If I Listen with My Heart

If I Listen with My Heart
I began with the second verse because it was so applicable around General Conference. I started by asking the children who assigned (or told) the speakers at General Conference what topic/subject to speak on. There were several answers, but they were all surprised that the Lord told them what to speak about. Speakers fasted and prayed to know God's will. It was now up to us to prepare ourselves to hear not only with our ears but with our hearts to know what Heavenly Father wants us to hear.

Sing the first phrase and clap the rhythm as you sing. Ask the children if they could hear a pattern in the rhythm. (fast fast slow slow slow slow, fast fast slow slow slow, fast fast slow slow slow, fast fast s-l-o-w) Sing it again and have them clap with you. Then have them sing it with you. (I like to have them sing it 3 times.) To vary the repetition here are some different ways to sing:

• soft
• loud
• face east
• face west, etc.
• stand up
• face your neighbor
• close your eyes

Sing the second phrase and ask if the music is the same or different from the first phrase. (The rhythm is the same, the music is the same except for the last 3 notes.) Have the children sing this phrase 3 times so they are familiar with the words. Then sing both phrases 3 times. Vary as follows:

• boys only
• girls only
• boys sing 1st phrase, girls sing 2nd phrase then switch
• teachers sing one phrase, children sing other phrase
• one side of the room sings one phrase, other side of the room sings other phrase
• you sing one, they sing one

Sing the last phrase and see if they can hear the rhythm repetition. Help them by clapping. Have them sing it 3 times with variation. Now sing the last phrase. Tell them that they sing this line at the end of each verse. When you teach the 3rd verse, tell them that you hold out each note/word as you sing the last phrase to emphasis the importance of the message.

I teach one verse a week so I have time to sing a few familiar songs during sharing time. Children love to sing something that they know well.

More Ideas for Teaching Songs

The outline for the 2011 Sacrament Program has many helps and suggestions. Page 26 and 27 of the outline give several suggestions and ideas for teaching the songs for the program.

The week after our Sacrament Program, I like to teach the children the “new” song for the next year's program. It gives us a jump start for next year but it is also refreshing to learn something new. If your primary is like ours, you have just spent several weeks drilling and rehearsing for the program so a new song is a welcome change.

When teaching a new song, have the accompanist play the new song several times as prelude music. This will help create familiarity for everyone.

Teach the new song to a few children ahead of time and have them sing it in primary to introduce it. Having a few teacher sing it as an introduction is also a great “attention getter.”

Humming and clapping are great ways to learn melody and rhythm.

I determine which song will be the most difficult in the new program. I choose to teach the sign language for this song along with the words. This keeps the children focused and helps them learn the words easier and better. The song is usually the hymn. The sign language is on the Church web site. Click for hymns. Click for Primary Songs.

Sing a little louder!

Have you ever tried to get the children to sing louder -- and they just yell or scream? I've had the same results. However, I came up with a wonderful way to get the results I want. I made a a grandma and grandpa -- I colored their hair gray to ensure that they would look elderly. I put them on a stick so I could hold them easily. I explained to the children that sometimes as we get older we don't hear as well. I asked if any of them had grandparents or great-grandparents that couldn't hear them very well. Several raised their hands. I asked them what helped their grandparents hear them better. One little boy said, "I just talk a little louder." That was the perfect answer! I added, "You didn't yell or scream at them?" The little boy smiled and said, "I wouldn't do that, I love my grandpa." Again, another perfect answer. So if we have grandparents in the audience/congregation, we might want to sing a little louder so they can hear us. I explained to the children that when I hold up the grandma or grandpa, or both of them, we all need to sing a little louder so Grandma and Grandpa can hear us.

As we rehearsed for our primary program, this technique worked beautifully. There was no yelling or screaming. They all just sang louder. You are welcome to use the following pictures.

Clap That Tune

This is a great listening game and they DO have to know the songs. Instead of "Name That Tune," we are going to "Clap That Tune." Print the names of several songs on pieces of paper. You can use cute paper shapes -- flowers, kites, suns, stars, etc. or just strips of paper. You can also make 2 or 3 strips of the same song so the children can sing it more than once. Put the papers in a bag, basket, etc. for the children to draw from. Make sure that you have enough time to sing all the songs at least once.

Have children take turns drawing a piece of paper. Then the child that draws must clap the rhythm of the song and see who can guess the correct song. Sing the song. If there are more than one verse, sing both verses or if time permits, put the paper back in and next time sing the second verse.

Great for reviewing!

Follow the Prophet Quiz

We have just spent several months teaching new music to children now lets see what they know. This game is called “Primary Genius: Follow the Prophet” We have chosen to sing 5 verses of “Follow the Prophet.” Prior to singing each verse ask a question that can be answered in the verse. Sometimes the children can answer before (if they know the song well) other times they need to sing the song to find the answer. The following are easy questions:

• Who was Adam? A prophet, first one that we know
• Where did he live? In Eden

Sing the verse
Harder questions:

• What was Adam's occupation? He helped things to grow. He served the Lord.
• What is our relationship to Adam? We are his descendants in the later days.

Remind the children that the answers are in the song.

• What was Noah called to do? Preach the word
• Who listened? No body

Sing the verse
Harder questions:

• What did Noah try to preach? Repentance
• What made the people begin to worry? When they saw the rain

Last verse:

• Now we have a world where ______________, people are confused
• Who should we follow? The prophet

Sing the verse
Harder questions:

• Where do find out about the problems in the world? The news
• Where can we get direction? Heed the prophet follow what he says.

You can have the questions written on pieces of paper and have the children draw them from a bag or basket. Color-code them so you can tell if they are hard or easy questions. When they are mixed up, you may sing the verse several times – which is great for review! Remember to sing the chorus once in a while. I sing the chorus after the first verse and after the last verse mostly in the interest of time.

SINGO: Bingo for Primary

This is a great game for anything -- especially review. Here are two different cards (poster board size). Because I don't like to promote competition in Primary, I use only one card and we all work together to get a "Singo!" I have just the numbers on the card on small pieces of paper which the children take turns drawing. We then cover the number with a big circle cut and laminated. If you use both cards, you need all the numbers from both cards and two different colors of circles to cover the numbers -- blue for one card and red for the other card. We have to sing a song or verse of a song before we draw a number. If they remember all the words they can draw two numbers. This game can take up to 30 minutes to play. It is perfect if you can use all of sharing time. It can go faster if you draw more numbers at a time.

I simply used a ruler to draw the lines then I drew the letters and numbers. You can decorate with die cuts or large stickers. I laminated both posters, 50 circles - 25 of each color, and the small numbers that the children draw from a hat, basket or sack. My boards have lasted for over 20 years! It is well worth the time and money.

You can also use this game to teach a new song. Sing a phrase 3 times then choose 3 numbers.
Sing the next phrase and draw 3 more numbers. If the children know all the Articles of Faith songs, you can draw one number every time they sing an Article of Faith. There are 13 of them and it's fun to see if they can get a "Singo" in 13 draws.

Review Trek

In commemoration of the Pioneers, we are doing a "review" trek. I cut out several mountain shapes out of 12" by 15" construction paper - gray, brown, green and purple ("for purple mountain majesties"). I also cut out a few rocks and logs. I am not an artist so I often times have to tell the children what my pictures/cutouts are. They are very forgiving. I tape them along a chalkboard or wall so the children can see it creating a path to travel. Make of find a covered wagon that can travel this paper path. (You could also draw the path, mountains, rocks and logs on the board.) I make several signs that the wagon needs to stop and read. You can start in Nauvoo and end in Salt Lake or use any starting and stopping place that works for your location. Depending on the amount of time you have depends on how many signs/songs you can sing. Here are some suggestions for the signs along the way.

• Crossed the river (Missouri river) and need to stop and dry the clothes. Let's sing a song while we wait. (Choose a song from the 2010 Sacrament Meeting Program)
• We traveled extra miles today and are very tired. Let's sing one song before we go to sleep.
• What a beautiful sunrise! Let's praise the Lord with singing.
• Indians are all around tonight. Let's sing to calm our spirits and sooth the Indians.
• We seem to have extra energy tonight. Let's sing "Fun to Do" and make up three verses that we can act out. (Feeding the oxen is fun to do, Finding firewood is fun to do, Clapping our hands is fun to do -- these are just suggestions.)
• We have reached the top of the mountains and we are very tired. Let's sing a song to lift our spirits.
• We can see the valley! We are so excited to almost be there! Let's sing!
• We are very thankful to have arrived safely. Let's sing a song to show our thanks.

These are just suggestions to move the wagon along and enjoy reviewing the program songs.