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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Praise to the Man Week Two: Big Words

Sing Praise to the man one time through. After the song is over excuse yourself for a moment and turn around so your back is facing the children. Quickly put on a disguise; glasses, hat, or jacket to look like a game show host. Then turn back around to face the children and continue with:

The Big Words Game Show
Game Show Host: "Good morning everyone! And welcome to this episode of Big Words! Now, to play, I'll call up a reverent contestant to choose a card from this pile of Big Words. Each card has a Big Word on the front from the song Praise to the Man,
 and on the back, there are three possible answers for what the Big Word means.

The contestant picks a card, and I will read the possible three answers listed on the back.The contestant decides which of the three possible answers is correct, and rings the bell!
After ringing the bell the contestant gives his or her answer.  If the contestant is correct he receives 10 points*. If the contestant is not correct, the audience can say the correct answer,  and then we will sing the phrase of Praise to the Man that contains that Big Word.

Okie-dokie! Who can show me they are ready to be a contestant by being reverent?......"  

Notes:
  • Play until you run out of words or time.
  • Be sure to sing the phrase of the song the word comes from after the card is played. For example: If the word was "extol", sing "Blessed to open the last dispensation, Kings shall extol him and nations revere."  Sing the phrase 2 or three times if you like, and remind the children to think about what the word means when they sing it.
  • You might opt to divide into teams; boys against girls, teachers against children, left side of the room against the right, etc. Keep score on the white board.
  • Leave enough time to sing Praise to the Man all the way through at the end.

You will need: 
  •  Game show host disguise: Hat, glasses, jacket, funny teeth, wig, fake mustache, etc.
  • A bell (or have an item they can grab, or even just have them slap their hand on the table when they know the word. I found my orange bell at DI for something like .25 or .50 cents!)   
  • Open, print, and cut out the following PDF's: 

PTTM-Big Words Wordstrips.pdf  This PDF contains the game title to display at the top of the white board. It also contains word strips to display beneath the game title, to be added as each word is chosen in the game. You might wish to point to the word strip and have the children repeat the word a few times. It would be best to print these on white or colored card stock, but white or colored paper should work just as well.

PTTM -Big Words Playing Cards.pdf
This PDF contains the playing cards. It is designed to be printed on both sides of the white or colored cardstock. When you hit "print" on the PDF, a print dialog window should appear. Click on the "Properties" button, and find the option your printer gives for printing on both sides of the paper manually. Then click "OK" and then go ahead and print. All printers will be different. You might have to go to "Settings" or "Options". You could also tell your printer to print pages 1,3, 5. After those are printed, reload the paper in the printer to print the other side, and tell the printer to print pages 2, 4  6.  After printing the pages, cut each card out. The word on the front should correspond with the definitions on the back of the card.


Have fun!

 *I give 10 points regularly in singing time as a measure of praise: I'll randomly call out: "10 points for whoever can smile when they sing." (I give a "thumbs up" to individual children if they smile while they sing to indicate they have received the points) or  "10 points for anyone who can recite the last phrase of the song from memory!" Sometimes I'll up the points to 25 or 100, and the children are even more eager to participate. The points are not real, they don't have any value, we don't keep score, and mean they absolutely nothing, but the kids love knowing they were awarded them! Sometimes they ask what they get if they received points, and I just smile and say "Points! You get 10 points! You are so awesome! Isn't that great?!" Its lots of fun.

Afterthoughts for Sunday May 15th:
I always seem to plan too much for so little time, and today was like that! I hoped to get through all the Big Words, but didn't. The idea was fun, and the kids really liked I think, but it might be a good idea to do it over two weeks, or pick and choose doing only the words that need the most explanation. Other than the time factor, things went great!

I loved this next idea so  much, I think it is definitely the way to go. Thanks 3boys2girls:
3boys2girls said...
I read the comments about running out of time and thought I would let you know how we did it. I am the Primary Pres. and it was my week to do sharing time, so I worked with both of my Music leaders and we did this activity the whole time. In Sr. I introduced the song with the story of WW Phelps and then followed the same routine we did in Jr. The teachers sang this song and I went out to change into my game show disguise(the kids loved this!) and then we followed your outline. I was the host and the music leaders led each line that we sang. I believe that the music is the most important part of Primary because most of us can't remember a sharing time lesson we had but we can remember the songs!! I think the more you can coordinate the songs in Sharing Time the better. It works great for us!
 How did it go for you?

53 comments :

  1. I will be doing this on Sunday! Thank you thank you thank you and keep 'em coming!

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  2. Why do I even try to come up with my own ideas? Seriously, I need to just wait for yours. You are brilliant!
    Thanks so much for sharing!

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  3. This is AWESOME!!
    I'm using it for sure. Thanks!

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  4. Must be inspiration...I bought two of these bells a couple weeks ago and haven't had the time to use them for "review" the last two weeks. I know now what I'll be using them for Sunday. Boring old reviews can wait! Thank you thank you!

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  5. Incredible. Thanks for the smart singing time!!

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  6. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing all your FABULOUS ideas!!!!!! Love this one- and I love that I'm one week behind you. I'm excited to prepare this game for next week.

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  7. I love this! I am doing it! So are the words, "midst" and "keys" the only one NOT in the first verse? The first verse is just loaded with big words.
    Thanks so much!

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  8. I love all of your fabulous ideas. You have helped so much. The Big Words pdf's will not come up for me. I would love if you could send them to my email at debbieparker22@hotmail.com. I really want to use this wonderful idea this Sunday.

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  9. Thanks Anie, glad to share.

    Candy, thank you, and you are correct. Not too much at all in verse three.

    Debbie, thank you and check your mailbox!

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  10. Thank you! I have been racking my brain for ideas for this song! And when I saw this I was so relieved my stress was over. Love it!

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  11. You are A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Thank you for sharing. :0)

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  12. This is PERFECT! I totally was thinking about something I could do with all the big words in this song, and I was about to sit down and type it all out, and VOILA! -here it was already done, and MUCH better than I had planned out.

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  13. Seriously, I want to "second" everything everybody else said. I LOVE your ideas! You are definitely my "go to" singing time blog for all your great ideas. Thank you so much for taking the time to share the details, PDFs, videos, and all the other goodies you share.

    And I have to tell you that I did the M.O.M game last week and the kids and adults loved it! Thank you!

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  14. so fun! Thanks for sharing what you do. I really appreciate it!

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  15. Praise to YOU for doing this!! I was just called as primary chorister and can tell that you are one of my new FAVORITE people! Thanks so much for sharing! (I can't stop yelling!!!! That's 'cause I'm SO excited!) ;o)

    Jenny

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  16. Thank you sooo much for this idea...I have been struggling with a way to make this weeks singing time a little more enthusiastic for the kids. They love this song but it is hard to just keep singing a song over and over and mix it up and this idea is a perfect way for them to forget about the repetition of singing while having fun playing this game...now all I have to do is get my game show host ensemble together! Thanks a bunch!

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  17. Thank you so much!! I just stumbled upon your blog and am so grateful to have found it! I love your ideas and really appreciate all that you share. You have made my new calling so much easier!

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  18. Thank you. Thank you! I was stressed about tomorrow and now it will be so easy! Thanks so much!

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  19. I can't wait to try it out!!!! :) I know the kids will have a blast!!

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  20. Can I just say I love you!!!!! Thanks for the help you give me every week!

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  21. I love you!!! I am so excited to do this with my kiddos. THANK YOU for sharing your tremendous talent and creativity with your fellow choristers. Children all over the world are learning the gospel through music because of you. Thank you!!!

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  22. This is exactly what I was looking for. We are going to be a week behind due to Mother's Day and I have been agonizing over how to teach this song (especially to Jr. Primary!) Thank you!!!

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  23. Thank you! This is a classy blog and very helpful! My hope is that you are blessed for being so willing to share your ideas here.

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  24. Thank you so much! I was thinking how am I going to teach the kids these big words this week, and then look at that- you had this perfect fun and engaging way to do it! Thank for your time in sharing your ideas.

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  25. Wow, I am so humbled by all of your wonderful comments and compliments! Thank you all very much. If you did this activity, please see my "Afterthought" above, and let everyone know how it worked for you and what you would do or did to make it better!
    Lots of Love to you all,
    Bridgette

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  26. Thanks for sharing. I am definitely doing this next week. Using a flipchart, we have gone over the whole song between this week and last sunday, but next week this will be a good review. Thanks again.

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  27. I used your fabulous idea, with a twist. I turned it into a Monopoly game and let the kiddos roll the dice and move the pieces, then turn over the card and play the game as you designed. The kids had such fun! But we only got through part as well. I am also thinking we need to spend 2 weeks on this. May I just say, again, that you are awesomely talented and so generous to share your ideas with all of us out there in Primary Land!

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  28. P.S. The closing song today for Sacrament Meeting was "Praise to the Man." I shushed my husband and whispered, "listen." As we came to the chorus, the volume and intensity swelled! The children sang with gusto, overpowering the adults in the congregation. People all around were crying. It was a chorister's paycheck!

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  29. Thanks for the great idea. I really played up the whole game show persona and the leaders were all in stitches. It was a lot of fun. I had a quick question for you, how do you save your PDFs online so that other people can access them?

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  30. @Peggy I love your game idea! Primary Chorister paycheck indeed!

    @The Chipmans, great job today, I would have loved to see you as a game show host! Regarding the PDF, I found a free blog creator, Tripod, that lets you upload files from your PC. I create the PDF on my laptop, upload it to my Tripod blog and publish it, and then it creates the online PDF. I am still learning, and there's probably an easier way, but that's what I do.

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  31. Was totally fun!!! I agree with not having enough time. I played it like family feud with the big kids and they loved it! We got through most of the words in Senior Primary. Can't wait to see what you have in store. Thank you again for sharing your work. I really appreciate it!!

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  32. Thank you so much for this great idea. You made my Sunday so easy with very little prep. The kids loved this activity (I only did it with Sr.). We did run short on time so I ended up cutting the singing the line to the song if it was a line we had sung for a previous word. Then at the very end I just read the few remaining cards and had the kids hold up their fingers to indicate what answer they thought it was. Then sang the whole song through.

    We sang the song over and over and over last week without learning what it meant so it was helpful that the kids already knew the words - just not the meaning. This was a great activity. Thanks again. I love your site and you for doing it.

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  33. my kids LOVED this! THey kept reminding me to use my microphone!! We didn't finish all the words so they want to do it again next week. We might just do it!

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  34. I posted this just a few minutes ago in Week One comments but thought I would post it here too in case anyone is still scratching their head with this song:

    I am teaching both Junior and Senior primary this song in sign language. I am happy to report that on the first Sunday teaching them sign language, we got through the first verse AND the chorus!! They learned the song so quick! I am so proud of them. It really helps to have those actions to remind them of the words.

    I still use the beautiful photos in this flipchart to explain the life of Joseph Smith, but in my experience, using sign language has made all of the difference.

    In case anyone is curious, I went to the LDS music website. They have many songs in ASL. I only use about 4 signs per line. The guy on the church website goes pretty fast and it was hard to pick some of the signs out. I found other actions for signs on other websites.

    Good luck everyone!

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  35. this is genius for praise to the man!

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  36. Thank you for this wonderful idea. I did it last week and the kids loved it!! We were singing the entire song by the end of the day and they were having so much fun. Thanks!!

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  37. I read the comments about running out of time and thought I would let you know how we did it. I am the Primary Pres. and it was my week to do sharing time, so I worked with both of my Music leaders and we did this activity the whole time. In Sr. I introduced the song with the story of WW Phelps and then followed the same routine we did in Jr. The teachers sang this song and I went out to change into my game show disguise(the kids loved this!) and then we followed your outline. I was the host and the music leaders led each line that we sang. I believe that the music is the most important part of Primary because most of us can't remember a sharing time lesson we had but we can remember the songs!! I think the more you can coordinate the songs in Sharing Time the better. It works great for us!

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  38. Thanks for the idea... I was wondering how I could tackle teaching the kids the meanings of all the BIG words in this hymn, and I know they enjoy learning what words mean from other songs we have sung. But this is a really fun idea that makes hard things easier to learn. Looking forward to trying it out on Sunday. Thanks! Sharon NZ

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  39. Needed something good for this week, THANK YOU! You did a lot of hard work for this!

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  40. Yay for creativity and blogs! I just got called to be the primary chorister and I feel like my creative side has run away from me. Thank you so much for sharing your creative ideas, I don't feel so lost anymore! We are going to do this idea tomorrow, I am excited I think they will like it :) I absolutely love this song, and when the kids sing it is just amazing. I heard about another idea from someone in my stake, and that is to use a slinky as a loud-o-meter. If the kids need to sing louder or better, you widen the slinky, or if they need to go softer you bring the slinky together. I think I am going to have them practice enunciating the big words with the slinky. Thank you so much! I can't wait to keep up with your blog, so you can inspire me some more! :)

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  41. Thank you so much for these vocabulary cards. They are adorable and exactly what I would have done. I am a teacher and honestly, sometimes coming up with ONE MORE lesson plan for Sunday is exhausting for me. Thank goodness for creative, inspired people like you. I am so grateful!

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  42. Thanks so much everyone. And I love all the great ideas. keep 'em coming!

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  43. I am planning on doing this tomorrow! I may shave my beard off and leave just a fun mustache! :) I love your ideas. You make this calling a lot more manageable for me: a busy father of 4 with a full time job. Thank you.

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  44. I have to share a comment I got from one of our Sunbeam teachers today. Her oldest daughter is one of her Sunbeams, and when we played this game last week, I did Jr. Primary one child at a time, rather than the 2 child competition for Sr. Primary. If the child got the correct definition, they got to ring the bell, and I said, "Hooray, you got 10 points!"

    This teacher told me that initially she thought, "These kids aren't going to get the points thing." But after they went to class, her Sunbeams were still so excited from the game that they said, "Can we have points?" So she gave them points for sitting quietly during the lesson, or folding their arms, stuff like that. She said, "That was such a great idea, thanks!"

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  45. I'm a little late in teaching this song! I've just received this calling and found out last week the children didn't know this song! Came across your idea and can't wait to try it.

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  46. This is a fantastic idea, but I didn't see the words or cards for all of the last (3rd)verse. I only have "keys" and "midst". I didn't notice until this morning when I was cutting the wordstrips, so we'll just do the first verse this week and then do the second verse next week. If you could help that would be fabulous! Thanks!

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  47. Thanks for sharing your great ideas. I offer a few words of caution and reminder, we should never rely on someone else's revelation for our own primary needs and callings. I'm the first to admit that my creativity needs a jump start, but instead of using the suggestions exactly, I always try to adapt the ideas I see and make them relevant to our needs here. Our first preparations should always begin with our own spiritual preparation, prayer and scripture study. If we are prepared, then we will be ready to teach! I gather lots of ideas and then formulate my own plans. Thanks for the help!

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  48. Thank you for the time you spent putting this together and sharing it with us. I will be using your idea this week and combined it with another idea for a visual while the kids sign each line. Thank you again!

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  49. Thank you SO much for sharing your wonderful idea and for all the time you put into creating it. I just finished printing everything out and will use it tomorrow to introduce this wonderful song!!! Cant tell you how excited I am to give it a whirl!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Connie. Thanks Alicia. Thanks to everyone for visiting!

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  50. I used some of your ideas this past week to help the kids understand the big words in the first verse. Thank you! Did you do the same thing with the third verse? The file only has "keys" and "midst" (misspelled as midts on the back!) Did you use the same idea for the third verse? If you did, I'd love to see it! I love that several years after posting this people are still using your ideas!

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  51. I will second what Kat said...have you done any of this for verse 3? I'm not sure if that verse was taught in 2011 when you first put this together. I'd love to see it if you did! I loved this and so did the kids (especially the bell). Thank you!

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  52. The links to the pdf open to a blank page. Do you know if they are still available? I'd love to play this game on Sunday. We are reviewing this song this month. Could you email me? weatherfordhouse@yahoo.com

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