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Sunday, August 25, 2013

Hula Hoop

August 18, 2013
I used an idea from another chorister, but I can't remember where I found it. I used a hula hoop and a jar. The songs were printed on paper and cut into strips, then put in the jar. The kids picked out a strip of paper to choose which song.

I had another child be the hooper. The pianist had to play the song straight through without stopping, no matter what we did. We had to sing while the hula hoop was up, and stop when it dropped. Then when the child picked it up again, we had to join the song wherever the pianist was.

Worked great.

August 11, 2013
I just retaught "Holding Hands around the World." I used props for each phrase, had a child hold up the prop to remind us what to sing, then sing through the song. As they learned it, I would take away a prop (having the child sit down) and the children had to remember what the phrase was without the props.

We also reviewed the sign language for "Families Can Be Together Forever." I led into it with the action song "Do as I'm Doing," Then I said we have another action song we need to work on, and signed the first phrase without speaking to make them guess. They love guessing.

Good times.

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Primary Chorister for a year. Song reviews: Sign Language, Song Scramble, and Catch the action

I've been the primary chorister for about a year now, and I intend to write down what my lessons/singing time plans are each week so I can remember what I've done.  So far, not so good. I haven't done a thing about recording them. I'm so inspired by organized women. That is not my gift.

But today, I hopefully will make some progress in recording my progress.

We are reviewing "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and "Families can be together forever."

For "Families," we will use the sign language for "Families Can Be Together Forever," and since I taught them the sign a few weeks ago, that's an easy, no-prep review.  (If you click on the link, the song is down at the bottom of the page, and it's a video download that shows the sign language.)

For "If the Savior Stood Beside Me," I will be scrambling the flip chart I used to teach the song.

Round 1: 
I will tape the pictures under the chairs, have the children reach under their chairs, hold their picture, and when their picture/phrase is sung, they will stand and stay standing till the song is finished.

Round 2: 
Now with the kids standing,  as a group we will have to sing again to put the children/pictures in order up in front. So, as their phrase is sung, they now walk up and put themselves in order.

Round 3:
With these kids up front, I will then have everyone sing as I remove different pictures. They now have to sing it by memory. We will probably sing it two or three more times.

This could be overkill, most of them know it well enough. But it should really solidify any unsure parts.

If we have time, we will play a quick round of "Do as I'm Doing" with a game I call "Catch the Action." I will write actions on pieces of paper, roll the papers into balls, and then launch one at a time. Whoever catches it, opens the ball and reads the action--and that's our action for that round.

That should be it, not a ton of prep, hallelujah.

UPDATE:
For "Catch the Action," I actually used foam shapes, you know, the craft foam cut outs that are about 4 inches across that you find at the dollar store. I used circles, flowers, and egg shapes in different colors, wrote the action on a foam piece, and then flung the craft foam piece like a frisbee. Fun stuff.