July week 4

Monthly Theme: The Temple is a House of God
Weekly Theme: I can prepare to be worthly to go to the temple

I Love to See the Temple - play don't eat Pete to Review

Twelfth Article of Faith
Focus on the different leaders - kings, presidents, rulers (mayors, governors - those who lead local governors), and magistrates (police, judges - those who administer the law)
Ask - which of the four leaders do we sing about on the highest note? (rulers)

Review Oxcart
Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked (how many time do we sing the word walked?), Sister Bates - the composer of this song lost her eyesight as an adult. She says, "we are all pionners - none of us has been in this day before. Earlier pioneers had no automobiles, railroads, airplanes, telephones, electricity, radios, or televisio, but they sang as they walked and walked. We can sing as we walk through today, or we can be a grouch every step of the way and be miserable."

SP - Westward ho
To be a Pioneer (make a list of do's and don'ts)

July Week 2

Monthly Theme: The Temple is a House of God
Weekly theme: Families are blessed through sacred temple ordinances

I Love to See the Temple
Last week, we put together puzzles of temples in groups as we sang the first verse. After completing the puzzles, the groups shared a fact about their temple, and then something about temples in general.

This week, we did the I Love to See the Temple poster that was on Teaching LDS Children.

After reviewing the song, I closed all the windows and doors. I then sang a line of the song, and asked someone to come and open the corresponding window/door.

Twelfth Article of Faith p. 131
I showed three melody maps - one for by obeying, one for honoring, and one for sustaining the law. We sang the song a few times and tried to match the melody maps to the words

Pioneer Songs:
The Oxcart p. 219
I showed a picture and talked about what an oxcart is. As we sang the song, I had the kids slowly march in JP. In both JP and SP, I asked them to count how many times we sang "creak."

Westward Ho - we just barely sang this in SP

June Week 3

Monthly Theme: The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel Make It Possible for Me to Live with God Again

Week 3 & 4: When I am baptized, I make a covenant with God, The Holy Ghost comforts and guides me

We are not having week 4 officially, so I'll try to do both together

JP
Sing When I Hear My Father Pray - pitch lead
Sing Faith
Play Heads/Tails to review some of the songs

SP
Sing When I Hear My Father Pray - pitch lead
Sing the Fourth Article of Faith and then play 8 questions -
Idea from the Crazy Chorister Blog

Give hint - each song will have something to do with one of the first principles or ordinances of the Gospel

Faith p.96:
Faith is knowing I can return when my life ends on earth

The Holy Ghost p. 105
The Holy Spirit whispers with a still small voice

If I Listen with My Heart
He comforts me in times of need, He testifies of Christ

Repentance
I'm sorry is not always easy to say

Baptism p. 100
Jesus came to John, the Baptist, in Judea long ago

June Week 2

Monthly Theme: The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel Make It Possible for Me to Live with God Again

Weekly Theme: Repentance brings forgiveness

I had planned too much today. In Junior Primary - we only worked on Faith! I had the kids review by drawing pictures again for verse one. For verse two, I used an idea (I can't remember where) - where the kids bring up a picture that is on a string out of a pocket (I'll have to post pictures soon).

In Senior Primary, we did the same, but moved a little faster.

We played heads/tails again and worked on the song Repentance.

June Week 1

Monthly Theme: The First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel Make it Possible to for Me to Live with God Again

Weekly Theme: Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ leads us to love Him, trust Him and keep His commandments

Faith p. 96 (both Junior and Senior Primary)
Divide the white board into four sections. Write "Faith is" on each section. Have the kids draw a picture for each line (sun, person praying, seed/plant, heart/CTR)

Fourth Article of Faith p. 124
I used the visual from the April 2011 Friend. I enlarged it, and I had the children match up the pictures with the arrows. (Both JR and SR) The fun part of this song are the rests after each number of the principle/ordinance. It is fun to have the kids clap on the rests. In JP, I have them hold up their finger for the number and tap that finger or fingers on the palm of their other hand.

In Senior Primary, we added in the "Learning the Articles of Faith" activity in the September 2009 Friend. I wrote each one on a paper, and I challenged the children to see how quickly they could locate the correct posting.

When I Hear My Father Pray - We used the flip chart from Sugardoodle

Praise to the Man (in SP) - we used rhythm sticks. One side of the room tapped the rhythm and the other the beat. Finally, I challenged them to tap the beat with their foot and use the sticks to tap out the rhythm

May week 5

We will play keep the beat to review verse one and three of Praise to The Man. I didn't get to play the game - name that tune with a number cube - last week, so we are going to try it again. The kids really enjoyed singing Uno - both JR and SR. I'll definitely will pull that out again in the future.

For keep the beat, here are my four phrases

Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah
(repeat pattern twice)
Jesus anointed that prophet and seer
Blessed to open the last dispensation
Kings shall extol him and nations revere

Great is his glory and endless his priesthood
Ever and ever the keys he will hold
Faithful and true he will enter his kingdom
Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old

I think for future review of this song, we will try to do the "roller coaster" activity I've seen posted on Yahoo music groups - going up and down with song - a child leads the movement up front and everyone else joins in on the "ride"

Review sixth article of faith the the following minute to win it challenge:

Pick up six penne noodles placed around the perimeter of a table using only a piece of uncooked spaghetti in your mouth.

May Week 4

Monthly Theme: The Church of Jesus Christ Has Been Restored
Weekly Theme: The Priesthood has been restored

Praise the The Man: Verse 3
We will play the uno game to learn this verse from the Divine Secrets of a Primary Chorister Blog.

Red: Great is his glory and endless his priesthood
Blue: Ever and ever the keys he will hold
Green: Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdome,
Yellow: Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old

I hope to also work on the Sixth Article of Faith and the Priesthood is Restored.
For the Sixth Article of Faith, in Seniore Primary I will put up word cards of the names of the leaders, and ask them to arrange the names in order.

For both JP and SP, their challenge question will be "The names of the leaders have the rhythm that is usually long -short. One of them has a short-long rhythm. Which one is it?" (teacher)

For the Priesthood is Restored, I will rely on a flipchart form Jolly Jenn.

Finally, I'm anxious to try Name that Tune with a Number Cube from the Children Sing blog in order to review some songs.

May Week 3

Monthly Theme: The Church of Jesus Christ Has Been Restored
Weekly Theme: The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ

Praise to the Man -
In Junior Primary, we did "fancy feet" to review verse one. I put up color cards: I put up red for the quarter notes, blue for the dotted eighth notes, green for the eigth notes, and yellow for the whole notes. Then, we did actions for each color. We hopped on red, step and quick kick on blue, and stepped/stepped on green, and put our hands on our legs for yellow.

For the chorus, I copied the actions from a sister on the Primary Music Yahoo group.
Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven! Clap quietly with beat, rise hands
up as clapping for ascended.
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain. One fist up , other fist up, 2
punches (kids love this) then make X with arms still fisted
Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren; Hands up palms facing each
other and intertwine fingers, Plan- one hand like paper other like pen
Death cannot conquer the hero again. Shake head, then stand like a hero with
fists on hips- legs apart- stand tall J

In Senior Primary, I showed the clip from Youtube of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5id63Twddk

Then, we played the synonym game loosely based on the game on The Children Sing Blog.

Finally, in both Junior and Senior we played heads/tails to review songs. If the coin they flipped landed on heads, they chose a card from a pile of songs. If it landed on tails, they pulled from a challenge pile to "do" something. Some of the challenges included: giving all the grown ups in the room a high five, telling a favorite scripture story, choosing a wiggle song and leading it, naming the members of the bishopric, and naming all the kids in their class.

May Week 2

Monthly Theme: The Church of Jesus Christ Has Been Restored

Weekly Theme: Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration

I only did Junior Primary this week as it was Mother's Day. I was able to go to Relief Society during Senior Primary

I introduced the first verse of Praise to the Man to the Junior Primary. We played a memory game. I had four pictures with a key word from the four phrases of the first verse. I showed the picture as we sang the corresponding phrase. I instructed the children to study the picture carefully, because I'd hide it after we sang the phrase three times. Then I would ask them questions about the picture. They did great!

This picture's word was communed. We talked about the word. Here are my questions:

What kind of chair is Joseph sitting on?

What is the curtain doing?

This picture's word was annointed. Here are the questions:
What color are Joseph's pants?
Which hand is he holding up?

This picture's word was dispensation. The questions:
How many sets of scriptures are in the picture?
How many people are wearing a necklace?

I had a picture I found online of a map of nations. I only had one question - name three of the colors on the map.

We also reviewed Beautiful Savior with the scarves.

April Week 3

Monthly Theme: Jesus Christ is My Savior and Redeemer Weekley Theme: Through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved Beautiful Savior - finish verse three - we only got through verse 1 and 2. Review verse 1 and 2 - work on dynamics - next week - scarves Mother I Love you - Play name that word after reviewing verse 2 with Junior Primary Third Article of Faith - teach - we didn't get a chance to do last week

April week 2

Monthly Theme - Jesus Christ is My Savior and Redeemer Week 2 - Jesus Christ is the perfect example for me Beautiful Savior - p. 62 I loved the picture I found I Sugardoodle for this song. I have them cut out with magnets, and we will build the "frame" around the picture of Jesus as we learn the song. Later in the month, I plan to give the kids a copy of their own frame to color and pute together - a smaller sample though. I think I will put the questions in Easter Eggs - just to make things fun??? v. 1 questions: What three things are fair in heaven above? Who shines brighter and purer tahn the sun, moon, and stars? What does Jesus bring to all the world? There is a descending scale in this phrase. Listen to discover the five words that we sing when the melody goes down the scale (all the world his love) v. 2 questions What two creations are fair? In what are the meadows and woodlands robed? Who is fairer and purer than the meadows and woodlands? A beautiful meado or woodland can bring a very peaceful feeling to our spirits. Jesus can bring even more peace and happiness to our spirits than can nature. He can make our unhappy spirit sing. Listen to for the other words that mean "unhappy spirit." v. 3 - In this verse, we reverently give Jesus four titles of honor - what are they? Name four feelings of reverence that we give our Savior How long will we give praise and adoration to Jesus? I plan to teach the alto part to the senior primary for verse 2 as well as the optional descant for verse 3. Mother I Love You - SP - verse 2 - ascending scale - draw seven ascending lines challenge the SP to figure out which words go on the lines - I want to help you because happy and singing because JP - order pictures and pitch lead - help, mind, smiles (next week break song up and have one side sing one line the other side another) Third Article of Faith - melody pictures from A Children's Songbook Companion - fill in the words - atonement, mankind, laws, ordinances, gospel

March Week 4

Today was a singing scavenger hunt review. I had quotes from President Monson posted around the room. I took the idea from the Children Sing blog. I looked for "singers" to read the next clue. The riddles were easy, but they still liked them anyway. Here they are: 1 - Here is where you go to play a tune - a tool which is a primary boon (piano) 2 - When the weather is fair, you can open this to let in air (window) 3- If it dark and you feel a fright, here is where you go to turn on the light (light switch) 4 - This helps people hear - whether they sit far or near (podium/microphone) 5 - This has two legs but cannot walk. We write on it but not with chalk (whiteboard) 6 - This object needs no label. You'll find the next clue under the item that rhymes with Mabel (table) 7- If you left yours at home and feel like nerd, here is where you can borrow a copy of the Good Word (scripture stand)

February Week 4

Monthly Theme: The Scriptures Teach of Heavenly Father's Plan
Weekly Theme: I Will Follow God's Plan

I Will Follow God's Plan p. 164
Play word king/word king in both Junior Primary and Senior Primary. We have been working on this song with pictures, so we can easily use in both primaries.

How to play:
Hold a picture above a child's head. Tell the primary not to sing that word. Then, the child listens as the primary sings and tries to figure out which is their word

Seventh Article of Faith
Do balloon challenge with SP from last week. For SP, use a melody map illustrating the note steps "in the gift of tongues, prophecy" and see if they can match it to the correct place in the song

One in a Million
SP - draw the song

JP beat dance - chicken dance

If I Listen with My Heart
Lights on/off game

February Week 3

February theme: The Scriptures Teach of Heavenly Father's Plan

Week 3 theme: Families are central to Heavenly Father's Plan

Review I Will Follow God's Plan by playing the fly swatter game. Use the pictures we've been working with to play the game. (who is the leader might be a fun one to try next week)

Work on One in a Million - the song in the February 2011 Friend. Emphasize that there are about 1 million in Primary world wide. However - each child is unique and Heavenly Father has a plan for each one of us. Share parts of the children's book "How Much is a Million" to illustrate the concept of how many a million is.

Work on the timing of this song - talk about staccato.

Work on the seventh article of faith. - Play a minute to win it game - have four balloons and have two kids see if they can tap the balloons and keep them off the ground while we sing

Plan for February Week 2

Monthly Theme: The Scriptures Teach Of Heavenly Father's Plan

Weekly Theme: Jesus Christ created the earth for me

Review: I Will Follow God's Plan for Me p. 164

Junior Primary and Senior Primary:
Unscramble
Scramble the pictures from last week and challenge the children to put the pictures in the correct order while singing the song.

Stand Up/Sit Down - in Junior Primary have the children stand when then sing "I, me or my" and then sit the next time they sing one of those words. Continue to follow this pattern

Musical Chairs - in Senior Primary -leave an empty chair on each end of a row. Have the children slide over to the left on "I, me or my" and then over a chair to the right when they sing one of the words again - they will be going back and forth quite a lot during the song.

Seventh Article of Faith p. 126
tap out the pattern lap palm palm (hit lap on the strong beat), ask which words are held longest (tongues, so, forth) - discuss what the words mean

If I listen with my Heart - review with the flashlight game. Dim the lights. As the children sing spotlight one child and then another - those two children trade places. Continue in the same fashion as the song is sung

Plan for February Week 1

Monthly Theme: The Scriptures Teach of Heavenly Father's Plan

Week Theme: Heavenly Father has a plan for me.

Program Song: I Will Follow God's Plan for Me

Attention Getter - Show a map - ask what it is used for. Talk about other kinds of plans - recipes, blue prints, etc.

Show the plan of Salvation. Talk to the children about how Heavenly Father's plan for all His children is to encourage them to return to Him. In addition, Heavenly Father has unique and individual plans for each of us.

Introduce the Song by playing Hidden Pictures (link to an explanation of the game).

For Junior Primary
Break down the song into two parts for the game.
Part I:
My life is a gift (picture of a present)
My life has a plan (picture of a map)
My life has a purpose, in heaven it began (picture of people dressed in white)
My choice was to come to this lovely home on earth (picture of earth)
And seek for God's light (picture of flashlight)
To direct me from birth (picture of baby)

After covering the above, have the children "find" the pictures and put them in order
Part II:
I will follow God's plan for me (picture of footprints)
Holding fast to his word and his love (two pictures -one of the scriptures one of a heart)
I will work (girl washing dishes)
And I will pray (child praying)
I will always walk in his way (child walking)
Then I will be happy on earth (picture of happy face)
And in my home above (picture of house)

For senior primary, do the whole song at once.

If there is still some time, play the game suggested in the February 2011 Friend. Put the pictures on a tray. Have one child leave the room. Have the kids decide which picture to take off the tray. Have the child come back into the room and see if he/she can figure out which picture is missing.

My Plan for January week 4

January Theme: The Scriptures are the Word of God

Week 4 - I can know the Scriptures are True

Junior Primary
If I Listen with My Heart
Play the game "hot/cold" to review. I have hearts that can snap shut. We'll use the hearts to hide and seek. Inside the hearts will be discovery questions (also from the Children Sing blog) to ask about each verse of the song. Depending on the time frame of the day, we may sing each verse twice, so I'd have 1-2 questions for them to think about while singing

We'll start with the questions for verse 1. As the kids sing, they can be thinking of the answers to:
What two things would I have liked to do with the Savior? walk with him and listen to his words
What can I do to hear the words of the Savior? Search the scriptures
What word is on the highest note (question for SP only) peace/and

Verse 2 questions:
Who speaks the words that Christ would say? the prophet
What two words describe how the prophet teaches us to live? righteousness and peace

Verse 3 questions:
What does the Holy Ghost teach me? truth and right
What word describes how the Holy Ghost speaks to me? quiet
Besides teaching, what else does the Holy Ghost do? comforts, testifies of Christ

Ninth Article of Faith - this time, blindfold the teacher and see if they can tell if there class is singing (pick two classes to sing at a time)

same review songs as last week, perhaps if time, introduce Did Jesus Really Live Again p. 64
Show pictures (Burial of Jesus) and Mary and the Resurrected Lord). Play "When you hear"
verse 1 - When you hear what day Jesus came - hold up your fingers that represents the day
When you hear whose name he called - stand up

verse 2 - When you hear who Jesus came to, put your hands on your knees
when you hear the things he ate, put your hands on your head

verse 3- When you hear where the nail prints were, put your hands on your shoulders
When you hear what kind of wound was in his side, fold your arms

Wiggle songs for JP: Hinges p 277, Do as I'm Doing p. 276

My Plan for January week 3

January Theme: The Scriptures are the Word of God

Week 3 - The words of Christ will tell us all things we should do

Junior Primary:
If I Listen with My Heart - verse 3
Attention getter:
Print and show the Bright Idea from the Friend March 2010 page 27 - Our Father in Heaven is only a prayer away, and the Holy Ghost is within whispering distance. Discuss the ways we can hear/feel the Holy Ghost.

Wind wands - post directions for the wind wands - we can do actions as we learn the third verse. (my ideas for wands: overhead circle 4x, circle the floor 4x, snake to the right, snap!, overhead circle 4x, circle the floor 4x, snake to the left, snap!, circle right 4x, circle left 4x , figure eight 4x, snap! circle right 4x, circle left 4x, snake left, snake right, snap!
Review first and second verses

The Ninth Article of Faith p. 128 - Play Don't Eat Pete to review - Our grid will only be 3 x 3, I'll put up a poster with muffin cups taped to each square to hold the ski - sing song until Pete is found, use skittles, give everyone a small bag of skittles at the end (I imagine we'll play 3 times). I really like the Don't Eat Pete game board found here, and I'll probably use the graphics from it

Wiggle/Review Songs
Jesus Wants Me for A Sunbeam p. 60
Roll Your Hands p. 274
Our Door is Always Open p. 254
Have a Very Happy Birthday p. 284

Senior Primary:
If I Listen with My Heart - verse 3
Attention getter:
Same as Junior Primary

Verse Three - write each word on a heart - post the words in mixed up order and have the kids switch the words two at a time until the song is in the proper order. This is based on the teaching method - Song Scramble - found on one of my all time favorite blogs - The Children Sing.

After the song is in order, blindfold one of the children. Pick 5-6 kids to sing. Have the child who was blindfolded see if he/she can name some of the singers. Do this to review the first two verses as well. This is a neat idea - not mine, but I can't remember whom to attribute the idea to

The Ninth Article of Faith p. 128 - same activity as JP

Review Songs:
Our Door is Always Open p. 254
Have a Very Happy Birthday p. 284
Jesus is My True Light

Sharing Time: The Iron Rod chorus
Use actions:
Hold to the rod, the iron rod (have the kids hug their scriptures)
'Tis strong (make muscles), and bright (hand over eyes as if looking out on a sunny day), and true (sign for the word)
The iron rod is the word of God (hold scriptures again)
'Twill safely guide us through (sign for through)