BACK-TO-SCHOOL REVIEW IDEA

Ahhhhhhhhh!

It's that time of year when children's excitement explode with anticipation of school and in wonderment of who will be their teacher, what classes they will have, which friends will be in their classes and of course, the joy of getting new school clothes and school supplies. I don't know why this is, but I just love school supplies. Yep, there is nothing like having a fresh box of 

crayons

with all their little pointy ends just waiting to touch a fresh piece of paper to see what will be created.

Here is an easy "Back-to-School" idea I did a couple of years ago to help review some of the program songs that needed some work or maybe you just have a song or two you need to work on over-and-over again. This can work for that too; just take turns repeat singing the song you want to work on doing the singing activity according to the school item chosen each turn then moving on to another song after you feel they have sung that song enough times and are ready to move on. If you choose to do all the program songs instead of a select few, this activity will probably last you a couple of weeks. You probably have several, if not all, of these school items around the house.

HOW

1. Grab a backpack or a school box that you will fill with some school supplies for the children to pick from.
1. If your backpack has several pockets, put an item in each pocket for the children to select from.
2. Select a school supply for each song you plan to sing or have time to review if you are doing repeat singing on a song. See list below.
3. Assign a song to each school item you've chosen unless you plan on just singing one or two songs for repeat singing. 
4. Take turns having a child pick a school item from the backpack or box.
5. Sing the song according to that item's activity. 

SCHOOL SUPPLIES AND ACTIVITIES (key sheet downloadable below)

Book: A mini Children's Songbook would be great to use for this. Have a few bookmarks placed in the songbook under some selected songs (or written on the bookmark if you are not using the songbook) and have the child pick one of the bookmarks. Then sing that song. Instead of bookmarks, you could have the child pick their favorite song to sing. Another option is to have the children "read" the song by saying the words instead of singing.

Calculator: Choose a word in a song that is used several times and have the children count how many times that word is sung in the song. Have the JR hold their hand(s) up while they sing and count on their fingers. For SR, at the end of the song, have them hold up the number on their fingers when you ring the bell to see how many are right.

Crayons or Markers (set of 8-10 colors): Hold half the colors in one hand and the other half in the other hand. When one hand with the crayons/markers is held up, the children wearing those colors sing while the other children hum, la-la or oooooo and vice-versa with the other handful of colors. Take turns switching between colors. You could just select a few colors for each hand if you prefer.

Eraser(s): "Erase" one or two words from the song by not singing them. Preselect the word(s) in the song you want to omit from singing. If there are 2-3 words to select from, then you could write each of the words on a different eraser and have the child pick one to determine which word to omit. This is a good one for a sign language song; although they would omit singing the word, they would continue doing the sign language.

Flash Cards (Directional Singing Bird Cards): Put several of the Directional Singing Bird Cards in a stack and as you flash the cards over, the children sing according to the flash card. You may want to manually sort them in the stack to help control the order for how they sing.

Glue: Have them "glue" themselves in some pose that they have to hold through the song or for a more reverent song, have them glue their hands together or arms in a folded position.

Magnetic Letters: Have a child pick a letter from the little bag or box you have the magnetic letters in and while singing, they must omit singing each word that begins with the letter that was picked. In preparation for this one, look ahead at the song you have chosen for this activity and select several magnetic letters to put in your container that have several words using those letters in the song. This would mainly be for SR's since this would be a little difficult for the JRs.

Notebook of Paper: Pass out a piece of paper to each child from the notebook and have the children snap the paper to certain words, for example for the song "Choose the Right" you could have them snap the paper whenever they sing the words "choose the right", or they could play their piece of paper by holding it in one hand and hitting it with the fingers from the other hand to the beat of the song while they sing.

Notepad and Pen or Chalk or Small Dry Erase Board and Marker: Give the notepad and pen, piece of chalk or dry erase board and marker to a child. While singing, randomly stop the song and the child must write what the next word is on the notepad, chalkboard or dry erase board. Pick up singing where you left off and repeat stopping another time or two during the song. Have the child write down each word after each stop and check it after you finish the song or you could have a different child come up each time.

Pencils: Have a pencil for each child to pitch lead or conduct with as you sing. You could let the children keep the pencils afterwards.

Pencil Sharpener: Sharpen the words in the song by enunciating each word as you sing while slightly exaggerating the mouth.

Ruler: Who rules? Boys or Girls? Have a boy and a girl come up front. When you point to the girl with the ruler, the girls sing. When you point to the boy, of course, the boys sing. The girl and boy who represent the teams must of course also be singing to help represent their group. Another option is to have the girls and the boys each take turns singing the song separately to see who "rules". Or another option is that you could measure the volume by moving the ruler up and down: raising the ruler to increase the volume (crescendo), lowering the ruler to reduce the volume (decrescendo) or moving it to mid point for normal volume.

Scissors: Have everyone stand still while singing and as they sing you walk around "cutting out" the non-singers and wigglers by tapping them on the shoulder or head to sit down, but they need to keep singing. For SR I like to make it more challenging and to help prevent the goof-offy kids from wiggling on purpose so they can sit down by telling them that any that get "cut out" get the privilege to come up front and be a mini choir and re-sing the song.

Toy: Jump Rope, Ball or Other Small Toy = Recess Time: You will need a bell for this. When the bell rings, the children take a "recess" from singing the words and then when it rings again, they pick up singing the song where the music is. (The music continues playing when they are on "recess", so they have to keep singing it in their heads so they know which word they are on when they start singing again when "recess" is over and the bell rings.)

Remember, if you have the children control these school items for the singing activities instead of you controlling them, give them the rule of 6, 5 or 3 (for short songs). They can't switch more than that number of times in the song and they have to count to at least that number before they can switch again. For JR I don't have to use this rule, but I always do with my SR kids because there are some of them that just think it is so funny to keep switching back-and-forth quickly as many times as possible. (Well, okay, it is funny, but a bit difficult to sing.) I gotta keep ahead of those smartie-pants. 

OTHER IDEAS TO ADD A LITTLE MORE "SCHOOLING" EXCITEMENT IF YOU FEEL LIKE IT

• You can also give them a grade on the song for how well they sang it while doing the activity. Write the song and grade up on the chalkboard to make it more school-like.
• You could ham it up a bit by putting your hair in a bun or clip and sticking a couple of pencils in the bun. You could also put on reading glasses to give you more of a "teacher" look. I also like to throw on one of those eyeglass necklace chains that go on glasses so I don't have to wear the reading glasses the whole time since I don't wear glasses and I would get dizzy if I had to keep looking through the reading glasses; I just like to have the glasses hanging from my neck.
• If you have one of those desk bells, you could ring it before picking the next child to pick from the backpack. You could even tell them that when they hear the bell, they need to sit at attention with their arms folded so you can pick the next child. Just a little extra added bonus to help maintain reverence.
• You could even keep in theme with this month's song by having each child that comes up to pick share something they have done or can do to be like Jesus before they pick from the backpack.
• Have a basket of apples and hand out an apple to each teacher at the end of singing time.
• You could also add the "Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses" idea to this by having another child guess the omitted word in SR Primary or the loudly sung word in JR Primary. You could even remove the dark lenses on a pair so they look more "wordy—nerdy".
• To help choose the helpers, you could tape numbered cut outs of apples under the chairs and have the children look under their chairs. Those children that get an apple under their chair are your helpers starting with #1. Or, if you have metal chairs, you could put some of those magnetic alphabet letters under the chairs and you would call you helpers up as needed starting with the letter "A". Only use one letter of each in the alphabet though.
• I like to set up my little table I use in Primary (that usually holds all my singing time paraphernalia) like a desk with my bell, finger pointer stick, basket of apples, pencil cup filled with the pencils I will use for pitch leading/conducting, stapler and the backpack.

Well, I hope that gives you some fun Back-to-School reviewing ideas.

8/25/12 9:00 pm
I've updated the key sheet to include one I forgot and I added another. 

Back to School Singing Key Sheet Nalani

DIRECTIONAL SINGING BIRDS

I like to use different aids to help direct the children in WHO will be singing and/or HOW we will be singing. I call these my Directional Singing Aids. Of course, with birds known for their singing and my last name being BIRD, I would be amiss if I didn't have some directional singing aid that wasn't bird related. So, one such aid I have created is my Directional Singing Birds. I have different bird signs that either show WHO can sing as well as HOW we should "sing".  


These are fun & easy to use whenever you need to help teach the melody of the song or sing a song over and over and over again. I've made two sizes that I use in different ways and have included the files below, but the smaller size might just be fine if you have a smaller Primary and only want to do one size.


The full, paper-sized sheets are laminated and then each mounted on a paint stirring stick. You could mount each individually on a stick or if you want, do two per stick, back-to-back keeping the "Who" birds grouped together and the "How" birds grouped together. That is what I did, but with the "Sing" and the "Hum" on their own sticks since I didn't have another one to group with each of those and besides, if I come up with another "Who" or "How" bird, I can add it to the back of those; but you could even put the hum and sing together on one stick. You may want to separate the girls and boys signs in case you want to hold up both for both to sing or you could just hold up the sing for both boys and girls. Instead of laminating, you could just put them in sheet protectors and hold them up. You only need to print one set of these larger birds

I will switch between two or more birds while we sing only using the WHO and other times only using the HOW. But then sometimes I may hold up a WHO and a HOW at the same time and switch them out while they are singing to make it a little trickier. This is a little easier to do if you only use one in each hand. It can be a little more trickier if you try to switch between several. To use more birds, an easier way is with the smaller size and posting them on the board as I'll explain below.

For the smaller size (2-per page file), print one or two sets of the birds except the Sing Bird. Print several of the Sing Birds so you have more opportunities to sing all together and maybe even a couple of extra of the "girls" and "boys" cards.  Cut around each leaving about a 1/4" border, laminate them and then adhere magnetic tape on the back side at the top and bottom. 

To use, post the flip chart to the song you will be teaching/reviewing (I use my magnetic page protectors on the board. See here for the post on how I make my magnetic page protectors for flip charts.) Have some children each pick a bird card that you have face down and fanned out like cards in your hands or in a stack on the table or displayed on the chalkboard rail. Then have each child place the one they picked under one of the flip chart pages and then sing the phrase, phrases, verse or the whole song in the order of the "Birds." After singing it through, continue to repeat the process until the time is up for that activity. 

Example of using just "WHO" sings birds

Example of using a mix of "WHO" & "HOW" birds.

You could also remove all the "Sing" birds from the draw pile keeping them separate and then only have a few children, depending on how many flip chart pages you have up, each pick a card and put up on the board under any flip chart page and then you fill in the rest with the "Sing" bird cards.

Another way to use these are like flash cards. Hold the "shuffled" stack in your hands face out to the children with the "Sing" card first, start singing and as you sing the song, every now and then, move the front card to the back and the next card up is who or how they will continue to sing the song. This keeps it fun and they have to concentrate a little since they don't know what will come up next and if they are "Ahhhhhing" and then a "Sing" card comes up, they will need to pick up singing the words from that point on. 

I will be using some of the birds in helping the children learn the new melody I will be teaching for the song

"The Wise Man and the Foolish Man". 

I will be posting my ideas for that song next if you are interested.


Have fun singing like birds!!!

Bird Directional Singing Signs-Large-Nalani
Bird Directional Singing Signs-2-Per Pg-Nalani

MOTHER'S DAY: LOVING HANDS

These are the beautiful loving hands
of my daughter-in-law

A couple of month's ago I took pictures of something I was holding in my hands. My first impression upon looking at the pictures was, 
"Ooooooooo, my hands are so old and worn looking." After staring at the picture for a bit, I noticed the scar on my hand from when I was crossing a busy street one day when the baby in my womb moved in such a way to pinch a nerve that caused me to loose all feeling in my left leg, which resulted with me falling to the ground in the middle of the crosswalk. The scar reminded me of my attempt at protecting the child of mine from the fall and despite the blood and pain from my arm and hand at the time, I was exhilarated from the life I felt that let me know that this baby was still alive. Having lost several babies before around the 6th & 7th month of pregnancy, every movement I felt was a JOY no matter how much pain or discomfort it caused. As I continued to look at my hands, I began to also SEE the things I cleaned around the house, the foods I cooked, the dishes I washed, the clothes I ironed, the dresses and costumes I sewed, the weeds I pulled in my garden, the places I drove to take my children, the diapers I changed, the school projects I helped put together, the pages I turned during bedtime stories, the massages I gave to tired and aching muscles, the hugs I gave to give comfort and love, the hands I held in moments of fear, the tears I wiped in times of sadness and joy, the kleenex I held to wipe runny noses, the babies I held to rock gently to sleep, the many letters I wrote to my sons serving missions. . . oh, the list goes on-and-on and let's not forget the children who are led in song in Primary each week. Looking at my hands I saw a lifetime of hard work and love given to others. So yes, every scar, wrinkle, freckle, age spot, puffy vein, cracked and pudgy part have all been well earned and told the story of my life and the loving things I did. That is what got me thinking about the loving hands of those who love and take care of us.


So in-light of that, this is what rattled around in my head back then to do when Mother's Day came up. As a side note, using the gloves and dynamics part to sing can also be used any time you want to review a song or do a choose and review activity.  

• Take pictures of the loving hands of all the Primary children's mothers or where applicable, those who help take care and raise them, because these days, not all children live with a mother. Sometimes it is their grandma, their dad, an older sibling, an aunt, a foster mother, so take a picture of their loving hands if the mother is not available.
• It has taken a few hours to get pictures of loving hands for every child (I'm still trying to get the last few), so a quicker solution is to only take pictures of a select few, especially if you have a large Primary.
• I'm probably going to print out the pictures of the hands and group several together to post on the board at a time, but another option might be is to show them on a laptop or iPad, but that might be more cumbersome to flip back-and-forth with if you have a lot of pictures.
• Before I begin I will have the children take a look at their hands and ask them to think of kind things they have done with their hands this past week and maybe have a few children share. I'll also make a quick mention along the lines that our hands are capable of doing many kind and good things and when we do kind and good things, our hands become loving hands. I'll then segue into how we also have people in our lives who help us with their loving hands.
• Post on the board or hold up a few pictures of loving hands and have the children see if they can recognize any of the loving hands. I am a little nervous on how much time this might take, so be careful and only give them a little time to guess before giving them the answers. Depending on how many pictures you have you could print one or two sets of hands per page. I wouldn't go smaller since it might be difficult for the children to see the pictures.
• Have a selection of gloves displayed in a basket or laid out on a table. I will use my singing apron with big pockets to put the gloves in. The children will choose a pair of gloves that will determine the song to be sung and how the song will be led with loving hands. I may have a child help lead with the gloves, but I am leaning this time towards leading myself to help save on time and because that will also give me more control on leading the songs with the various dynamics since sometimes kids can get a little silly. I'll give a list of possible gloves that you can use and some dynamics for how to sing below.
• If you don't want to use gloves, you could just assign a song to the picture or group of pictures or maybe you just want to use the gloves and not worry about the pictures of the hands.
• After singing a song, repeat taking a moment to guess a few more loving hands pictures before going to the next song.
• Here are a few options for types of songs to sing:
• Mother's Day songs
• Program songs
• The mother's favorite Primary song. If you are choosing songs by picture instead of gloves and have a lot of pictures you are grouping together, you could ask the mothers for a few of their favorite Primary songs instead of just their favorite and then group the pictures together of those that have a similar favorite song. So far in the list I've gathered of the favorite songs from mothers and grandmothers there are many common ones between the mothers which helps make it easier to group together since I am trying to get pictures of all the loving hands.
• Have a mix of Mother's Day songs, program songs and some of the favorites off of the mother's favorites list you've made. I'm going with this option using the gloves.
• Gloves—Here is a list of possible gloves you might have around the house to use for the children to select from. Assign songs and a way to sing the song to the gloves. If you want to just review a song over and over again, just assign a way to sing to each pair of gloves you use:
• Evening or Dress Gloves (I love the elbow length gloves)
• Gardening Gloves
• Work Gloves
• Cleaning Gloves
• Oven Mitt
• Winter Gloves
• Surgical Gloves
• Driving Gloves
• Leather Gloves
• Exercise Gloves (biking, weight-lifting, etc.)
• Baseball Glove
• Car Washing Mitt
• Ski Gloves
• Scuba Diving Gloves
• Boxing Gloves (yes, mothers do fight for us in so many ways)
• Maybe you can think of other gloves to help demonstrate the many things loving hands do. If you do, please leave a comment to share.
• Dynamic Ways to Sing—assign to songs/gloves and lead the children switching between the dynamics. These are great ways to practice with the children on following you and familiarizing themselves with the different ways to sing in relation to how you will lead them. I do exaggerate a little on the leading to help them differentiate between the two I'm switching between and it also helps to keep their eyes on me. The kids seem to really pay attention to my hands when I put on gloves. I guess it gives them a focal point or maybe it is just my exaggerated "maestro" conducting. I've listed the musical terms and their definition. The list below is pretty self-explanatory on how you would lead them, but I'll give an explanation on a few that may not seem as clear.
• Forte (strong and loud) & Piano (gently & softly)
• Allegro (cheerful & fast) & Largo (slowly)
• Staccato (short) & Legato (flowing & smoothly)
• A Capella (without accompaniment) & Con Musica (with Accompaniment)
• I will hold out my right hand in a stop mode toward the pianist to stop playing while I continue leading with my other hand then I lead with both hands for the pianist to play or you could lead up high for A Capella and down low for with the piano if leading with your non-dominate hand is more difficult.
• Crescendo (growing in sound) & Diminuendo (diminishing in sound)
• Ragazze (e is pronounced like an a) (girls) & Ragazzi (i is pronounced as an e) (boys)
• Lead right-handed for boys and left-handed for girls and both handed for both to sing or up high, down low and in the middle
• Fermata (every now and then, have them hold the note)
• Vibrato (vibrating/pulsating change of pitch—like opera—you could have the children wiggle their finger on their throat) & Straight Tone (normal voice)
• Use your finger on the throat for vibrato and off the throat for normal singing

Happy Mother's Day to all you fantastic women out there that give so much with your loving hands!!!