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!