If I Listen with My Heart (verse one) & The Iron Rod (chorus only)

This Sunday I am going to review the first verse of  If I listen with my Heart, as well as introduce the chorus of The Iron Rod (Hymns 274).  

The Iron Rod is suggested in the 2011 Outline for Sharing Time (page 3, “Week 3: The words of Christ will tell us all things we should do.”) for next week’s sharing time. I thought I'd get a head start on teaching it so the children will recognize it and be eager to sing it when they participate next week.

Here is my PDF for The Iron Rod flip chart:
The Iron Rod Chorus.pdf

Preparation:

Print and display these four pages at the front of the room:

4 Pages

Download* these four sound files:

Children’s Laughter (wav format only)
(picture of girl with Christ, "If I had been a little child when Jesus lived on earth,")

Walking (wav or mp3 formats) 
(Picture of Christ with children, "I would have liked to walk with Hm and listen to his words.")

Page Turn (wav or mp3 formats) 
(Picture of boy reading scriptures, "but as I search the scriptures I can hear His words of peace,")

Heartbeat (wav or mp3 formats) 
(Picture of girl with arms folded, "and if I listen with my heart I hear the Savior's voice.")

*I downloaded the wav files and I will play them from my laptop, holding a microphone to the computer speaker. You could do the same, or might want to download them in mp3 format, burn them to a cd, then play the cd for the children. Another option would be to download them as mp3’s into itunes and them play them from your ipod or other mp3 player. However, the Children’s Laughter link only has the wav file, and would not work in my itunes. It would have been easier to just take my ipod to church, but I really liked that particular file, so instead of searching for another sample of children's laughter in mp3 format, I opted to play them all from my laptop. 

You will also need a picture of Lehi's Dream. This is from the Gospel Art Book:

Presentation:

Sing all three verses of  If I Listen with My Heart using the flip chart to help the children remember how the song goes.

Ask if anyone remembers what verse one is about. (A: Listening with your heart to hear the Savior’s voice in the scriptures.)

Tell them you have some sounds you want them to listen to, and that everyone will have to be especially quiet so all will be able to hear.  After each sound is played, choose a child to come to the front and match the sound with the picture it correlates with. 

After all four sounds and pictures are matched, ask a child to come to the front and place the pictures in the order that we sing them in the song, If I Listen with my Heart.  Once the pictures are in order, sing  the first verse of the song. 

Next show the picture of Lehi’s dream. 


Briefly explain the dream found in 1 Nephi Chapter 8. Explain how Nephi wanted to see the things his father saw, so he asked God to show him. Jesus told Nephi that the iron rod in his father’s vision was “The Word of God”,  (1 Nephi 11: 25) Ask the children where we can read the word of God?  (A: In the scriptures.)

Introduce the song The Iron Rod (chorus only) using the flip chart below. Sing it to them once, then invite them to sing it with you the second time.
The Iron Rod Chorus

Be sure to explain how the iron rod represents the word of God (the scriptures), and that as we hold on to the iron rod (by reading and studying the scriptures) we must also listen with our hearts to hear the voice of the Savior.  Sing both songs again if there is any extra time. 

Click here to open The Iron Rod Chorus.pdf  
Print one sided on white cardstock, laminate the pages, and bind across the top.

Have fun!