Popcorn Popping

I came across some notes from a singing time I did sometime in the past year. It didn't take the whole singing time, maybe 5 minutes, 10 tops, but was a fun exercise in dynamics and getting the wiggles out. I guess I must have done it when I had a singing time activity that wasn't going to take very long.

For once this is actually all me (I "borrow" ideas from blogs all the time!!). I talked to the kids about dynamics and how they could look at the way I was moving my arms to know whether they should sing loudly or softly. We also talked about how my arms would tell them when to stop singing and when to start again.

We sang through Popcorn Popping (actions included, of course--for the kids anyway, since they were supposed to watch my arms) with differing dynamics. For the first few lines I conducted with tiny movements and crouched down a little, and we almost whispered the song. Then I moved my arms wide, back and forth and up and down and got into it with my body too, and we sang it loudly ("Never Louder Than Lovely" of course...although in my opinion it's hard to be too loud when singing. Screaming is too loud, otherwise the louder the better!). I love getting way into this with my body and the kids respond well to it too. I love watching conductors who really get into it at classical performances. I could never be a real conductor, since I lack all the training and most of the talent, but I always think it looks like so much fun.

Anyway, we did that a few times until we got to the line "A popcorn ball that would smell so sweet," at which point I cut them off and we all pretended to smell our popcorn ball with a deep breath in and out (in through the nose, out through the mouth). Then we sang the rest of the song.

It sounds totally corny (bahaha) but it was very fun and the kids loved it. We still sing "Popcorn" that way sometimes (pausing and smelling the popcorn ball) especially if they need to get wiggles out. I have my kids do deep breaths a lot--my own kids at home as well as the Primary kids--in order to calm down. Just kind of a fun, random way to incorporate it into singing time.

Saturday Pictionary

Well, I'm trying. I think maybe I need to set an alarm on my phone to remind myself to post each week about what I did in singing time.

Have I said that already?

This week I planned to do a Halloween sort of thing, I had these paper jack-o-lanterns left over from last year and thought maybe I would do Spin the Teacher with them. (Spin the Teacher is a big favorite with my kids, an idea I got from The Crazy Chorister long ago.) But then I was checking my blog reader on Sunday morning and saw a new post from Camille's Primary Ideas about teaching the song "Saturday". I thought it sounded perfect so I blatantly copied it. The kids loved it! Some of them were familiar with the song already but practically none of them knew the actual words.

To sum up, I had slips of paper with lines from the song:

clean the house

shop at the store 

brush our clothes

shine our shoes

trim our nails

shampoo our hair

and we basically played Pictionary. For Junior Primary I had the teachers come up and draw. For Senior Primary I had the kids draw. It was really fun.

In Junior Primary we sang the song a little at a time, over and over to really get it into their heads. For example, once we learned the lines about cleaning and shopping, we sang up to that point. Then when we learned the lines about brushing clothes and shining shoes, we sang again from the beginning up to that point. Etc. That took up all of singing time. For Senior Primary I didn't think we needed to sing it quite so many times, so we drew all the pictures before singing the song all the way through. Then we had a little time left over, so I chose kids to make up their own "chores" (they whispered them in my ear first to make sure they were appropriate) and draw them. Then we sang our own made-up verse.

Also, before we started in Senior Primary I asked all the kids who had their own Children's Songbooks to hold them up in the air. Then I pretended to collect them, and kids who didn't have Children's Songbooks also pretended to turn theirs in. It's great sometimes to have the kids have their own songbooks, but for something like Pictionary that kinda ruins the game.

Also, both Junior and Senior Primary got a kick out of pretending to shampoo their hair. That kind of surprised me but it was fun.

I love using the chalkboard because it's so simple and the kids love it. Definitely a successful day.

Review: Chubby Bunny

Wow, I posted again! I am really going to try posting every week because I find great ideas, use them, and then have to re-invent the wheel every time because I forget everything I do.

Today's activity I found at Primary Singing Time by Matilda: Chubby Bunny.

Prep: get a bowl and a bag of s'more-sized marshmallows.

It's about as basic as it sounds: I wrote the names of the program songs on the board and told the kids we would run through them one by one. If they sang it PERFECTLY (I had very high standards for senior Primary in particular, including smiles, starting and ending at the right time, and standing up and sitting down), I would put a marshmallow in the bowl. Then at the end, I would put them all in my mouth and sing a song for them. Gross, right? The junior Primary thought it was HILARIOUS. I have never seen them laugh so hard, and my own little Sunbeam talked about it all afternoon.

The senior Primary weren't quite as visibly impressed in the beginning, probably having been to way more campouts than the junior Primary had. But they still sang their best and they even got after the kids who talked or sang the wrong words. I gave them all "second chances" if the song wasn't perfect the first time through, and they totally sang their hearts out. And they also laughed pretty hard at the end, although a few were disappointed that I was doing the marshmallows instead of them. I didn't want to deal with any kids choking or gagging, otherwise I may have let them.

I have to admit I have been feeling a little nervous lately. Our program is coming up in 3 weeks, and since next week is general conference we only have one Sunday left before the program. I had a baby in June and took 2 months off from church. I was thinking we were way behind. But we apparently made up for in it August and September because as of today, the kids have learned pretty much all the songs beautifully. I am so happy!

And totally embarrassed and grossed out that I sang "Popcorn Popping" (in its entirety, actions included) with my mouth full of marshmallows in front of all those people. But the kids loved it and they sang better than they ever have this year--so that's what matters, I guess!

I'll Walk with You & Chair Hopping

One of my favorite Primary songs has always been "I'll Walk with You" (p. 140). There wasn't space for it in our program, but I decided to teach it to our kids anyway. Not surprisingly, they love it too. My toddler and preschooler also love it and often request it. It's easy to learn and easy to remember, and it teaches a vital lesson about loving one another.

If you don't walk as most people do,

Some people walk away from you.

But I won't! I won't!

If you don't talk as most people do,

Some people talk and laugh at you.

But I won't! I won't!

I'll walk with you, I'll talk with you;

That's how I'll show my love for you.

Jesus walked away from none;

He gave His love to everyone.

So I will! I will!

Jesus blessed all He could see,

Then turned and said, "Come, follow me,"

And I will! I will!

I will! I will!

I'll walk with you; I'll talk with you;

That's how I'll show my love for you.

In that vein, I love this post at Divine Secrets of a Primary Chorister about children with special needs. As adults, we have long since learned that we should accept and love all people, regardless of their abilities or disabilities, their personalities or seeming lack thereof. But it is still hard sometimes, especially if we don't always know how best to communicate with them or, if we're asked to, how to teach them. What Primary leader hasn't been in a Primary room with "that one kid" who just can't sit still? Sometimes it's a discipline problem, and sometimes the child physically cannot stay calm or keep from being a distraction to others, unless he or she has some help from loving and caring adults.

Back to the song. When I first taught it to the kids, we talked about being kind to everyone, regardless of whether they are able-bodied or not, clever or slower to learn, funny or annoying. It's easy to put labels on people, but once we get to know them we can learn to love them. We don't have to be best friends with everyone--but there's never any reason to be unkind to anyone.

My favorite way to sing this song is Chair Hopping, an idea which I think I found at Sugar Doodle. Chair Hopping works great for any song that repeats the same word or words several times--the first time we tried it was with "The Church of Jesus Christ," which repeats "I" and "I'll" several times. It also works with "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus," which repeats "I" and "I'm."

"I'll Walk with You" uses the words "I" and "you" over and over. So every time we sang the words "I" or "you," the kids would move chairs. To do this, make sure you have an extra chair at the end of each row. You can do either everyone goes left to right, then right to left; or everyone goes toward the aisle, then away from the aisle. The key is of course that everyone in a row should be moving in the same direction at the same time, or you will quickly have a dogpile! Senior Primary kids are great at this because they are disciplined enough and having enough fun with it to make it work perfectly.

As you sing, the first time a key word appears (in this case "If YOU don't walk...") the kids all move in the same direction so they're on an entirely different chair. The next time a key word appears ("some people walk away from YOU") they move back to the chair they started in. So it goes left, right, left, right, etc.

If YOU don't walk as most people do, some people walk away from YOU, but I won't! I won't! If YOU don't talk as most people do...etc. etc.

This game is really fun and everyone gets into it, even the teachers. It gets our blood moving and it makes us pay attention to the words...not to mention helps us remember the words in the future because we have been using our bodies along with our brains.

(Something to think about, of course, is that if you do have a child or children with special needs that impact mobility, this might not be the best activity for your Primary, unless you can think of ways to modify it that everyone is comfortable with.)

Chair Hopping is a bit much for the Junior Primary, so instead, I have them sing the song standing, and every time a key word appears they step from side to side while holding hands; or they can alternate standing up and sitting down when a key word appears.

Side note--we realized quickly that we should only move chairs on "I" and "you," NOT on "I'll," because moving on "I'll" is practically impossible since it's right next to "you." ("I won't! I won't! I'll walk with you, I'll talk with you...") Talk about dogpiles.

Lesson learned for me: I try to remind myself in difficult moments, if it seems like no one is absorbing anything: Love your kids (even if it takes some work...) and they will love you! (even if it takes some time.)

Keep the Beat - simplified

For the second week of August, we reviewed the first and second verses of "Did Jesus Really Live Again?" with a technique I found on Divine Secrets of a Primary Chorister: Keep the Beat. (Good for reviewing songs and also good for introducing songs.)

It's common knowledge and scientific fact that the more parts of our brains we use while learning, the better our brains retain the learned knowledge--hence the popularity of mnemonic devices in memorization. Rhymes, music, and rhythms make it especially easy to memorize words. We already have rhymes and music on our side when learning Primary songs; adding rhythms just locks the words even tighter into our brains.

Keep the Beat is especially good for teaching more boisterous songs like "To Be a Pioneer"--in fact, when I taught that one for Pioneer Day, we did use Keep the Beat, but that's a topic for another post. Anyway, I thought it could also be useful even in more reverent songs like "Did Jesus Really Live Again?"--but instead of making it complicated (which I will detail in the "To Be a Pioneer" post, yet to be written...), I made it as simple as possible. Junior Primary was especially simple, and Senior Primary was a little more advanced.

Junior Primary:

I divided the kids into two groups and assigned a 4-count beat to each group. The group on the left had lap-clap-lap-clap ("lap" being slapping their hands on their laps); the group on the right had lap-lap-clap-clap. It sounds really basic but it was more than enough for the majority of these kids--the bulk of our Junior Primary are 3, 4, and 5 years old.

Then I did a variation on the Teachers vs. Kids theme of the previous week, by having the 2 halves of the room each sing a line in turn. Left side of the room sang 1st line, right side of the room sang 2nd line, left side sang 3rd line, etc. And of course we added the beats. The left side sang their lines with lap-clap-lap-clap (done twice for each line). The right side sang their lines with lap-lap-clap-clap. It was great and everyone got into it.

Another note: most of the lines of this song begin on the upbeat, and we didn't clap until the downbeat. So that gave us a chance to talk about upbeats and downbeats.

Once we had done that a few times, I had everyone sing every line and do the corresponding beat for that line--two 4-count beats for each line. To wit:

(lap-clap-lap-clap) Did Jesus really live again?

(lap-lap-clap-clap) Yes, when the third day came.

(lap-clap-lap-clap) He wakened and He left the tomb;

(lap-lap-clap-clap) He called Mary's name.

We did it a few more times until they really had the first 2 verses.

With the remaining time, once they had settled down from all the clapping and slapping, I explained that the third verse was an especially reverent verse because it talked about the nail prints in Jesus's hands. We reviewed the ASL sign for "Jesus" and talked about how it represents the nail prints. Then I had them touch their side as we did the line "and a spear wound in His side." Then we asked the question again: Did Jesus really live again after He had died? And the answer is not just "Yes" but "OH yes--and so shall I." We sang it a couple of times through (no beats) until they had it.

Senior Primary:

I divided the kids into two groups and picked a leader for each group. Each group then had 2 minutes to come up with a 4-count beat--and I asked that it not be too complicated. So our pianist played "...Live Again" for 2 minutes while the groups auditioned to their respective group leaders. When the 2 minutes was up, I invited the 2 group leaders to come up and demonstrate their 4-count beat to the whole room.

Then I did a variation on the Teachers vs. Kids theme of the previous week, by having the 2 halves of the room each sing a line in turn. Left side of the room sang 1st line, right side of the room sang 2nd line, left side sang 3rd line, etc. And of course we added the beats. The left side sang their lines with their particular 4-count beat (done twice for each line). The right side sang their lines with their 4-count beat.

Again, I talked about upbeats and downbeats, going a little more into detail with the older kids than I had with the younger kids and making it more of an interactive discussion.

Once we had done that a few times, I had the group leaders come up again so they could help demonstrate their beats. I had everyone sing the entire song, alternating the beats again, but this time everyone had to sing each line and do the corresponding beat, even if it was the opposing group's beat. Since I have no idea whether I explained that correctly, here's a breakdown--remember, each line has a 4-count beat done twice.

Beat 1. Did Jesus really live again?

Beat 2. Yes, when the third day came.

Beat 1. He wakened and He left the tomb;

Beat 2. He called Mary's name.

It was tricky...especially because the kids had come up with fancy beats! I knew that they would do complicated beats despite my instructions--that's why I only had them sing in 2 groups and do 2 beats, because 4 groups and 4 beats would have been a little too much. Examples of beats these kids have come up with:

Lap-clap-snap-stomp

Stomp-bam (right fist hits left side of chest)-snap-snap

Tap head-tap shoulders-snap-clap

Clap-snap-stomp-stomp

For verse 3, I did the same as I had with the junior kids, letting them calm down and then talking about the 3rd verse before learning it and singing it (without beats).

As complicated as it was to explain on a blog post just now, it was really not very complicated at all to explain in person or to do. And, no bulky visual aids to cart around church--even better!

Did Jesus Really Live Again?

The song we chose for August is "Did Jesus Really Live Again?" (p. 64). It's short and simple and to the point, and very easy to teach.

To introduce the song, I talked about various miracles that Jesus did (the topic for August is miracles), and showed pictures from the Gospel Art Kit--Jesus healing the lepers, raising Lazarus and Jairus's daughter from the dead, etc. We talked about miracles He had done and I asked them what the greatest miracle was that He did on the earth. The answer: His suffering, death, and resurrection so that we can all live with Him again someday.

I picked several pictures from the Gospel Art Kit to represent lines from the song: Jesus appearing to Mary, the empty tomb, Jesus showing His hands and feet to the apostles, and the painting "The Second Coming." (If I had had enough ink in my printer I would have found clip-art online so that there was a specific picture for each line.) I invited kids to hold up the pictures as we sang the song. Often when I introduce a song, I talk about the words first. It was easy to concentrate on the lyrics for this song because of its simplicity. Some lines are even in a question-answer format: Did Jesus really live again? Yes! When? When the third day came. What did He do next? He wakened and He left the tomb; He called Mary's name. The second verse is similarly arranged.

Once we had talked about the lyrics, I said we would be dividing up into teachers vs. kids. The teachers sang the first line, the kids sang the second line, teachers sang the third, kids sang the fourth. This way, everyone only had to remember 2 lines at a time, but also got to hear the other lines each time we sang it.

Clearly nothing fancy, but it did the job and the kids learned all the words to the first and second verses in that 20 minutes.

If the Savior Stood Beside Me

It took me 16 years to discover this song. Where was I all that time? It was in the 2008 Primary program (clearly a memorable one for me since I can't recall hearing this song before 2009...) and it was actually first published in the Friend magazine when I was a "Merrie Miss" (when they used to have Merrie Misses). Yet somehow I missed it. Here is a version by a Young Women choir performing at a general Young Women meeting a few years ago.

I prefer to have my own Primary kids sing this song at a much faster tempo so that it is not quite so "dirge-y." But I still love this video. I love looking at all those girls' faces--I remember so clearly being that age and all the struggles that come with being a teenager. You alternate feeling self-conscious and confident, awkward and flirty; depressed one day, sure of your own worth the next. Definitely a roller-coaster.

Primary kids are so innocent--for the most part, they haven't yet been exposed to the barrage of the world that teenagers contend with every day, and they haven't yet made the same mistakes or learned the same lessons. But I still see innocence in the faces of these beautiful young women. They constantly struggle to stand apart from the crowd (whether they want to or not); they make mistakes and sorrow over them. There can still be innocence there, no matter what they have seen or said or done, because even if they have made wrong choices, they know how to repent; and if they do repent, that sorrow is mercifully washed away. I knew those feelings as a teenager too. I'm sure if I had heard this song back then, I would have wept just as I did the first time I heard this song as an adult. He is always near us, and He does watch over us.

Go here to learn more about the song--written by the prolific Sally DeFord--and find a variety of arrangements, as well as additional verses not previously published.

The score of this particular version (the one used in the video) is a bit fancy for the Primary crowd, but it has the key change in the third verse and again in the fourth verse, which makes a fabulous impact. I wonder if I could figure out how to simplify that for my Primary pianist so that we could utilize the final key change. Sounds complicated. But I love it.