SUCCESS!!!

YEAH!!! Program day finally came!  It seemed like forever in getting here with all the changes and extra church activities we have had in our ward, but now we are done and I couldn't be more proud of those kids.  They sure sang their little ol' hearts out for me and and, of course, their parents.  Even brought some tears to my eyes as I could feel their sweet spirit in their voices. I was a little nervous on whether it was going to turn out or not after our Saturday practice when things didn't seem to go right, but today was pretty darn perfect. The children's sweet spirit always seem to make the program special no matter what happens. The kids really pulled it out. I'm a toughie and don't use any visual aids or words for the program. Yep, I like them to learn the songs well and they did marvelous! I was unsure if our smaller Primary this year could get the volume to fill the chapel and overflow, but they did it. Yep, I'm as proud as a peacock right now for such wonderful kids. And I'm especially proud of the children I called and challenged to do solos and musical parts; all for the first time too! What a wonderful experience for them and treat for the congregation. It has just been amazing watching these children grow and learn and develop a love for music and these beautiful Primary songs over the few years I've been teaching them. Just thought I'd post a quick update on how our program went.

Oh, yes, can I just share a tidbit that just <<<hugged>>> my heart? I had so many children give me hugs before and after the program. It is moments like these that is just the cherry on top—it makes all the hard work, long hours and gray hairs worth it. Yep, I'm a proud mother hen.  

I had hoped to post some program helps in the previous months, but didn't have any time to do that. Sorry to those of you who emailed me and asked. There is always next year, so I'll try and post some later. 

Now folks, I guess it is time to plan for next year. I will try and post some planning forms and helps that I use to help me.

I would love to see your comments on how your program went. Also, please share anything special that just hugged your heart. You just gotta love those moments!

CHILDREN ALL OVER THE WORLD

One of my favorite Primary songs

during Thanksgiving time is

"Children All Over the World."

I just love the happy, swaying melody.  I've made a flip chart you can download below. I also made some fun posters that I got the idea from the book, The Children's Songbook Companion which was originally designed to be a lesson manual for the Children's Songbook. I embellished the posters some. I will try and take pictures and post as soon as I can.  Here is a lesson plan and some ideas on presenting the song to the children that I put together last year. 

LESSON PLAN WITH VARIOUS IDEAS TO USE

• Say one of the foreign words for "thank you" in the song that the children may not know then ask:
• If you know what I said, raise your hand.
• What? you don't understand this word?
• Do you think that Heavenly Father understands this word?
• There are children that live all over the world and they speak many different languages.
• Do you think Heavenly Father understands all those different languages?
• I want you to listen while I sing to find out if Heavenly Father really does understand all the children around the world. [YES]
• I want you to also listen for the word I said (repeat the foreign word "thank you" in the language you chose earlier) and see if you can figure out what the words means.  [THANK YOU]
• Sing then receive answers
• Post flip chart on the board so teachers can sing with you.
• Listen again and this time count how many different languages I sing for "Thank You." [6]
• Sing again and let the teachers sing with you if you want then receive answers.

• SWAY & FREEZE
• Tell the children to follow you carefully swaying side-to-side with their bodies and arms but they must freeze when I stop singing.
• The piano stops as well. It is helpful for the pianist if he/she sees your arms swaying so he/she knows when you stop and so the pianist can stop.
• Stop and freeze after each short phrase only working on a section at a time. Here is an example of a section of the song cut into four phrases.
• Phrase 1: All over the world at the end of day
• Phrase 2: Heavenly Father's children kneel down and pray
• Phrase 3: Each saying, "Thank you" in his own special way
• Phrase 4: Saying, "Thank you. Thank you." In his own special way
• Repeat swaying and singing going through each phrase with the children repeating each phrase a time a two before moving to the next phrase.
• Repeat the process when you are ready to move to the next section of the song.

• Make sure you help the children pronounce the foreign words.

• CHILDREN POSTERS
• Make and use posters for the children to hold up while they sing. The kids do love the posters. Another fun thing to do with the posters is to have the teachers come up and be the "poster children" holding them. The kids get a good laugh out of that. I'll post the ones I made as soon as I can.

• BELLS
• Invite 4 children to play the bells on the words “THANK YOU” (all languages) & after singing “He loves them” at the end of the song.
• This is great to start doing when you want to practice just the last section of the song on the "loves them" part. This can give a nice break from the Sway & Freeze activity. Have them ring the bells 2 times all together on the echo part of "loves them" and after "every one." After they get the end of the song down, sing the whole song through and incorporate the bells when ever "Thank you" is sung as well.
• I used the following tone bells: Low A, D, F#, & A. You could add G if you want 5.

• OTHER POSSIBLE QUESTIONS TO ASK
• Write the following questions on pieces of paper and attach to different flags from around the world or print another set of flags from the flip chart and cut out and attach the questions or put the questions in a bowl to pick from. As you are learning the song, have a child pick one of the questions and have the Primary listen for the answer as they sing the song.
• What do Heavenly Father’s children all over the world do at the end of day? [Kneel and pray]
• What does each child say in his own special way? [Thank you]
• Who hears them? [Heavenly Father]
• What else do we learn about Heavenly Father? [That he knows, loves and understands the language of every person.]
• Tender voices are heard where? [All over the world.]
• You could have them figure out which country each language is from in the song.
• Gracias: Spanish
• Malo: Tongan
• Wir danken dir: German
• Tak: Danish
• Merci: French
• Kansha shimasu: Japanese

BEAR YOUR TESTIMONY that Heavenly Father does love every single child around the world no matter where they live, what they look like or what language they speak and that Heavenly Father does understand you when you pray to him.

Hope that gives you some fun ideas for teaching the song.

Children All Over the World—FC-Nalani

I PRAY IN FAITH: SING-A-STORY SKIT

I wasn't able to get this posted earlier as I originally hoped. There were some technical difficulties with uploading to Scribd but it is working now, so here you go.

Last year I decided to teach "I Pray in Faith" during Thanksgiving time. It is not a song we would normally think of for a song of gratitude, but if you think about it, prayer is an important way that we can talk to our Father in Heaven and share all that we are thankful for. I like throwing something else in the mix than the typical thankful songs that remind the children of things they are thankful for, like one that also teaches how they can show their gratitude.

This can also be tied in with this week's theme of I can be a missionary by setting a good example by being an example of prayer.  Another way to tie it in is you could point out that missionaries have prayers with their investigators. This helps to teach the investigators about the importance of prayer, many of which may not even know how to pray.  Maybe you can think of something even better to tie it in.

"I Pray in Faith" lends itself nicely to a Sing-a-Story and that is how I introduced it. The children were just glued to the presentation, were amazingly reverent and picked up the song quickly because they were engaged in what was going on and were comprehending the importance of prayer and how to pray. Mind you, the script is a pretty simple story line, but simplicity in understanding helps to make things easier to learn. If you are not sure what a Sing-a-Story is, click here for an explanation and click here for an example of another way to present a Sing-a-Story with an Easter theme.

The Easter example link above uses narrative stories, pictures and several songs that correlate with the stories and pictures. For "I Pray in Faith", the Sing-a-Story is a song specific skit singing the words of the song as part of the script. This helps the children to hear the words to the song in a purposeful manner and let's them focus on the words and their meaning. When you present this, make sure you bring out the actor in you and act the part throwing in some fun "drama" to make it interesting and engaging to the children. All you need are a few simple props, someone to help act as your BFF (best friend forever) in the skit and some courage if you are a little shy to have that attention on you as you sing your parts. Oh, you will also need your pianist to help out too. 

Here are the props you will need:

• 2 chairs
• 2 dolls
• 2 bathrobes to be placed on the back of the chairs
• A large, cushy pillow or two to kneel on if you and your BFF have tender knees like me (optional)

Here is the script. I will include a link to a downloadable pdf version at the bottom of the post.

“I PRAY IN FAITH” SING-A-STORY SCRIPT

PIANIST:  Softly play melody of first verse as the girls come in.

Really have fun with this skit and act it up.

Girls come in through the door holding their dolls and walk to the front of the room while laughing, jabbering and giggling like girlfriends do. Sit down in chairs as if on the edge of your bed or plop on the floor and start playing with the dolls.

YOU [excited]

I’m so happy that you could sleep over tonight?

BFF [excited]

Me too! We should do a sleep over EVERY weekend!

YOU

That would be soooooo cool! But I bet our moms won’t let us do that.  [Yawn] I’m really tired. We better get ready for bed before my mom gets MAD at us.

BFF [sighing & rolling eyes back]

Yeah, you're right.

Girls get ready for bed by taking shoes off and putting on the bathrobes. 

BFF

[Shake hands by face while opening eyes wide.]

Hey, before we go to sleep, let’s tell some scary stories.

YOU

[Clap hands in excitement.]

Ooooo, that would be so fun,

but I need to do something first.

[Kneel on a pillow or the floor and fold your arms and bow your head in prayer.  BFF sits on a chair holding her doll with a curious look on her face at what you are doing.]

PIANST: Play melody of the first 9 measures during the “praying” part.

During the following dialog, sing the song parts A cappella, which is easier to do or have the pianist play each phrase as you sing.

BFF [whispers after music stops]

Hey, what’s that you are doing?

YOU [singing]

I kneel to pray everyday.

BFF

Everyday?!?!  Why?

YOU [singing]

I speak to Heavenly Father.

BFF

You speak to Heavenly Father?

YOU [singing & nodding head in a yes manner]

He hears and answers me

When I pray in faith.

BFF

Oh! I see. Well how do you pray?

YOU [singing]

I begin by saying “Dear Heavenly Father”;

BFF

Then what comes next?

YOU [singing]

I thank Him for blessings He sends;

BFF

Hmmm, that sounds like a good thing.

What else do you do?

YOU [singing]

Then humbly I ask him

for things that I need,

BFF

What do you say when you are done with your prayer?

YOU [singing]

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

BFF

That is cool!

Will you teach me how to pray too!

YOU

Yes!  I’ll teach you.  You need to remember though;

the most important thing about prayer is to

make sure you PRAY IN FAITH.

Your BFF kneels next to you and

both of you begin to “pray.”

PIANIST: Play melody of first verse as they pray.

After the Sing-a-Story presentation, I also used a visual imagery visual for the board instead of a flip chart to help in teaching and practicing the song. That allowed me to have my hands free so I could also use some simple actions and ASL to help in teaching each phrase.  The link to the visual imagery is at the bottom of the post as well. For the four parts of prayer speech bubbles, I've included them with the blue background as well as a white background if you prefer to not use as much color. Just print on card stock, cut, laminate and adhere a magnet on the back of each if you use a magnetic board.

I Pray in Faith

ASL & ACTIONS (Remember you are doing these the opposite of the children so they can mirror you.)

I kneel to pray [ASL: Pray] Bring the palms of the hands together in a prayer gesture and bring inward to chest in two small circular motions.
every day [ASL: day] With your left hand and finger pointing upward, rest your left elbow on the back of your right hand then lower the left hand until your arms are together. The moving hand represents the sun moving across the sky and the horizontal arm represents the earth. 
I speak [ASL: talk] Alternate the index fingers on both hands back and forth from the mouth to represent people talking. 
to Heavenly Father [ASL: God]  With fingers together, point up to heaven then bring downward over the center of the face as a sign of respect.
He hears [ASL: hear] Point to the ear. 
and answers me [ASL: me] With index finger, point to your chest. 
When I pray  [ASL: Pray] Bring the palms of the hands together in a prayer gesture and bring inward to chest in two small circular motions.
in faith [ASL: faith] by pointing to your temple then bringing your fists together or just bow your head on the word "faith".

I begin by saying [ASL: begin] Stick the index finger of the left hand between the first two fingers of the right hand and twist. Or you could just hold up the #1 finger and point to it with the pointer finger of the other hand.
"Dear Heavenly Father" [ASL: God]  With fingers together, point up to heaven then bring downward over the center of the face as a sign of respect.
I thank him for blessings he sends: [ASL: thank] Bring the palm of the hand close to the mouth and extend the hand back out, almost as if you are blowing a kiss, but without the pursing of the lips. Do it about three times until you finish that phrase. 
Then humbly I ask him for things that I need [ASL: ask/request] Bring the palms of the hands together out in front of you pointing outward, then bring the hands towards the body still clasped as if in prayer.
In the name of Jesus Christ [ASL: Jesus] With the middle finger of the left hand, point to the center of the palm of the right hand and vice-versa. This represents the nails that were pierced through Jesus' hands. 
Amen [ASL: Amen/Pray] Bring the palms of the hands together in a prayer gesture and bring inward to chest in two small circular motions.

Don't forget to point out to the children that these are the four important parts of prayer and their order. You could also explain to them that when you say "Amen" after someone has said a prayer, it means that you agree with the prayer.

Believe me, an engaging Sing-a-Story is well worth it. Whenever I've done some version of a Sing-a-Story, it has always been amazing how the children are mesmerized by it and how you can feel the spirit as they absorb and understand the gospel message. Go ahead. Give it a try!!!

I Pray in Faith Sing-A-Story Script-Nalani

I Pray in Faith Viz-Nalani

WHERE AM I?

For those who have been wondering where I am, I'm still here!

(Barely sometimes.)

Yes! I am alive and kicking. 
No! I have not fallen off the face of the earth. Although, at times I have felt like I was about to. The past few months have been a whirlwind of stressful and busy activity with family, extended family, friends and work and I haven't had one moment of breathing time to do much else let alone post the things I had hoped to post during this break from learning new program songs. 

I imagine most of you are done with your programs by now. LUCKY YOU!
I'm sure the programs have been as wonderful as they always seem to somehow turn out with those sweet little spirits and voices—no matter how much might have gone wrong. Alas! I wish I could say mine was done and I could move on to other fun and seasonal songs just for the joy of singing them. Our program should have been done last week, but we had a surprise Stake Conference thrown our way which happened to get scheduled on the day we were to have our program. That caused our program to be bumped for a couple of more weeks. Am not excited about that since that will only leave me ONE Sunday before Thanksgiving to sing autumn and Thanksgiving songs.

SIGH!!!

I'll have to admit also that it has been a bit difficult this year for our Primary to really practice the program songs when it seems we have been only meeting in our ward about every-other week the past two months with a special Priesthood and Relief Society meeting, a stake conference, a temple dedication, General Conference and another last minute special stake conference.  WHEW! Lots of churchy things happening.  I'll secretly admit though, it has been nice to not have to plan singing lessons each week with all these breaks, but on the downside, it is really hard to get the songs fine-tuned when you only get to practice 15-20 minutes every-other week.  It is hard to keep those songs in the kids brains with such big breaks.  Fortunately, I think they are doing pretty well, but I'm a bit more worried on whether we can get the volume we need since our Primary quickly shrunk by half this year with a lot of families moving out and so many of our older children graduating from Primary. It is soooooo hard to see them grow up and leave, especially when you have been with them for a few years. It feels like when your own kids start leaving the nest. 

SOB!!!

For those of you who have emailed me wondering if I am still going to post, I most certainly am still planning on it. I really have missed posting. I love connecting with all of you out there in Primary Singing Land.  I'm going to try and get at least one post done on Saturday, so check back!!!

SINGING SUPERSTARS—PROGRAM REVIEW

OH MY GOODNESS!!! 

Where has this month gone?

The days have been spinning by awfully quickly.

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE SLOW THE WORLD DOWN

SO I CAN CATCH UP WITH LIFE?????

There have been several posts I've wanted to do this month, including what I was planning on doing for my program review this year
(which I'll have to post later or maybe next year),
<SIGH>

but as you can see, I haven't been able to squeeze out some extra time.

Here is the post I started at the first of the month but life happened

and I haven't been able to get back to it until now. 

With all those POPULAR singing reality-type shows out there these days like American Idol, The X Factor, The Voice, America's Got Talent, etc., you can't help but try and figure out a way to incorporate a similar theme into singing time. I personally haven't watched these but I do hear about them from friends, family and co-workers. Well, with that in mind, here is another way to use the Singing Superstars poster from my last post found here. Sorry again that I'm finally getting around to posting the other use for the poster I promised at the first of the month. Life keeps happening. What can I say?????

Anyway, this is pretty simple to do. I can't say I'm following a particular singing reality show's concept because I really don't know the exact specifics of each show since the bits and pieces of each are just mishmashed info in my little noggin'. This is just my take on the shows and I'm sure many others have done similar singing times like this. BUT, if I had to pick one show from the mishmash of info I know, I guess I would say it is probably closest to The X Factor since I use "X's"  (Ummm, hey there, I don't think they actually use "X's" in the show) and supposedly, the "X" refers to that something eXtra one has that makes them STAR quality. So, yeah, let's go with that.

PREP

• Singing Superstars poster with the songs listed on it & small stars—optional (a printable poster is in the previous post here):

• Basically, I just use the poster as a meter or score board so they have a visual reminder on how well they are doing as we work on each song. 
• Print, cut and post on your poster the three pictures that represent the categories that the children are to be judged on (or write the categories on the poster with a wet erase marker.) If I had known when I first made this poster that I would use it for something else, I wouldn't have laminated the first set of category headers onto the poster. I would have made it removable so I could switch out with other headers. This singing time only has three categories as compared to the four from the last post so you will only use three columns:
• Musicality (note): Sound, volume, clarity on the words, know the words, singing harmoniously together, everyone singing, etc.
• Physicality (reverent children): Eyes on me, standing or sitting reverently, stand up and sit down together, happy face, etc.
• Spirituality (Jesus): Are they singing with feeling and the spirit of the song so others can feel the message of the gospel the song has? I like this because I just don't want the children to sing the song like a robot— just spitting out the words. I want them to learn to pay more attention in what they are singing and experience not only the impact they can have on those that are listening to them, but also in how it can make them feel as well. This hopefully also helps them in understanding how important music is in sharing the gospel. This judge could even close his/her eyes while they sing so he/she can FEEL the music better.
• You may want to print out the above category info for a reference sheet for the judges.
• Ask three people to be your judges. These can be other members in your ward, the Primary Presidency or teachers. I don't like to use teachers for this one since I want them to help participate since they will be in the program with the children.
• Make sure you explain to your judges ahead of time what their responsibilities are in judging and mentoring the Primary.
• Print the three sets of the the stars and "Xs", cut them out, laminate (optional) and adhere to tongue depressor sticks. If you don't feel like cutting them out, just use as a full page. In the file there is also a blank set if you prefer to print out on colored card stock instead and another set without the pictures on them. You could even print sets of the blank ones then cover the shapes with glitter. Now that would give some bling! You could even print and cut out the pictures then adhere them on top of the glittered shapes. Just pick and print your style. 

HOW

1. Have the judges sit up front facing the Primary and give each a set of the star and "X" judging paddles.
2. Explain to the children what you are doing and what each judge will be judging them on.
• Each judge will judge in their category whether the children sang the song program perfect or near program perfect depending on your expectations. After singing, the judges will either raise a star or "X" for their category. 
• A star means that they are star quality in that category.
• An "X" means that they did not sing program perfect for the judge's category and have not achieved star quality yet.
3. Put a small star on the poster for each category they earned for that song to track their progress.
4. Each judge will also act as a mentor for their category.
• After the judging, have the judges mentor the children for their category by telling them what they did well in and what they need to do to improve.
5. Practice the song 2 or more times as needed if they did not get all three stars.
6. When they think they are ready to be judged again, sing the song again for the judges to see if they get all three stars.
7. Continue the process for each song you are wanting to work on.
8. This will take 2-3 weeks to get through all the songs depending on how much practice you need.
9. Have a Grand Prize treat or token for them when they have earned all their stars (optional).

This is pretty easy to do while also giving the children some feedback from others, besides you, on how well they are doing and what they can do to improve in their singing. And besides, children like and seem to do better when they know they are performing for an audience.

HAPPY PROGRAM PRACTICE!!!

Singing Superstars Viz—Nalani

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

This is the SR side of the poster from 2011

OH YES!  It is that time of year when we are all frantically taking the last opportunity to get the program songs PROGRAM PERFECT.  I made a "Singing Superstars" poster a few years back that I have used in a few different ways so far (love visuals that I can use in more than one way.) A singing meter of some sort is always nice to use to help gauge how well the children are doing on each song and children like to see their progress.  Here is one way I used this "Singing Superstars" poster.

YOU BE THE JUDGE!

ITEMS NEEDED

• Judging Poster & Stars or other meter visual you want to use
• Recording device (iPad with video recorder is great because they can also see how well they stand or sit while singing, but a tape recorder or a recording app for your phone or iPad will work fine.)

HOW (You can do this over 2 or more weeks)

1. Review the song once through to warm them up. Use any visuals if you think they need it to refresh in their minds.
2. Sing the song again without any visual helps and this time record the children singing the song as if they were in the program.
• Since I am five rows back in the congregation leading them during the program, they can't hear me sing, so I will only mouth the words just like I do in the program, besides, this really lets you know how well they know the song.
3. Play the song back for the children.
4. Let them judge on how well they did.
• Ask them what they did well on.
• Ask them what they can improve on.
• Here are some suggestions on what they can watch for in their judging.
• Did they know the words?
• Did they sing clearly?
• Was their volume good?
• Did they have good musicality?
• Where their eyes on me?
• How did they look when they sang? Reverent? Happy?
• Did they stand and sit on cue?
• Did they sing with the right feeling for the song?
• Could they feel the Spirit in their singing?
5. Ask them how many stars they think they earned on this song and place on your poster. You could use 1/2 stars too, e.g. 3 1/2 stars earned.
• Ho-Hum = 1 star
• Oki-doki = 2 stars
• Gooder = 3 stars
• Awesome = 4 stars
6. If they didn't earn 4 stars, practice the song two or more times as needed until you think they have it down. To keep the boredom of repetition down, you could use fun ways to repeat sing if you are trying to get the words down, but be careful of how you do this since the object of this is to really work with the kids in solidifying the song.
7. Once you think they are ready, repeat steps 2-5.
8. Repeat the full process with the next song on your list.
• Suggestion: List your songs to work on in an alternating fashion with one they know well so they have a quick success then for the next one sing one they don't know as well, then know, then don't know, then know, then don't know, etc. This will help keep things moving with some quicker successes in-between.
9. If you just want to use this to help gauge how they know each song instead of using it to practice and make improvements, just repeat steps 1-5 once through for each song. 

HOW TO MAKE THE POSTER

From scratch

• I made my poster using a florescent poster board and cutting the title banner with my Cricut Expression using the Hannah Montana font on 12" x 24" black card stock.
• I also used my Cricut to cut out the stars on holographic paper and cut out a larger shadow in black to go behind the holographic star.
• I made a junior version on one side and a senior version on the other side of the poster.
• I then laminated the poster.
• Optional: you could add four categories above where you would put the stars like I did for the "Ho-hum, Oki-doki" etc. or some other categories or leave it blank. If you laminate the poster before you add the categories, that will allow you to change categories depending on what you want to do.
• I printed and cut out my song titles and taped to the poster.
• I used square pieces of clear Velcro, but you could use tape to mount the stars as they earn them.
• With the poster being laminated, you could use a wet erase marker (will stay on until you wipe off with damp paper towel) to write the songs on instead of printing them out as well as you could draw on the stars.

From the pdf file attached

• I've attached six different posters: three with the songs listed for JR, SR or  both, in case you have a combined Primary, and three without the songs listed.  You can print the one you want out in poster format.  See the "How to Helps" on the pages bar above to see "Printing in Poster Format."
• Print as small or big as you want. 
• Cut out some stars or buy some star stickers or draw in the stars with a wet erase marker.

Another way you can use this poster is to bring it out at the end of every month starting at the first of the year to test them on the month's song they have been learning and/or at the end of each month you can test them on the songs learned so far adding or removing stars depending on how well they are doing. I will post another idea for this poster hopefully by tonight.

Singing Superstar Poster