puzzle pictures here.)
  • Sing "Pioneer Children Sang As They Walked" while the children wear simple costumes and walk around the room. (See the picture above. Aren't my Sunbeams just the cutest?!) Stop and do appropriate actions when the song talks about Sunday activities. 
  • Sing "I Am a Child of God" while using hand scarves.
  • Sing "I Love to See the Temple" while the children put pretzel sticks on the outline of a temple. Bonus: snack time with a purpose! 
  • Or choose another activity with any song the manual suggests. 

I truly love Primary music for the way it helps me feel the Spirit. No matter the age of my students or the setting in which I teach them, I want them to be able to feel the Spirit in every class. Primary music is one way we can help them do just that.


Happy singing!


Thursday, June 28, 2018

Prepping for a New Songbook--Write Your Own Song!


Writing Primary Songs in Seminary
I'm excited for the Church's new hymnbook and Children's Songbook! (Read the announcement here.)

I also love the idea that anyone can submit songs they've written. The announcement came at an especially fun time because I had just had my seminary students, for a year-end lesson, write their own verses to Book of Mormon Stories.


Here are a couple they wrote:

1. Aft’ they left the tower behind, the Jaredites embark. 
Jared’s brother brought some stones to take away the dark. 
To the promised land so that the people could be free. 
Followed God, with the light righteously.

2. Enos was a bad hunter, he couldn't shoot a deer
But his father prayed for him and asked that he would hear.
The words of God forgiving him as he fell to his knees
Through day and night, he asked in faith, righteously.

And a fun one:

3. Laman and Lemuel weren’t so bad after all
Sure they complained a lot but followed Moses Law
They tied up Nephi but eventually set him free
Mmmmh, no, they were psycho, righteously.


Aren't these youth fantastic!? I love their thoughtfulness and creativity. Something similar to this could also be a fun challenge for your senior Primary. Then, if they wanted, they could submit their new verses to be considered for the new songbook! 

I gave my students the following pattern to write their verses in groups:


Line 1: 13 syllables, rhyme with Line 2
Line 2: 13 syllables, rhyme with Line 1
Line 3: 13 syllables, rhyme with Line 4
Line 4: 6 syllables + "righteously"

We wrote their verses on the board so everyone could sing them, and they were really into it. I love any time we can bring the music of the Church into our lessons, to help students of all ages learn. 


Happy singing!


Looking for other ways to get Senior Primary kids more involved?  

Read how I've used child pianists, here.


For an idea of how to adapt a junior Primary activity to be more interesting for senior, try this one.

Thursday, March 8, 2018

"If the Savior Stood Beside Me"-Helping Children Connect with the Meaning Through Actions


I love the song, "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" (find it here). It has a pretty melody, and the words are peaceful and hopeful. I find it challenging, though, to help my Primary learn all the words. This activity helps the children take part in the memorization experience by coming up with actions to represent individual lines of the song. I would only do one verse in a given week, but if the kids show they really like the activity, you could review the following week and then add on the next verse.

Preparation


Learn the song really, really well. Then, think about the size of your Primary. How could you best divide the verse, so that each row or class could be assigned a line or two of the song?


Presentation


Ask the children, with their teachers' help, to come up with an action or two for a line of the song, which you will assign them. Start singing the song, walking by each row and pointing to them when you sing their line. When you finish the song, repeat--again walking by each row and emphasizing their line, so they can hear the words again.  

When each group has had enough time to create an action, ask them to show the whole Primary. Sing just one line, and then copy their action. Sing that one line again, asking the whole Primary to perform the action with you. Repeat for each group, and then put the whole thing together!


Benefits


This activity taps into several different learning styles:

  Movement:  The obvious. They get to do each action.

  Visual:  The children get to see each group perform each action.

  Words:  The children have to listen carefully to the words in order to create their actions. Also, for younger children, having something concrete to represent the lyrics is especially helpful.

  Cooperation:  Each class/row has to work together to choose an action, and then the entire Primary has to work together to fit the actions to the entire song.



Happy singing!


Looking for more?      
The above activity would be great with lots of songs. See my post here, where I used it with "Did Jesus Really Live Again?" 

Sunday, April 30, 2017

4 Good Ways to Recognize Bad Ideas--a Guest Post


I'm pleased to have a guest post today by Bryce, a long-time Primary music observer (and my husband). I love how he shares his perspective. He just says it like it is!   -Michelle



Repeat after me--being on Pinterest does not make it credible.
Bad ideas are everywhere.  They saturate the news, Facebook feeds, your kids’ every action, and even lurk in the dark recesses of your own mind.  Some are easy to spot, like mixing household chemicals into explosives that produce lethal chlorine gas without proper ventilation in the room.  Others are a little subtler, like choosing a primary music activity set that doesn’t teach or engage the kids in your primary.  So how do you spot these bad ideas?  I’m not a professional, but I’ve sat in enough singing times to recognize a few trends:



1.      Does the activity support only one learning style (or none at all)?

Sharla Dance, our go-to expert on all things music teaching, classified childhood learning as fitting into eight basic styles: physical action, words, visuals, nature (whatever that means), spiritual, logic, cooperation & teamwork, and… wait for it… music. Check out her blog here.

Each child in your primary class benefits from one or more of these styles.  Because every star is different and so is every child (I dare you to read that without singing it in your head), you’ll need to include multiple learning styles within each activity.  I recognize that there’s a school of thought that it’s okay to address only one learning style per activity, so long as you have multiple styles in the overall music time. Those people are wrong.  That’s just how it is.

The prime example of a bad idea—one of the worst ideas you could possibly do—is to simply draw names from a hat and make the kids sing it. (This includes derivatives like flipping over pictures on a chalkboard and singing the song underneath.)

The problem here is that this engages none of the learning styles.  For example, there’s either no visual reference or the pictures are too small to be seen from the back of the room. Having one kid from the primary come up to draw a song leaves everyone else sitting still, so there’s no motion element. The word learners aren’t given any associations or interesting connections to make in order to internalize the lyrics. Even worse, blindly flipping cards or drawing songs replaces logical progression with chaos, making the whole experience deeply uncomfortable for logic learners.

Some people learn best through natural processes--like natural selection.
Always focus on teaching kids the way they need to learn—not based on the first Pinterest board you find on Saturday night.  No matter how cute the board or bucket for the activity may be decorated, do not be deceived, those people are trying to lead both you and the kids you teach down to hell.

Let me repeat: If you structure singing time around drawing songs from a hat, you should be darned to heck (because let’s face it, actual hell might be a little extreme).

2.      Does the idea offer variety?

Anyone who’s ever had kids knows they have short attention spans. However, those with older kids or whose children are freakishly patient may have forgotten just how short this attention span really is.  I’ve seen goldfish with longer attention spans than my own children’s.  So unless you’re practicing some sort of witchcraft or hypnosis to keep them riveted, you will need to switch activities several times.

Along those lines, be very sure to mix up which learning styles you’re using each time.  You could involve four learning styles in every activity, but if you never engage the kids who really need to learn through logic, then you’re a horrible person (albeit not as horrible as the ‘hat’ people) and it will be all your fault when the child apostatizes later on.

When switching activities, keep focused on your core learning.  People seem to default to a singing random wiggle song, followed by an unrelated main activity.  Instead, try choosing what you want the kids to learn that week and structure several short activities around the theme to engage them from a variety of learning styles.

Yes, teaching this way takes more effort and planning, but that’s just part of the cost of magnifying your calling.  If you think that load is too heavy, remember that you could have been called as Primary President.

3.      Is the activity exactly the same for both junior and senior primary?

While the trunky 11 year-olds in senior primary may have the same attention span as a new sunbeam, their actual needs couldn’t be more different.  If the activity you come across online is identical for both junior and senior primary, leave a nasty troll-ish comment and move on.

In one ward, I saw a very well-intentioned music teacher try to engage the junior primary by sitting them in a circle and having them do a complex wood-block clicking pattern, complete with passing the blocks left and right as part of the pattern.  Half the kids didn’t want to share their blocks (surprise there), and the other half couldn’t figure out which way was left.  In this music leader’s defense, she really is fantastic but was just having an off day.

4.      Does the idea support on-the-fly adaptation?

There’s an old saying from some philosopher guy with a Latin-sounding name that goes “It is a bad plan that admits no modification”. If this ‘fantastic’ idea you found on the internet doesn’t allow you to adapt on-the-fly, then it’s probably a bad idea.  If the kids aren’t responding well to the activity, then adapt your lesson immediately.

The hapless music leader in the previous example responded quickly to the kids and adapted her wood-block patterns to their skill level, shortened the activity, and then moved on to the next one that engaged a different learning style.  Nice recovery!


Here’s what a good example looks like:


Let’s say that I need to help junior primary children learn the lyrics to Book of Mormon Stories.  Most of them can’t read, sit still, or focus on anything for more than a minute at a time. Challenge accepted.

My first thought is to use Pinterest.  Then I think better of it.  I hate Pinterest. A lot.  Instead, by expending a little mental effort, I come up with a plan that involves…

1.       Multiple learning styles: I decide to use a visual to help create a memory trigger for the lyrics and engage visual learners.  However, just slapping some laminated pictures on the board only engages the visual learners (assuming they can even see it from the sides or back of the room). I need to get the visuals to the kids. So I prepare bookmarks with a picture of the story on one side and a key phrase from the verse on the other.  One learning style, though, isn’t enough, so I add elements:

If you don't learn to recognize bad ideas, you
may not be able to recognize good ones either.

I engage the motion learners by getting them out of their chairs for the whole singing time.  As I sing the verse a capella to the kids, each class sits cross-legged in a small circle.  Their teacher will have a Book of Mormon with a picture bookmark inside for each child.  The kids take turns leafing through the Book of Mormon to the page with the pictures inserted.  When they find it, they can take one to keep in their own scriptures.

The collaborative learners can be engaged by helping their classmates recognize the words printed on the back of the bookmark—a key phrase for the verse.  If we’re working on the Alma verse, my key phrase would be “Alma was rebellious, and he fought against the light”. As they learn from their peers and teacher, they can join in singing that phrase with me each time I repeat the song.  The word learners are also engaged by having a specific phrase that connects their scriptures, bookmarks, and the verse of the song.

While all this is going on, I continue singing the verse on ‘loop track’.  To keep the interest of the music learners, I can alternate between singing the full verse, whistling softly, and omitting words to keep things changing enough that it doesn’t fade to the background.


2.       Variety: As kids get their bookmarks, I keep them engaged by giving them new directions.  If we’re doing the Alma verse, I use it like a wiggle song.  When I sing “fought against the right”, I have the kids stand up and throw a couple punches into the air—specifically where another child is NOT standing.  When I sing “an angel came”, they stand imperiously, and stretch out their hand as though speaking emphatically.  When I sing “struck before his brethren”, I instruct the kids to collapse to the ground, as though unconscious.  This will get a bit loud as they moan and wail dramatically.  Remember: the noise is part of the kids getting invested in the activity; it’s okay.

Notice that I just transitioned activities here but never had to announce it.  They blended together and kept the kids focused on the song they need to learn.

3.    Different for junior and senior primary: I’ve focused my plan here on junior primary, but were I to adapt this for senior primary, I would get them out of their chairs to come and get the bookmarks first.  Their next task would be to find the place in their scriptures where the bookmark should be placed. (With some guidance, of course.)

As they looked up the scriptures, I would also get the kids to alternate whistling along when I sing and then sing words as I either leave blanks or start whistling.

And yes—they still get the death scenes.  I’m pretty sure the eleven year-olds will even pantomime burning one of their own at the stake.

3.       Adaptability: This can easily be rearranged and tweaked to fit the kids’ needs.  For instance, we can start with the pantomiming activity and then migrate down to sit in circles.  We could even skip finding the bookmark in the scriptures portion and hand them out, asking the kids to tell their class something they know about Abinadi as I hum or sing in the background.  As they get their bookmarks, I could even have the pianist play the verse in the background while I dramatically summarize the story of Abinadi for them.  The possibilities are nearly endless.


And I didn’t draw a song name from a hat.  Not even once!

-Bryce



Looking for more?          
Check out a description of each of the 8 learning styles mentioned above.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Conducting With Straws: a Guest Post


I'm thrilled to have a guest post today by a talented friend of mine. Imani has a background in music, and she is the current Primary Music Leader in our ward.  I hope you have as much fun learning from her as I do!




Conducting with Imani

Two of my biggest challenges when teaching primary music are using movement in my teaching style and adapting activities to the Junior Primary. Since I learn best by reading and following instructions, I have to stretch myself to create opportunities for non-readers to learn the songs. I was inspired by my research online to meet both those challenges by teaching time signatures with leading wands.



Materials


A straw for each primary child to lead the music from their seat
A large drawing of a staff to display on the board (You can also draw the staff on the board)

It’s important to set expectations for behavior when you pass out the straws. I tell my primary kids that I am looking for reverent children every time I choose a name from the can of popsicle sticks, and I say it slowly and often so they have enough time to check their behavior and get ready to participate.


Presentation


Explain what the time signature is and where to find it on a piece of music. The number on top is the number of beats in a measure, while the number on the bottom is which kind of note gets the beat. The explanation can be very simple for Junior Primary and more complex for Senior. I have a background in music, but explanations for time signatures can be found online, including in this conducting manual by the LDS church:  Conducting course.  I stick to the different numbers, and how the beat sounds different when we hear it, but I don’t really go into note values or fractions.

On the board, write down the most commonly used time signatures: 2/4, 3/4, 4/4, and 6/8. Demonstrate the patterns for each, which can be found in the hymn book.
Commonly used time signatures



Two patterns for conducting 6/8


I use descriptions like “a fish hook” or a “giant cross.” I also emphasize the downbeat or the “one” as I demonstrate the patterns and have them follow along.

Now for some fun! In the table below are the time signatures of the songs for this year’s program. Have the pianist play a few bars of each song without you directing, and see if the children can guess the time signature by beating the pattern with straws. Call on someone to make a guess, then sing the song together while they join you in directing the pattern.

2/4
When I Am Baptized
3/4
As a Child of God
Stand for the Right
4/4
Nephi's Courage
The Wise Man and the Foolish Man
Choose the Right
6/8
I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus



Finally, choose three or four children to each lead a section of the primary. Space them far apart in the front and see if the primary can sing together with each one conducting at their own pace. Emphasize the need for one conductor that everyone can follow. Next, choose one conductor to lead the primary, but have everyone cover their eyes while singing. Emphasize the need to watch the conductor closely and listen to the piano. You can explain that the piano also follows the conductor so we can all sing together. Choose a child to conduct a song where the pianist cannot see him or her, and see if the primary can sing together. End by leading the primary with all of their watchful eyes on you. (Hopefully!)


Planning to Be Flexible


Colorful straws for everyone!
I usually plan more than can be completed in one Sunday, and this lesson is no different. Often I find myself finishing a lesson the next week, and repeating the parts the children enjoy the most.  If you need to fill more time, try a couple of the challenges below. I like this lesson because it uses movement to learn the songs and is easily adaptable to Junior Primary. I also like that it teaches some basic musical concepts we can build on in the future. 

Challenge #1: See if the children can fit the 2/4 pattern into all of the songs.

Challenge #2: Introduce some less common signatures like these from the hymn book:

     "High on the Mountain Top" 2/2
     "Lead, Kindly Light" 3/2
     " ‘Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love" 6/4


Hope you enjoy singing as much as I did! 

-Imani


Looking for more?     Check out my blog post here for ways I've taught the Activity Day girls to conduct music. 

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

"Did Jesus Really Live Again?"--Child-led Actions


"Did Jesus Really Live Again?" is one of my favorite Easter songs.  It tells the story of the resurrection in a simple way.  This activity helps the children, both younger and older, interact with the story and think about what happened.


Preparation


Learn the song really, really well. All three verses.  Then, think about the size of your Primary.  How could you best divide the song, so that each row or class could be assigned a line or two of the song?


Presentation


Ask the children, with their teachers' help, to come up with an action or two for a line of the song, which you will assign them.  Start singing the song, walking by each row and pointing to them when you sing their line. When you finish the song, repeat--again walking by each row and emphasizing their line, so they can hear the words again.  

When each group has had enough time to create an action, ask them to show the whole Primary. Sing just one line, and then copy their action. Sing that one line again, asking the whole Primary to perform the action with you. Repeat for each group, and then put the whole thing together!


Benefits


This activity taps into several different learning styles:

  Movement:  The obvious. They get to do each action.

  Visual:  The children get to see each group perform each action.

  Words:  The children have to listen carefully to the words in order to create their actions. Also, for younger children, having something concrete to represent the lyrics is especially helpful.

  Cooperation:  Each class/row has to work together to choose an action, and then the entire Primary has to work together to fit the actions to the entire song.

Happy Easter, and happy singing!


Looking for more?    I'm pairing this activity with a silent video. I'll play one of the Bible videos with the sound off, and I'll sing "Easter Hosanna" while it plays, pausing my song at times to comment on the video.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Rhythm Band: Recycle Bin Edition


    Confession:  the first time I tried this activity with my Senior Primary kids, it totally flopped.  I realized--after the fact--that I hadn't given them enough experience with a single rhythm instrument to be able to follow the more complicated instructions given with a band.  So I rolled it back, giving them symbols on the board to correspond to actions and rhythms with a single instrument.  (See examples of this in my posts on egg cartons and sand blocks.)  Once your children know how to follow this style of notation, they'll be ready and eager to try it in a band setting!


The Instruments


The makings of a rhythm band
You could use any rhythm instruments you like, really, as long as you have enough for every child.  I normally choose 4 of my recycle bin favorites:

Ice cream buckets (to use like a drum)

Egg cartons (with a rhythm stick for tapping)

Pairs of paper plates (to use like cymbals)

Paper cups (for tapping and clapping)

Sheets of paper (for both patting on your lap and shaking quickly)

I tend to shy away from my nicer instruments for this activity, since those are more interesting in their own right. Also, this is the only way paper can be interesting.  Also, buckets are only tolerable when there are less than 20 of them going at once.  (*cringe* Yes, I learned this one the hard way!) 


The Patterns


Now that you've chosen your instruments, you need to choose a short pattern for each one.  Using simple symbols, write each pattern on the board on separate lines.  The following picture shows how I write the patterns on the board, so that the symbols vertically line up for the same moment in time.  Here, each instrument's pattern takes four beats to complete.  I've added vertical lines for you (which I won't use for the children) to show where the four beats are.  


Rhythm band patterns

Here is the interpretation of my symbols.  Please note that you don't have to use mine! Use whatever symbols and rhythms make sense to you.  This is just one idea.

Paper plates:  The long arc represents a cymbal crash where they make a large circle with their arms extending up, then out.  The two diagonal slashes represent one paper plate crossing to tap the opposite shoulder.

Buckets:  The first two beats represent syncopation with flat palms hitting the drum:  eighth, quarter (hold your palms there!), eighth.  The tiny zigzags represent light finger tapping, using two alternating fingers on both hands. I have them tap sixteenth notes for the first of those beats and eighth notes for the second beat.

Paper:  The two flat lines are eighth-note taps on their laps, then they rest for one beat.  The wavy line represents holding the piece of paper in both hands, letting it hang down and shaking it very quickly.

Egg cartons:  The pointy swoops represent scraping the carton back and forth with a rhythm stick.  They then tap with the stick, two eighth notes and one quarter note.


Presenting the Activity


Demonstration:  To teach the children how to do this activity, I start with all the instruments up front.  I demonstrate each one individually, singing as I do so, and I invite them to follow my hand movements, even though they don't have instruments yet.  I let them know that we'll be trading around instruments periodically, so they should learn each part.  

Rules:  Right before I ask children to help me pass out the instruments, I remind them that in a band, all the musicians have to follow the conductor.  I try to make it a game, where they have to sit up straighter when I dramatically raise my hands, and they have to instantly freeze when I cut them off. We practice that a couple times, and then it's finally time to begin.

Distribution:  I ask children to pass out the instruments so that each item is scattered around the room.  While they're doing that, I start singing and pantomiming the actions for one instrument.  I don't hold an instrument, so that I can switch quickly between the four.  I'll point to a line of symbols then do those actions for a line or two before switching to the next. 

Breaking it down:  If I see the children are having trouble, I'll use the earlier practiced motion of cutting off the music.  Then I'll break it down, one instrument at a time, to go over the pattern. I sing as I'm demonstrating, so that even as it seems the activity is going slowly, the music learning never stops. 

Shaking things up:  Once they have it, I call out, "Switch instruments!"  Then I hold up ten fingers and begin to count down, to let them know they have a deadline for trading with their neighbor.  As soon as I reach zero, I begin the song again, and we repeat. 

This is one of my favorite Primary music activities.  The kids can tell when you're having fun, and your smile will be contagious. :)


Happy singing!