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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Truth or Consequenses 2011 Program Review Edition

Ward Conference tomorrow!

We are going to play an updated version of Truth or Consequences (click here to go to my original post last October). We will play it the same way, but with trivia questions relating to all the program songs for 2011.

Here is the PDF with trivia questions for the 2011songs:



Click on the above link to open the file. Print the first three pages first (I did mine on cardstock), then flip the pages over so you can print pages 4-6 on the back side of the cards. Page 7 is a list of the songs and questions.
Keep in mind I have two additional songs, (The Iron Rod and Scripture Power), as well as the two songs that were songs of choice (Reverence is Love and The 4th Article of Faith). Your songs may be different so you'll want to add your own trivia questions to replace mine.

Have Fun!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

YOUR Ideas


I love your ideas! If you would like to submit an idea for anything related to primary music, or read some brilliant ideas others have come up with, click here!
(There's also a link at the top of the page.)

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Teacher Appreciation Day!

It always makes me happy when the get-down-dirty-nitty-gritty teaching part of a song is done, and it's a great feeling when you know the children have learned it well. I always look forward to the next week, which is this week, because it means fun!

I plan on beginning having the children sing The Lord Gave Me a Temple, both verses, one time through. I'll remind the children before we sing that they will need to pay close attention to the words and phrases of the song, so that their class can score lots of points in the game we will be playing. With this activity the children will sing The Lord Gave Me a Temple at least 6 times through, and never realize it will be to help them with memorization. Awesome!

Teacher Appreciation Day!

I'll explain it something like this:

"Boys and girls, there is someone very special in your class, someone you need to thank for all the hard work they do. That's why, today in singing time, we are going to celebrate 'Teacher Appreciation Day'! This means that we are going to let our teachers have a little bit of fun. But it's your job to sing super well, singing all the words, and everyone in the class should be singing their hearts out! I'll choose the class with the hardest working singers to send their teacher to the front for a fun challenge where they can earn points for the class!" {Remember, these are invisible points, and they don't mean a thing. LOL}

"I will show you what challenge can be your teacher's, before we start to sing each time. There are 6 challenges in all. Here's the first one:"

"It's a basketball shoot-out! We will sing The Lord Gave Me a Temple, and I will choose a class who is singing their very best to send their teacher to the front. If your class is chosen, your teacher will have the opportunity to shoot hoops for exactly 60 seconds! Every basket made equals 2 points that your class gets to keep! Forever! Okay, here we go..."

After the first teacher finishes the first challenge, shout out how many points that class has earned, then show your props for the next challenge.  I am going to give each class a turn for their teacher to do a challenge.

So, now you will need to choose 6 or seven challenges to go along with Teacher Appreciation Day (one for each class).  I am using challenges that are easy for me, with props I have handy.
  • The first idea, above, is the wooden basketball shoot. I bought this at a holiday craft fair several years ago. 

  • Dice on a Plank: give the teacher a wide Popsicle stick or tongue depressor, and tell them to put it in their mouth. Next they get to stack as many dice on the tongue depressor as they can. Give them 10 points (or whatever) for each dice that gets stacked without falling down within 60 seconds. Here's some pictures of my family doing this game: 
So easy, even my Grandpa Conover can do it!
My niece, Annalei. She won, actually!











  • Golf Putting: I actually have one of these, too. My husband won it as part of a health challenge at work. So I'll give each teacher 5 points (or whatever I decide, ha!) for every hole in one within 60 seconds:
     
  • Cookie on the Forehead: Have the teacher sit in a chair and face the children. Tilt his or head back and place a cookie on their forehead. Tell them they have 60 seconds to get it in their mouth using only their facial muscles. I'll give them 12 points for each cookie within 60 seconds. Here's my sister, Heather, with a demonstration:


  •  Bobblehead: attach a pedometer to a headband, and secure the headband to the teacher's head. Make sure the pedometer is set to zero. Start timing (60 seconds) and have the teacher begin bobbing his/her head up and down in order to gain "steps." Give the teacher and class one point for every step measured on the pedometer after one minute. Note: My pedometer, my ancient one from about 8 years ago, wouldn't work when I tried this at home. So instead, I downloaded a free app for my Android phone. It works great!

  • Paddle Balance: give the teacher a ping pong ball and paddle. Have him/her balance the ball on the paddle. Give them a point for every second the ball is continuously balanced on the paddle without falling. Maybe give them a practice try, first? 
There are a whole lot of fun ideas here at the Minute to Win It  website, or just make up your own. Be sure to list any brilliant ideas you have in the comments field!

Have fun!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

I Sing; You Sing

Last Sunday I used my The Lord Gave Me a Temple flip chart and I taught both junior and senior primaries the first verse, only. I played a game with them that is one I do frequently when teaching an unfamiliar song, and I'll be doing exactly the same thing this Sunday with the second verse. It's a game I call:
I Sing; You Sing
 I begin by singing the entire song to them, showing them the pages to the flip chart as I go. Then I go back to the beginning, and show the picture and phrase from the first page, and explain the phrase or any big words. Next I point to myself and say the complete phrase (or half of it) and have them repeat it back to me, sometimes, twice. They know that they always have to say it exactly as I have. If they don't, I wave my arms big and cut them off and say something like "Waaaiiiiittttt-a-minnnnnuuut! Whaaat was thaaaat?!......." (in a silly voice, of course!). I tell them to try again, and I point to myself and repeat the process. Sometimes I mix it up and enunciate one word or say the first part of the phrase normally, then the next part really fast. I just try to be creative and expressive.

Next I point to myself and sing the phrase the way it is supposed to be sung, without the piano, afterwhich I point to the children, and they sing it exactly as I have.  Then I point to myself and sing the phrase again in an unexpected style of voice (old woman, western, very softly, powerfully, etc.), and then point to them and they would have to sing the phrase the very same way, again, perfectly and precisely copying my style. They know I'll stop them and make them start over if it's not done "my" way, hehe.  After I feel each phrase is mastered, I point to myself and sing it in my very best voice, then point to them, and they do the same.  I repeat the process with each page and/or phrase, and after they have mastered that page/phrase, I'll start at the beginning of the flip chart/song, and with the piano, sing up to the point we have just learned.

After doing this with the first verse last Sunday, I brought out these "Sing Like A..."  disks from Divine Secrets of a Primary Chorister. I flipped the disks upside down so no one could see the selection, then had a child come up and randomly choose one. I'd say something like,
"Oh....I sure hope this one is a good one, and won't embarrass me!"
or
"I sure hope this one is not CraZy!"

 It was really funny, especially doing the "Sing like a goat", where the kids used their fingers to vibrate their vocal chords to sound like a goat while singing.

Inappropriate for this song? I suppose only you can answer that for your primary. As for ours, it was a great way to capture the attention of the children and we had a great time. We enjoyed reverence and fun together.


Have fun!
 

Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Lord Gave Me a Temple


 Hi All!
 Here's my flip chart for August's song:  
Open the pdf and print it on both sides of 9 sheets white card stock. Laminate, trim, and bind on the left side. 
When finished it will look something like this:  
Front page:
Two page spreads:
 
 
 
 
 
 
Have fun!