LATTER-DAY PROPHETS

With March's theme being about prophets, I'm sure many of you have been planning on fitting in all those fun songs about prophets—if you haven't already begun. If you don't have any visual aids, here are some I made for the "Latter-day Prophets" song.  All files are listed at the bottom of this blog.

  

It seems to AMAZE the children to visually see how many latter-day prophets there have been when they see each one unfold as the song is sung via an accordion version using the pictures of each of the latter-day prophets with their name.  To make the accordion flip chart, I just took some page protectors and with a knife and a straight-edge cut off the side with the 3-holes so I had just the page pocket. Then using clear packing tape, I butted one page protector up against another and taped them together, repeating the process until I had 18 page protectors in a row all taped together.  Make sure you tape them all on the same side.  Insert the pictures with the taped side being the back, fold accordion style and away you go.  I used page protectors because I thought that maybe sometime I may do another flip chart or visual I would like to display accordion style so, this way all I would have to do is to switch out the pictures. You could just laminate the pictures and then tape them together accordion style.  Have 3-4 children stand in a row up front all spread out to help hold the accordion flip chart up as you sing and unfold the visual revealing each prophet. There is just something more spectacular about seeing one long row of prophets versus just having pictures posted on a board.  You could purchase the pictures from the Distribution Center or their online store, but I found it a little cheaper, at least for me, to print them and I wanted the names on the pictures.

If you prefer a smaller version, I've included a file with two pictures to a page.  Cut out each picture of the prophet to be the same size leaving a white border around the picture. Mine are 5 1/2" x 7 1/2".  You can mount them on sticks and/or add magnets to the back. Here are a few ways I used the smaller version:

• I started with the pictures mounted onto sticks having about five children come up, passing out the first five prophet pictures and having them put themselves in order as I sung the beginning of the song with the first five names. After learning that part of the song, we would repeat the process with the next group of names.

• Also, with the pictures mounted on the sticks, I would pass them out to the children and as we sang each prophets name, the child with that name would stand up then sit back down or hold them up.
• Another time I decided to add a magnet to the back (could just use loose magnets) so that I could post them on the board so they could see as we sung them especially when I used the fun fact clip art with actions.  More on that later. 
• Also on the board you can mix them up and then let a child or two put them in order. 
• What about removing one or two at a time as they begin to memorize the song. 
• You could do a variation of playing a match up game by having the pictures mixed up and face down on the board. Then take turns letting a child come up to turn over two pictures in an attempt to try and find the first two latter-day prophets.  When they find the first two, e.g. Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, put them above your "game section" in order, sing that part of the song then repeat trying to find the next two, e.g. John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, and so on.
• Another variation match up game is to match up the prophet with the fun fact clip art about the prophet.  See below for the file. 

As you are learning to sing the song, it would be fun to learn a little bit about each prophet.  I've included a fun fact sheet about the latter-day prophets that I've put together.  Actually, it is more than one sheet, but "fun fact sheets"  just didn't sound as spiffy.  I got most of the information off of the Church's web site.  There are also quotes from the prophets in blue as well as a coordinating song to sing, in red, if you want to do a "Choose and Review" activity sometime.  Along with the fun fact sheet, there is also a file with a fun fact clip art for each prophet and a key sheet file for the actions.  I've also included the link to the current version of the song. The ending is different than what is in the songbook, so if you want the music to coordinate with what you are singing, you will need a copy for you and your pianist.  Here are some ideas on using these files.

• Go over some of the fun facts for a few prophets each week.
• Tape the coordinating fun fact clip art onto the picture of the prophet.
• Sing the song using the action that goes along with each of the fun fact clip art and prophet.  This really helps the JR to learn the song.
• Do a choose and review activity by having the children take turns picking a picture, share the quote from the prophet and sing a song that relates to that prophet.  Some song choices I picked are listed on the Fun Fact Sheet.

The kiddos love to learn and sing this song.  They especially love hearing a little bit about the prophets life.  It helps to bring the prophets alive for the children.

LATTER-DAY PROPHET FILES

Full-Page Pictures

Smaller Sized Pictures

Fun Fact Sheets

Fun Fact Memory Pics

Sheet Music—Current Version

Action Key Sheet

SPEC—TACULAR SINGING SUNGLASSES

There I go again with those alliterations.  Don't you just  loooooove how it rolls off the tongue???  Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses!  Yeah, I know, it is just another fun, fancy, smancy name I made up for a well known Primary singing game.  Some of the names I've heard it go by are: Headband Hero, Word Nerd, and Hat Game.  It's been a couple of years since I've done this one, so I guess it is time to bring it back, except this time with a little bit of a President Hinkley "BE" STING to give it a little oomph using his "6 Be's", and maybe a couple of extra "Be" songs for good measure (probably won't get through them all, but at least there is a good choice to pick from.)

The basics of the game is that a Key word written on a word strip that has been chosen from the song or phrase you are working on is placed on a hat, in a sweatband, on glasses or smacked-dabbed with tape on a child's forehead.  Everyone can see the word except the child who is standing there in front of everyone else with the word prominantly displayed on his/her head or forehead.  The Primary sings the song or phrase but omits singing the word or la-la's over the word, or what works better for JR is to sing the word louder than the rest of the song. In JR Primary, since most of the kids can't read, have the child leave the room for a moment while you tell the rest of the children what the word is. The guessing child needs to listen carefully while singing the song in their head while everyone sings out load so he/she can figure out what the secret word is and then gives the answer at the end of the song or phrase you are singing.  This is a great way to review a song over-and-over-and-over-and-over-and-over. . . again. 

I will be using this as a choose and review singing time and this is how I will be doing it.

ITEMS NEEDED & FILES

• "Stand for the Right" visual found in this post 
• Picture of Gordon B. Hinkley
• Pictures that represent the 6 "Be's" plus pictures for the extra "Be's" you have chosen.

This is the Bee file for the following two items:

• Bee "Word Strips" with the Song Key Word—1 for each song/picture you will use. You can print the small bee images, one bee for each song, and write the key word for each song on the back of them.  I cut and laminated mine since I figured I may use them again for another activity.  Can just use a piece of paper.
• Bee on a Big Stick visual (optional but good for cueing the children).  I cut the bee out, laminated it, painted a paint stirrer stick that I then adhered my bee to.

Oooo, a hand model I will never be.

• Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses or other Key Word contraption holding device (hope you understood that technical jargon I used.) Instructions for the glasses & other spectacular eyewear options below.
• Bee Hand Puppet for each JR child.  (This is my file but I originally got the hand puppet idea from here.)  Just print on regular paper, cut around the music note frame leaving a little white border around it, fold in half, staple along both sides 3 times leaving the bottom open for inserting the hand. You could use your CTR sticks instead that can be found in this post for your children to raise to help clue the guessing child or just have them raise their hand or stand up on the secret word as they sing it.
• Song Key Sheet of songs you would like to sing (This is an example of mine)

Some of these items are optional depending on how much you want to do. Adjust for what works for you.

HOW TO PLAY

1. I plan on reviewing "Stand for the Right" first for a couple of times along with using sign language (cheat sheet file in this post) to get some movement in and warm them up.
2. Then I may switch out President Monson's picture with President Hinkley's from my SFTR visual on the board.
3. I will have the pictures I've selected to represent my "Be's" scattered face down on the board along with a word strip bee with the correlating song's key word written on the backside of the bee but taped with the word down on top of each back of the picture.  If you choose to just use a word strip, just make sure the word is face down on the back of the picture and cannot be seen through the paper.
4. Select a child to come up and pick a picture.  Show the picture and quickly ask about or explain the picture on how it helps us to stand for the right.  Here is a link to Hinkley's 6 Be's talk that he gave to the youth if you would like to review it.
5. Have the child put on the Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses. Remove the "Be" key word or word strip from the picture and place or adhere it on the Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses making sure the guessing child does not see the word (remember for the younger children, you may have to have the child leave the room first so you can tell the rest of the Primary the word.)
6. Sing the song that goes with the picture.  The "Be" key word may be in the song more than once, so be careful not to sing any of them.
1. For JR, I plan on using the bee hand puppets I made last year when I taught the SFTR song, except in this game, I will have the JR stand up and hold up their bee hand puppet when we sing the secret word. Of course, I will hold up my Bee on a Big Stick for both JR & SR as a cue for them. 
2. For SR, you could have them Bzzz and/or stand on the key word instead of not singing it.  
7. After singing the song, have the guessing child tell everyone what he/she thinks the word was.
8. Repeat taking turns with the picking and singing process.

HOW I MADE THESE SPEC—TACULAR SINGING SUNGLASSES

(Get it? Spec—tacular)

A variety of Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses to choose from!

Shortly after I was called as Primary Music Leader I went to a 3D movie and while waiting for the movie to start, I was staring blankly at my 3D glasses when suddenly, the music leader brain cells in me started churning and churning for ways to use this awesome piece of junk potential singing treasure in singing time. My Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses was born!  To make these, I cut off 3" from the bottom of a page protector. Used glue dots to adhere it to the top rim of the glasses.  Cut a colored piece of card stock to fit inside of it to help keep the page protector from flopping over and to give it some fun color.  The key word strip slides inside the sheet protector or you can tape it on the front.  I then cut out a treble clef and a music note or rather a sixteenth note with some scrap fun foam to give it a singing time awesome look.  And voilà! The most Super Spec—tacular Singing Sunglasses ever!  For the JR, try using the child size 3D glasses for a better fit on their small heads.  If you want something easier, there are fabulous and stylish glasses you can pick up from the dollar store nearest you and use as is or with a piece of tape wrapped around the center for a wordy-nerdy look or just use some ol' glamour style pair of glasses you have hanging around the house. 

ASL VS PSE: STAND FOR THE RIGHT CHEAT SHEET

AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE VS. PIDGIN SIGNED ENGLISH

Using sign language in teaching a song is a great method to help teach and reinforce the words to the song, especially for the younger children.  It also is a way to incorporate movement while the children keep their focus on you while concentrating on learning the song. "Stand for the Right" is a very easy song to teach with sign language.


Now, the true American Sign Language (ASL) has a different syntax than the spoken English, that is, the sentence structure is not spoken the same as the English speaking sentence structure a.k.a grammar.  Because true sign language will not match up with how one speaks the spoken word, or in this case sings the words, it can sometimes be confusing for children who want to relate the sign they are doing to the word(s) they are actually singing.  For this reason, I tend to teach sign language using what is known as Pidgin Signed English (PSE).  This combines English syntax with ASL signs; in essence, combining many signs from ASL but using it with a sentence structure more closely related to English.  This is actually a very common way for hearing signers whose first language is English and who doesn't sign on a regular basis as well, to sign with those who are deaf, and those who are deaf are very adept at understanding and using this form of English signing.  At least, this is what I have been told by those I know who are deaf.


Being that English is my first language and I am not deaf and the children in my Primary being the same, I am comfortable with not teaching signing in its truest sense, but teaching it in a way that is easier for non-signers to understand with the way they speak by using PSE.  The reason I am explaining this is so you know another way to sign and also can understand how I write out my cheat sheets I have made for songs that I teach signing for in case your preference is to teach true ASL; the cheat sheets are written in the order of PSE—signing in the order we sing the words—not ASL.


Here is a PSE cheat sheet file I have made for the simple signs for "Stand for the Right". It is laid out in a column format; you read down the first column of the page on the left and then down the right column before going to the next page.  The JR's love to do things with their hands and the kiddos will pick it up quickly—well, as for me, that's another story.

STAND FOR THE RIGHT: VISUAL IMAGERY

March is just around the corner and it's time to review  “Stand for the Right”...again.  It is nice to have an easy song after two months of new songs with three verses that the children have really never sung before in Primary.  But, then again, because this is an easy song this month, it will be a great opportunity to learn some extra songs we will be singing in the program or singing just for the fun of it. More on those songs another time.

With Fewer Words

Many of you may already have a visual for this song from last year, but for those that may not or would like something different than a flip chart, here is a visual I made using speech bubbles; after all, it is about our prophet having some  words for you!!!  

I've also included speech bubbles for President Hinkley's 6 B's in case you want to have some fun and switch out the "Be True" ones for a set of one of his 6 B's.

With Words

I printed these on card stock, laminated them and put magnetic strips on the back.  

HERE ARE THE FILES:

"Stand for the Right" with words
"Stand for the Right" with words but no background color

"Stand for the Right" with fewer words
"Stand for the Right" with fewer words but no background color

President Hinkley's 6 B's with color background

President Hinkley's 6 B's without color background

If you want to save on ink, you can print the 6 B's with the no background color just on white or on colored card stock.

The 6 B's files have the "Be True" speech bubbles in the file as well, so if you print the "Stand for the Right' visual, you won't need to print the "Be True" ones on the 6 B's files.

As they learn the song you can start removing them to help them re-memorize it. Maybe even take turns having a child leave the room, have another child remove one, bring the other child back in and guess which one is missing.  What about mixing them up and having a child put in order before you finish singing this song?

Stay tuned for a fun singing time review later this week using the 6 B's concept.

HAPPY SINGING IN MARCH!

CTR GAME

My husband, who by the way is a great support to me and my calling and sings his BIG ol’ heart out in Primary every Sunday, teaches the CTR 4 class this year.  One day as I was perusing through his “Primary 2: Choose the Right A” manual for the year I came upon this black and white CTR game board in lesson 14.  Well, that just turned on the light bulb in my head with the whole CTR theme for this year and of course I thought I would have to somehow implement this into singing time.  The game is a take off from the game Chutes and Ladders.

The color person in me just did not like the plain ol’ black and white version, so I decided to recreate it in living color.  I printed it out in a poster format in Adobe Reader by selecting in my print options “Tile all pages” under “Page Scaling”.  I’m a Mac person so this is how it works for me, but I would imagine Adobe Reader should have the same print option for the PC version.  Just to give you an idea, below is an image of the print screen so you can see where the option is for doing a poster.  Make sure you have the box checked for “Cut Marks”.  That will help you know where to cut off the excess edges.  I printed it at 250%, which printed it out on 9 pages and which gave me about a poster board size game board.  Depending on your printer, you may have to adjust the percentage until you get the size you want.  You can print it smaller or larger depending on your preference.  I printed mine on cardstock, cut off the edges and then butted them up to each other and taped them together on the backside using packaging tape.  This way it was sturdy for my liking yet I could fold it up.  You could print on paper and mount on poster board or just use paper if you prefer.

Print Screen

ITEMS NEEDED TO PLAY THE GAME:

• CTR Game Board
• 1-2 Magnetic Game Tokens
• Dice or Spinner (I picked up a set of 2.5" sized dice from the Dollar Tree store.)
• CTR Sticks or CTR Game Cards or Slips of paper with questions & Container
• Key Sheet for Questions (Word docx or PDF)
• Song Visual Aids (optional)
• Magnets

 

PREPARATION:

Make the CTR Game Board as mentioned above.

Prepare questions by writing them on the back of the laminated CTR Shields on the stick (found here in this post) or just make the CTR Shields without the stick for cards by using either a dry erase marker (may rub off if handled too much) or those wet erase markers like Expo Vis-à-Vis markers that you use to write on transparencies (won’t rub off easily but writing can be cleaned off with a damp paper towel or cloth.)  I’m planning on just numbering the back of the sticks and referring to my question key sheet to ask the questions.  More simple.  Place the sticks in a container to pick from.   If you have already made and used the CTR sticks for other activities, this is another way to reuse something you already have by using them for the children to pick the questions from.  If you don’t have or want to use the CTR Sticks/Shields, you could write or print and cut out the questions and place them in a container to choose from. 

HOW TO PLAY THE GAME:

I don’t split into teams for my JR since they are too young to handle competition, but I do on a rare occasion for my SR.  They are able to handle and do enjoy a friendly competition once in a while.  I have a lot of boys and that just seems to work for them in keeping their interest.

Take turns having a child come up and pick one of the CTR questions for the group/team to answer.  After they answer the question, let the person who answered the question correctly roll the dice to see how many spaces to move, sing the song if applicable.  If they don’t know the answer, give them a chance to discover the answer while the Primary sings the song and then let them answer after singing the song.  If they give the correct answer before you sing the song, tell them we’ll sing the song to check and see if they got the answer right.  Ohhhhh, we music leaders have tricks up our sleeves to get that singing in one-way or the other.  If they land on a CTR shield with a ladder, they get to move their game token up to the space at the top of the ladder.  If they land on a Wrong Choice space, they slide down to the space at the end of the slide or chute.  Obviously, they win when they reach the end at the Big CTR space.

CTR Poster

I plan on starting with having them roll one die each turn and adding a second one if needed to help speed the movement on the game so we hopefully can finish the game before the time is up.  Some questions are WRONG CHOICES! and they will have to roll the dice to see how many spaces they have to move backwards.  Some questions are not song questions so the team has a chance to answer it, if they can’t, the other team has a chance to answer and take the move. 

The game board and questions files are attached.  The links are above in the “Items needed to play the game” section.  I’ve chosen songs to sing that I would like to review with my Primary.  Feel free to adapt to the songs and questions you may want to review with your Primary.

Hope you have fun playingChoose the Right game.

RHYTHM STICKS OR CLAVES

Kids love rhythm sticks or claves (Klay-Vays—African/Latin) probably because they make loud noises and they get to bang them together.  Hey, when it comes to kids, it doesn't get much better than that especially when it comes to instruments.  Songs with an upbeat tempo such as “Choose the Right” and “Follow the Prophet” are great for using rhythm sticks.

You will need two sticks per child.  If you don't have enough, you can take turns by class.  You can purchase rhythm sticks for around  $2 and up a set.  Here are a couple of places on the Internet you can purchase them from: Front Row Experience and Amazon.  There are other various versions of the sticks as well. Purchasing rhythm sticks can be a bit costly though.  

If you don’t have a Primary budget for it, here are some options.

• You can make your own by purchasing 5/8” diameter dowels and cutting them into 8”-12” lengths.  You could fancy them up by painting them or keep them au naturel.  To even save more on the cost, you could go with a smaller diameter, but they won’t make as loud of a noise, which could be good or bad depending on how you look at it.
• You can also make them from ½” - 1” diameter PVC pipe
• You could buy pencils, especially during the back-to-school sale time.  Because of the size, the pencils will not make as loud of a sound.  Is that good? Bad?  Like I said before . . . your preference.  Oh yeah, don’t sharpen the pencils.
• Check out your local Chinese specialty grocery store and get some inexpensive wooden Chinese chopsticks, the ones with the blunt tips, not the Japanese ones with the more pointed tips. They usually have fairly inexpensive ones.  You could even collect those cheap disposable ones for free from the restaurants whenever you go and eat Chinese.  Just go out with a bunch of family or friends and have them all ask for a set, of course, wash them well after eating with them.  Cut off the tips and sand down if they are still a little too pointy. The best ones are the ones that you don't have to pull apart, but if that is all you can find, then make sure you sand down the rough edges where they are torn apart.  Maybe if you ask nicely, the restaurant will give you extra ones for free or for a nominal charge.  They aren't very expensive for the restaurants when they buy them in bulk—usually a few cents each or you can probably buy some in bulk off the internet for $5 or less for a set of 100. 

• You could check with your stake to see if they have some rhythm sticks that you can borrow.  If not, maybe you could suggest to the stake music leader to purchase some that can be shared with the wards in the stake.
• If you know someone that works at a school, you could borrow from there.  I’m fortunate to have a sister who works in a school that I am able to borrow the sticks from about 2-3 times a year. 

If you have never used rhythm sticks before, introduce them first by showing the children how they are tapped together to make a sound.  Explain that when the music is played or you sing the song, rhythm sticks are tapped together to the beat of the music (# of beats in a measure or can also be the tempo) or the rhythm of the music (sounds and silences in the music with differing lengths or gaps between them—basically the patterns of the notes/words being sung).

Before passing out the rhythm sticks, you must make sure you have made clear your expectations regarding the use of them.  I always explain that I know that they will treat the sticks nicely, that they will make sure they don’t poke, hit or hurt others with them, that they know stick fighting with them is not right (yep, all those boys I have), that they will keep them out of their mouth and when I say “sticks up” or have my sticks pointing upward, they must also have their sticks up and quiet.  Also let them know that if they choose to not follow the rules that the consequence will be to have their sticks taken away from them.  And most importantly, you must follow through if any children do not behave properly.  You can always return them to the child after a short time has passed with the reminder that they will be taken away again if they choose to not use the sticks right.  Setting the ground rules up front is a real important step to remember to do with anything you hand out to the children to use so that you can keep some semblance of order. 

WARNING!  This activity can be real fun for the children, but it can also get out of control if you don’t maintain control of the group.  Does it always go reverently—quietly?  Of course not, but having the guidelines and following through helps a lot.  Also, there will be some noise with the sticks hitting together, which is part of the experience, so, as an adult, if you are a bit sensitive to noises, rhythm instruments may not be for you or just use smaller diameter sticks. Yes, this is one time that Boyd K. Packer's quote of "Reverence . . .does not equate with absolute silence" will be generously utilized.

Here are some suggestions on how to use them:

• Have them tap the sticks together only on certain parts or words of the song.
• March around the room as you play the sticks.  This is mainly for JR.
• Sit on the floor in a circle or in a group and tap the sticks on the floor in front 4 times then tap sticks together 4 times. Repeat.  Add another tapping version to the mix, such as 4 taps above the head, after they have mastered the pattern taught.
• They can be played with a partner similar to hand clapping patterns I have explained in the "Books in the Book of Mormon" post here. (Scroll down to the bullet points.) This is usually too complicated for JR.
• Use the dynamics in the song to direct how to play the sticks; loud vs soft, staccato vs legato.
• After doing a few basic movements with the sticks, ask the children if they can think of a different way the rhythm sticks can be tapped together.  E.g. above the head, down low to the ground, behind your back, on the left side, on the right side, on the floor in front of you, on the floor to the right, left or either side of the legs, on the lap, on the shoulders, with a partner, turn then tap, kick a leg forward then tap, stomp-stomp-tap-tap, step to the left-tap, step to the right-tap, oh, the list could go on and on.  Oh yes, you can get a good workout from this!

As you can see, playing rhythm sticks is not only fun, but they are also great for reviewing a song over and over, teaching the rhythm and beat of a song as well as the children are able to use movement in their singing.

NEW GIVEAWAY WINNER PICKED

Since one of the winners did not respond to claim their giveaway gift,

the gift will be given to Someone Else.

Literally, the

New Winner

picked from Random.org is . . .

SOMEONE ELSE

So if this is your blog profile name and pic,

you are the winner of the CTRs on a stick.

I have already used these a few times in a variety of ways

in my primary and the children have loved them.

Please email me within 48 hours with your information

so that I can send you your gift.

I’m excited to hear from “Someone Else!”