Stars Were Gleaming

Stars Were Gleaming, p. 37, is one of my favorite Christmas song.  The melody comes from a Polish carol.

There are a lot of "ing" words and rhyming words throughout this piece.  Listed below are all of them.  I made a word strip for each of them to do this activity.

gleaming   dreaming
singing, ringing, winging
leading, guiding, riding
showing, shining, growing
going, gleaming, glowing, leading

Then there are the rhyming words:

chill, hill, still
story, glory
clearness, nearness
star, far, star

1. Sing the first 2 lines then ask the children to tell what the "ing" words were and/or any rhyming words.  You may need to sing it again as they listen.  Put the word in the board in order.  Sing the first 2 lines with the children, pointing to the words as you sing them.

2.  Sing the last 2 lines and do the same thing.  Put the word in the board in order. (The words: chill, hill and still may need some help listening for.)  Sing the last 2 lines with the children, pointing to the words as you sing them.

3.  Follow the same procedure for the second verse - 2 lines at a time.

*To include non-readers, instead of the word "star" use a star (you will need 2 of them), ringing - a bell, dreaming - a child sleeping, story - a book, hill - picture of a hill.

Next week, mix the words and have the children put them in order.  Sing one section (two lines) at a time then put up the words.  Conclude by singing the entire song.