Pansies and Popcorn: Scriptures

Showing posts with label Scriptures. Show all posts

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Book of Mormon Songs

I'm really excited about an idea that I'm going to use tomorrow. It's so simple, but I think it will be really fun! I'm first going tell the kids that we're singing about a special book today. Then we'll sing the "Books in the Book of Mormon" song and put up a timeline that coincides with the books. Then I'm going to add to the time line pictures that go with the stories that are in the verses of the song "Book of Mormon Stories". We'll go down the timeline and as we get to each picture, we'll lift it up and there will be the words to the verse that go with it. (I'm going to print each verse on a sheet of paper and attach the verses behind the pictures ahead of time and put them up with the picture when I put in on the timeline.) I think it will be fun for the kids to see them in order. I was going to add "Nephi's Courage" at the beginning with a picture of Nephi, then I found a verse for him that a lady named Emily Rosengren has made up, so might do that. I guess you could do both! :) She did several fun extra verses that you can find here on Sugardoodle. For the Sr. Primary, I think I'll add in all the "extra verses" So the order is:

Books in the Book of Mormon
Book of Mormon Stories (BOMS) verse #1

BOMS extra verse - Nephi

BOMS extra verse - Enos

BOMS extra verse - King Benjamin

BOMS verse #4 - Abinadi

BOMS verse #3 - Alma

BOMS verse #5 - Ammon

BOMS verse #6 - 2,000 Stripling Warriors

BOMS extra verse - Moroni

BOMS verse #7 - Samuel the Lamanite

BOMS verse #8 - Christ

BOMS extra verse - Jared's Brother

BOMS verse #2

I've realize a little problem. The stories in the Book of Mormon are not in chronological order! For example, the story of the brother of Jared on the timeline comes BEFORE the story of Lehi and his family but for the Books in the BOM song, the book of Ether needs to be in the right place. Another example is that in the book of Mosiah the story of King Benjamin comes before Abinadi and then the story of Alma the younger however, chronologically it goes Abinadi and then Benjamin and Alma are at the same time. So what I've decided to do, is for Jr. Primary, only do the books in order, put the pictures in the books they go in. For the Sr. Primary, I'm going to do the timeline first and then "compile" the stories the way that they appear in the BOM to sing the songs. :D

D'net Layton made a Book of Mormon stories wheel that I think would be cool to print of and assemble with an arrow with a brad. The Junior Primay would get a kick out of finding the right picture on their wheel that goes with the verse we're singing! Here are some actions you can do with the verses. I'm not sure who made them up, but they're posted on Sugardoodle. We may not get through all of them, but we can save extras for another day. :)

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Scripture Power!

I've been trying to find something I really love for the song "Scripture Power" and today I ran across this fabulous idea from Teaching LDS Children. It's only for the second verse, so I still need to come up with stuff for the 1st, but it inspired me!

(Visit their site to get the pattern!)

Sunday, February 6, 2011

New Testament Books Primary Wave

Today the kids were really restless after Sharing Time, so I tried an idea I found by Tami Reid on Sugar Doodle called Primary Wave that you do with the song "The Books in the New Testament" (adaptable to Old Testament too).

by Tami Reid / ga02182008

"I have a fun activity that we do with The Books in the New Testament. This idea is based on the concept of the stadium "wave" that you see done at college or professional sports games where part of the audience stands up with their arms up in the air, then the next section of the stadium stands up and so forth until the whole audience has a "wave" moving through it. We sing "The Books in the New Testament" with each class forming part of the wave and then going around and around the room with each "book" from the New Testament. It works especially well with Senior Primary children. It takes a little more work initially with the Junior primary children. However, they really enjoy this song/activity now that they know the words. When we get to each class' verse, they stand up with their arms in the air and sing the name of their "book(s)." Depending on how your room is situated, it may be easier for the music leader to stand in the middle of the room while leading this song/activity...

**Here's an example of how it goes...

Matthew --Sunbeams (Sunbeams stand up & sing "Matthew" with their arms raised high in the air.)
Mark -- CTR 5 (CTR 5s stand up & sing "Mark" with their arms raised while Sunbeams sit down.)
Luke -- CTR 6 (CTR 6s stand up & sing "Luke" with their arms raised while CTR 5s sit down.)
and John -- CTR 7 (Same pattern as above...)
The Acts -- CTR 8
and The Romans -- Valiant 9
1st & 2nd Corinthians -- Valiant 10
Galatians -- Valiant 11/12
Ephesians -- Sunbeams
Philippians -- CTR 5
Colossians -- CTR 6
1st & 2nd Thessalonians -- CTR 7
Timothy -- CTR 8
Timothy -- Valiant 9
Titus -- Valiant 10
and Philemon -- Valiant 11/12
then to the Hebrews -- Sunbeams
Epistle of James -- CTR 5
Peter -- CTR 6
Peter -- CTR 7
John -- CTR 8
John -- Valiant 9
John -- Valiant 10
Jude -- Valiant 11/12
Revelation -- Sunbeams
These are the Books of the New Testament -- All sing together

**My own children love to do this song in Family Home Evening with each person forming part of the "wave."

**Initially, to help the children learn the names of the books, I made posters with word strips and pictures signifying the name of the book (for the non-readers). We were fortunate to have a Primary/ward with many Matthews, Johns, Phillips, Peters, Timothy's and even a "Corinne" (for Corinthians). I had to get rather creative with some of the books obviously--some ideas might include a picture of a check mark for Mark; an oarsman in a boat for "Row-mans;" a glacier for Galatians, etc. "

It was a spur of the moment decision, so I didn't have it written on the board, or any word strips prepared or anything. So I "winged it'. We also have a small Primay and some of our classes are combined so I had to adapt that too. I assigned the classes "their books" and we started out slow and progressively sung it faster until it was up to speed. It took a little while for them to catch on, but they got it and seemed to have a lot of fun with it. :) Eventually I'd like to be able to sing it really fast with them. I also had a thought that if you had them keep their arms down and went the normal pace so that it was reverent, it might actually be a fun song to put in the program. : D

UPDATE (6/19/11): After trying several different ways, this is what I've come up with for this song. We're going to use it in the program and I want to do the sporatic singing but a little more reverently. So I've divided the song into five groups (some of our classes are combined because we're a bit small). Each group has a color.

Sunbeam/CTR 5 = Group #1 (Yellow)
CTR 6/CTR 7 = Group #2 (Orange)
CTR 8 = Group #3 (Purple)
Valiant Girls = Group #4 (Pink)
Valiant Boys = Group #5 (Green)

I made a large poster with all the words and underlined each section with the groups color so that they know when to sing. Each group stands up on their part to sing it and then sits down (except where noted). This is how I have it divided:

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, (Yellow)

the Acts and Romans, (Orange)
First and Second Corinthians, (Purple)
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, (Pink)
First and Second Thessalonians, (Green)
Timothy, Timothy, (Yellow)

Titus, Philemon, (Orange) Then to the Hebrews, (Purple)

Epistle of James, (Pink) - stay standing
Peter, Peter, John, John, John, (Green) - stay standing

Jude, Revelation— Jr. Primary - stay standing
These are the books of the New Testament. - Everyone.

They loved it! Especially since they figured out it was the same tune as their favorite program song this year, "Praise To The Man". The keep begging to sing it again! :D "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Sunday, January 16, 2011

The Iron Rod Flip Chart

I've made several flip charts for different songs, but I don't know how to put them on here yet. I did however, submit my first flip chart to Sugardoodle of the song "The Iron Rod". So you can follow the previous link to get to it. :)

If I Listen With My Heart

I really love the Theme Song that they've chosen for this year. The more we sing it, the more I love it!

Week 1: Introduction and "chorus"

To introduce the song "If I Listen With My Heart", I chose an idea from Loralee Kurzius:

Call a helper to the front. As you do so the Pianist discreetly makes a small tapping noise, peaks over piano and says, “Did you HEAR that? What is thatPretend you can’t hear it. When the kids tell you they can, tell

Ask the helper to tell you about their favorite scripture story. After they begin, cover your ears. If they stop talking, tell them to go ahead, you are listening and then start to hum and walk away while they are talking.

Discuss whether or not you were really listening.
What does it mean to “listen with my heart”?
Ask them how to listen with your heart (eye contact-not being busy, etc.)

Week 2: Verse 1

I also used part of an an idea from Loralee Kurzius and changed it just a little:

If we had been little children when Jesus lived on earth we could have walked with him and listen to his words. Well, we can’t go back to that time, but how can we hear his words today? (pull out scriptures) Discuss how reading the scriptures is listening to Christ's words. Although He isn't here in person, we can hear His voice through the scriptures.

Read a scripture quickly (she suggests Matthew7:26). Was I really listening to what I read?
Ask how to listen with your heart when reading (with the spirit)
Ask them to listen with their hearts while you read again (vs. 24).

To teach the words of the 1st verse, I wrote each line with a different color marker on a white board. We went color by color to learn the verse. That way, they knew when to stop and it broke the song up into learnable pieces. If you were reviewing, you could erase each color as they learn that part really well.

Week 3: Verse 2

For this week, we reviewed verse one and the chorus and then learned verse two. I found an idea that I really loved on the Teaching LDS Children website. I laminated the whole thing so that I can use it over and over! I showed it to my family the night before church when I got it all done, and they loved it!

You can go to their website for the full directions and patterns. :) It's really great!

Week 4: Verse 3

Next week, I plan on using part of an idea from Tanya Conrad:

I have several sounds recorded (from www.FindSounds.com). The ones I chose were:

1. Laughter of a Child
2. Doorbell
3. Elephant
4. Ambulance (these are louder sounds).

Then we will talk about how those are easier sounds to hear. What about quieter sounds? Then I will play:

1. Wind
2. River
3. Sparrow
4. Whisper (I whisper "And if I listen with my heart I hear the Savior's voice)

I will ask the children if they could understand what I said.

As I am using this for a different verse than she did, after I play the sounds I am going to talk about how the Holy Ghost is a quiet sound and we have to listen carefully to hear him. We will discuss how if we listen to the Holy Ghost, we can hear the Savior's voice.

I also really love this idea from Loralee Kurzius:

"When I teach the third verse of this song , (HG comforts me) I'll not only wear my warm, fuzzy slippers, but I'll get the presidency

and teachers to do it too. The kids will be so curious about them by the time we get to Singing Time that they'll totally go home

talking about it and remembering that the Holy Spirit give you a warm, comforting feeling!!!"

To teach the words of the song, I think I'm going to use another idea that I found on Teaching LDS Children:

"Tell the children that they are now going to learn the third verse of the song “If I Listen with My Heart”. Explain that this verse is about the Holy Ghost being a way we can hear the Savior’s voice. The Saviour communicates with us through the Holy Ghost. There are many different things that the Holy Ghost tells us that the Savior wants us to know.
Ask the children if they have ever seen a stain glass window. Explain that a stain glass window is many pieces of colored glass combined to make a beautiful picture. When light comes through the window, its beauty can fill us with joy, and uplift and warm our souls. Explain that the Holy Ghost can also fill our lives with joy, warm our souls, and light up our life with beauty. Like the different pieces of a stain glass window, there are different things the Holy Ghost does. A few of those things are mentioned in this verse."

There's a story to go with it as well from The Friend with photos she's put together that you could use if you have time. She does such a great job!

Click here for the story pictures, stain glass pattern, and word pages.

Week 5: Review

For the last week I want to review all three verses a couple of times. Before we sing, I'm going to review the three different ways we can hear the Savior's voice (the scriptures, the prophet, and the whisperings of the Holy Ghost). I'm going to use this idea I found on Teaching LDS Children where you put a picture of the Savior in the back and use pictures of the scriptures, the prophet and the words "whisperings of the Holy Ghost" printed on vellum to place over the picture of the Savior showing how you hear his voice through those three ways. Cool huh? (Click here for the verse one pictures and words to print.)

I will sing through the whole song with the flip chart I printed. (There are several different ones you can choose from on Sugardoodle) . The second time through, I'm going to hand out "Listen/Hear" sticks for the children to hold up on the right word as we sing. (This idea was originally in the Outline for Sharing Time 2011 pg.27) You print out these hearts with "Listen" and "Hear" on them and glue them to either side of a popsicle stick. (Click here for the link to the "Love Cards" or go to sharingtime.lds.org for a simple b&w version you can color).

They have to listen for the right words to hold them up on. The two words are used a lot more frequently in the first two verses, and only in the chorus on the third, but I that's ok. They'll have fun with them. :) (Update: The kids LOVED these! I've used them for a couple weeks now!)

Update: I actually ended up doing something different that the heart sticks. I'm going to use them in February. Instead, I used an idea that I found on Precious Primary for reviewing songs called "Leaping Frog". It worked so well, and the kids LOVED it! There were only enough lily pads for the first two phrases (18 notes) in the song, so then I used my frog on a popsicle stick to mark the melody up and down (as they suggest). (For following the lily pads, I used one on a skewer like the picture below). Once the kids got the hang of it, I passed out a "frog on a stick" to every child and let them follow the lily pads in their mind, hopping with their own frogs and then do the melody up and down like I had done. That was the most involved our little Sunbeams and CTR 5 classes have been in Singing Time and even the "big kids" thought it was fun! This one is definately a keeper!!!

More Review:

In February, I plan to use another idea from on Teaching LDS Children to help them memorize the song.

"You put all the words the first verse seperate (or in small groups) and put them on the board.

Then I will have each child search for their "Valentine Word" under their chair (if you have Jr. and Sr. Primary split, they'll need to put them back). Each word will be one that is sung in the song throughout the verse (the more frequent, the better). You call multiple children up to take out "thier words" so you can sing it again. You could do this several times with kids taking words out each time."

You could even adapt this to all three verses by adding words from the other verses and numbering the words 1,2, or 3. Then after you have sung each verse through once, you'd call multiple children up with the right number (verse 1, 2, or 3) to take out "thier words" so you can sing it again.

For the second verse, I'll take the word strips from week three off the rings and magnet them in order (with their help) on the board. We may see if someone can put them in order while we sing. :)

For the third verse, we may take the stain glass window apart piece at a time or something. I'll have to think about that one some more.

I'm hoping to have it memorized in time for our Ward Conference the end of February when the Stake comes to visit! :)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Scripture Songs

We started the year off with one of our favorite scripture songs, "Scripture Power". Of course the children had to raise their scriptures in the air on "Scripture Power", they LOVE this song.

Since this year's theme (2011) focuses on the scriptures. I set a goal to have all the Primary children learn the books in each of the standard works through the songs in the Children's Songbook. So today I introduced them to the children by just singing through each of them. They already know the "Books in the Book of Mormon" one pretty well, but I have plans to work on each of them little at a time throughout the year until they know all of them. For teaching "The Books in the New Testament" and "The Books in the Old Testament" I plan on using some ideas I read on Sugardoodle , Sugardoodle 2 that I really liked.

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