Goin Fishin

I got these fish from a book called "Singing Partners". The kids love it! I get a little pool (bought at the dollar store) and toss the fishies in. I pick children who are being reverent or singing well to come and catch a fish. The pole is made out of a stick, some string, a real lead weight, and a super strong magnet. I have paper clips on each fish, so catching one isn't difficult. The back of each fish has instructions: sing with eyes closed, sing like an opera star, pick your favorite song, sing verse 3 of The Family is of God, etc... We can take up all of singing time and then some with this fun activity!

Fun Review Game

This week to review My Eternal Family, I'm going to have my kiddos sit in a circle on the floor (chairs would work fine if you don't want to get on the floor) and give each one of them an envelope with an instruction slip inside. Then I'll choose one child to be blindfolded who will stand in the middle of the circle and spin around, pointing a wand. When the child comes to a stop, whomever he/she is pointing at with the wand will open their envelope and read the instructions. Then we'll all sing the song according to the instructions.

The instructions slips are as follows:

• loud
• fast
• staccato
• whisper
• mouth wide open (my kids love this one)
• tongue sticking out (they love this one too. it's hard to sing with your tongue sticking out)
• sad face
• standing on one foot
• rocking to the beat
• pounding the floor to the beat
• stamping your feet to the beat
• standing up, holding hands, and walking in a circle (you could fall down like "Ring Around the Rosies" at the end if you want to)
• etc.

I'll also have a bunch of slips that say "pick your favourite primary song to sing" for any extra kids we have.I'm decorating the envelopes with shamrocks and printing the instructions in green, since St. Patrick's day is coming up, or you could adapt it to whatever holiday/season that you wish.

My Eternal Family

I am going to start My Eternal Family this Sunday and am going to use hand gestures with the song. My kids love using hand signs and I love to throw in an actual American Sign Language sign every so often. Anyway here is the plan:

Verse 1

I (point to self)
am a builder (one fist on top of the other to the beat of the music) working each day
To build my family (ASL sign for family)
And I (point to self)
will do the best (hand in fist move across front of body) I can
To serve (put hands out in front)
them lovingly (hands over hearts)
I (point to self)
am a builder (one fist on top of the other to the beat of the music)
growing so tall (right hand moves from waist height upwards)
And learning every day (right hand pointer finger to head tapping to beat)
To speak (right hand pointer finger touches lips then moves outward)
with kindness (left hand over heart)
in my home (finger tips together like the point of a roof)
To help (hands out in front of you together)
at work (move right hand out)
and play (move left hand out)

My Heav’nly Father (ASL sign)
sent me here (pointer finger moves down)
And He knows (point to head and nod to beat) I can be
Strong (like flexing your arm muscle)
and righteous (point to ring finger (if you're righteous you choose the right and
your CTR ring reminds you to choose the right))
as I build (one fist on top of the other to the beat of the music)
my eternal family (ASL sign for family)

Verse 2

I (point to self)
am a builder (one fist on top of the other to the beat of the music) building
a home (finger tips together like the point of a roof)
I seek (hand above eyes)
the Lord in prayer (hands together in praying position)
And as I try (ASL sign – hands in fist with thumbs out each thumb start above chest and move out in front of you)
to live God’s word (hands like a book for scriptures)
I feel the Spirit (Hands palms toward body move up from waist as fingers "twinkle") there
I (point to self)
am a builder (one fist on top of the other to the beat of the music)
serving (hands together palms up move forward as if offering someone something ) the Lord
And following (hands together moving forward in front of you) His plan
To help my family (ASL sign)
come back home (finger tips together like the point of a roof)
And live with Him again (Right hand raises up above head, gesturing to heaven)

I watched the ASL video for the song on LDS.org here is the link:
http://www.lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,8218-1,00.html

I would love any suggestions.

Transition Time & Attention Grabbers

I don't know how your primary is structured, but I hate the wasted transition minutes between activities, especially when it's going to take me a minute to gather everything and set up. I invariably have to make some alteration from how the previous leader had things (take their pictures down so I can put mine up, turn the blackboard around, help kids move closer, etc.) and it distracts the kids and wastes precious minutes.

I think it's important for the kids to move quickly from one activity to the next (especially the Junior Primary) so they don't lose focus. I also like to change things up when they've been sitting a long time.

Today in Jr. Primary we had sharing time first. Sister Friendly came in and told a story. It was a LONG story with no pictures or activity to go along with it. The kids had been sitting for a long time without any chance to wiggle about. They kept being shushed by their teachers. It was agonizing for them!

The activity I had planned required a little bit of sitting at first, though there was plenty of movement included later. I knew I needed them to move and also have their attention on me if I was going to get everything done in the shortened time I had. So while I was setting things up I started giving them instructions. I always prefaced each instruction with "if you can hear me" to make sure they weren't talking and were paying attention. Here's some of what I said:

"If you can here me":

• touch your head
• touch your toes
• touch your head, touch your toes, touch your nose, touch your head (in rapid succession)
• stand up
• jump up and down
• sit down
• stand up
• face the piano
• wave to Sister Black (our pianist)
  
• twirl in a circle
• jump up and down
• zip your lip
• fold your arms
• sit down

It worked great! They got their wiggles out. It grabbed their attention and focused it on me. It prepared them to quickly move into whatever I had planned next.

Do any of you have tips or tricks for quickly achieving reverence or focus, or for handling your transition time?

How Firm a Foundation

These aren't totally original ideas on how to teach the song this month, but I thought I'd share my lesson outline in case some of you could use some last-minute help this week.

First we'll sing The Wise Man and the Foolish Man. Afterwards I'll ask the children some basic questions about why one house fell down and one stayed strong. I'll explain to them what a foundation is.

Then I'm going to show them a picture of the leaning tower of Pisa and explain how it was built on weak soil and with a weak foundation. In fact, it started leaning before they even finished building it.

I'll contrast that with a picture of the bell tower from St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice. It was also built on weak soil, but it was built with such a strong foundation that it continues to stand strong and straight today.

Then we'll talk about just as buildings need to be built on strong foundations to not fall, we need to build our lives on a strong foundation as well. I'll ask the children if they can figure out what foundation we need to build our lives on.

Then I'll introduce the hymn using the visuals made by Rebecca Jack, a participating member of the Primusic Yahoo group. You should be able to find the visuals here:
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/QHuCSWTIUELGbcfOzehD19sJBVud75KLBHExpdzBtJenP9eKv3-MShLJYOBtW192XjTuxZQ6jWXHNuclWOi7OmCE9sRJ5aroJHR0JkJJ/How%20Firm%20a%20Foundation%20visuals.pdf

In Junior Primary I'll just repeat as necessary, using the visuals to reinforce the words. In Senior Primary, as soon as I think they know it well enough (after a couple of repetitions), I'll start taking pictures away and see if they can still sing it. We'll continue taking pictures away until we have no more time.

The following week we'll talk more about foundations. I'll tell them the story of the Salt Lake Temple foundation and we'll read Helaman 5:12. I'm also going to use my Jenga game and do a little object lesson.

Anyone else have ideas on how to teach this hymn? It has a lot of difficult vocabulary that isn't the easiest to remember, and I'd love someone else's input.

It is a rather adult hymn, but it teaches such beautiful truths that I'm excited to teach it. If we have time I'm going to teach them the seventh verse in addition to the first and third.

Over and Over

We all know that children learn best through repetition. It is boring, however, to just sing the same song over and over. A lot of the ideas out there for review games are often for multiple songs, like when you're reviewing for your SMP. It is just as important to have fun review games when you are learning a new song. Using the same poster or visuals week after week in the same month can become tedious, so I'm always looking for new ideas to mix it up.

One of my favorite ways to do this (which takes no preparation, only some creativity) is also one of my kids' favorites. When we are repeating a song, I'll shout out impromptu instructions for who/how to sing. Here are some examples, off the top of my head:

Sing if you:

• are a boy
• are a girl
• are a teacher
• have blonde hair
• are wearing red
• have lost a tooth recently or have a loose tooth (they love this one, for some reason)
• have shoes that tie
• have shoes that buckle
• have shoes that slip on
• have a summer birthday
• have brown eyes
• have curly hair
• are wearing buttons

Sing in this way:

• opera style (my senior boys' favorite way to sing)
• western twang
• eyes closed
• standing on one foot (always a hit)
• lights off
• facing backwards
• humming (this works well if you have melody corrections to make)
• snap or clap with the beat (use more complex rhythms for senior primary)
• stand up/sit down on key words

Usually I just shout out the instructions before we sing. You could write the instructions down on cards, popsicle sticks, whatever. I'm going to be doing this activity in February, and I'm going to write the instructions on the back of construction paper hearts that I'll post around the room. That always gives the kids (especially the little ones) a fun way to be involved, when they get to go pick the next one.

Any other ideas of who/how to sing when repeating?

A Favorite Repeat Activity

My primary LOVES this activity, and I thought I'd share it with all of you. It's just a really easy way of repeating a song in a fun way. That way the kids get plenty of practice in, but don't get bored. In fact, they love it so much that I have a hard time keeping them reigned in, and I can only use it sparingly.

I have two posters numbered 1-6. The first poster is titled "Who" and says
1. All
2. Girls only
3. Boys only
4. Light hair
5. Dark hair
6. All

The second poster is titled "How" and says
1. Loud
2. Soft
3. On one foot
4. Facing backwards
5. Fast
6. Slow

Each poster also has a laminated yellow star that can move around to indicate which selection we'll be doing.

I have a child roll an oversized, soft die. Whatever number it lands on tells us who will sing. Then another child rolls it again to determine how they are going to sing. Then we repeat certain verses or whatever section of a song needs working on over and over.

The children LOVE rolling the die and fight over it. So it is helpful to use choosing sticks or tell them you're picking by whomever is singing the best or being the most reverent. They also like to throw it around, against walls, up in the air, etc. So if you're not okay with the rowdy factor, you will need to set up some ground rules for appropriate behavior.

I'm not sure why they love this game so much, but it is really motivating to them. It even gets my boys in senior primary singing loud and participating.

Please post one of your effective strategies for repeating a song without lulling the children into a stupor of boredom. I know I could use new ideas.

Snow Ball Fight

We've been working hard on a couple of Christmas songs to sing in Sacrament meeting next week.

However, I think my kids have earned a break, so I've decided to do something fun this week. Since we finally have enough snow on the ground for it to be considered winter, I've decided to have a snow ball fight in primary.

I'll give each child a piece of white paper on which they are to write their favorite primary song. Then they get to crumple it up in a ball. I'll don a hat and coat, and let them throw their "snowballs" at me. I'm not sure if I'll hold a basket for them to aim for, and if they get it inside we sing that song, or if I'll just let them attack me, and I'll try to catch them, or what.

Just a fun and easy week for me.

Thanksgiving Theme

I am going to use this cute little cornucopia picture that I found at:
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/thanksgiving/mcornicopia.htm

All the pieces are separate. I am going to write a song title on the back or write Thankful. If they choose a Thankful picture they will have to say something they are thankful for.
I am also going to have them sing Thanks to Our Father - pg 20 and have them say things they are thankful for and sing those thing (change the words in verse 2). I will have the kids who have said what they are thankful for stay up front with me so they can help with the words.
I hope it will get them thinking about the things they are thankful for and how very blessed we all are.

Top Ten

This week I'm playing it easy again (I love it when the SMP is finally over and you can relax a little bit).

Last week I had everyone in primary (teachers and presidency included) write down their favorite primary song. Then I compiled the list into our top ten favorites. We'll play "Name that Tune" and when the children guess each song, we'll sing it together.

Here is our list:

10. I Hope They Call Me On a Mission
9. I Think the World is Glorious
8. When I am Baptized
7. A Child's Prayer
6. If the Savior Stood Beside Me
5. Called to Serve
4. Army of Helaman
3. I Am a Child of God
2. Once There Was a Snowman
1. Scripture Power

Once I finished compiling the list there were actually only eight songs that had received more than one vote. So I voted from the remaining songs on the list to pick the last two. It might have worked better if I had everyone write down their top three favorites, then maybe I would have had more songs mentioned more than once.

The Apostle Song

We taught this song for Singing time/Sharing time a few weeks ago. One of the councilors had children in the primary research and report on each of the 12 apostles. The children presented the information to the whole primary. After they were familiar with each apostle, his name, and information about him we started learning the song. The children really loved it. Many of you will remember the tune (Beverly Hill Billies) and once you pick up on the tune than the words come right along after. I have the sheet music, but I think that you can also find it online as well.

I looked up pictures about each one and put them in the bottom corner of each apostles picture, (ie I put a photo of a surgeon on Russel M. Nelson). We sang the song several times and than I started to hide the names and remove the pictures. By the end of singing time we knew nearly all the words. We sang the song again the next week. The children did really well remembering everything. It is a fun way to help them remember the names of the 12 apostles!

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

Do you remember this song?

My kids have worked so hard for the program, that they deserve a break. I've decided to play with this song a bit. I'm going to change it to "Oh what do you do in the Autumn time?" and have the children help me make up new lyrics.

I've made a bunch of colored leaves to hang around the room. I'll also draw a leafless tree on the chalk board. For Junior Primary the children will take turns picking a colored leaf, reading the lyric suggestion on it, and posting it on the tree. Then we'll sing the verse with the new lyrics.
I made three leaves of five different colors: green, yellow, orange, red, and brown. On each red leaf I'll write lyric suggestions for verse 1. For example one leaf will read "dress like a queen", the next "for halloween", and the third "go trick or treating all night." So the verse will go:

Oh what do you do in the autumn time, when all the world is red?
Do you dress like a queen for Halloween, and go trick or treating all night?
Is that what you do? So do I.

Each color is a different verse, so we'll end up with five verses.

Here are some other verse suggestions:

Oh what do you do in the autumn time when all the world is yellow?
Do you collect colored leaves, and look at the trees, and eat lots of apple pie?
Is that what you do? So do I.

Oh what do you do in the autumn time when all the world is green?
Do you help your mom cook, and read lots of books, and go to bed on time?
Is that what you do? So do I.

etc.

In Senior Primary I'll teach the children the rhyming pattern of the song and let them write their own lyrics.

Hopefully that makes sense, and hopefully it will be fun. Making the leaves took me just a few minutes, as I already had colored paper on hand, and I just roughly cut them out with scissors. It was quick prep, it's easy, and I think the kids will like it.

Upcoming SMP

This Saturday the 11th ward is having a pancake party and final practice before our Sacrament Meeting program on Sunday. My lucky husband gets to help cook pancakes, and then the kids get to put an assortment of toppings on their pancakes: sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, whipped cream, etc. Sounds gross to me, but the kids love it. Then we'll go into the chapel and have our final practice.

My kids have been doing great. I know they know the music well, the question is whether or not they are willing to sing it. We have lots of kids (mostly older boys) that refuse to sing at all. If I look directly at them while I lead, they will barely move their lips to pretend that they are singing, but I know they're not. Ah, to be too old for Primary and too cool for the program.

My only worry is that because my kids are so well prepared that they have already hit and passed their peak. We've been practicing the same songs over and over for so long it seems, and I know they want to do something new. So I'm excited to perform this Sunday and get to move onto new material.

How are you feeling about your upcoming program?