Just One Mom Trying: singing time

Showing posts with label singing time. Show all posts

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Pipe Chimes: Why I like them more than hand bells

If you are looking to expand your instrument choices for Primary (or at home), consider some Pipe Chimes. You can find them here: Musical Pipes

Image result for pipe chimes

This page will send you to an Etsy shop where you can build your own set to fit your own budget and needs.

I purchased my own set last year after spending an arm and a leg on 2 sets of hand bells. I decided that I love the Pipe Chimes more than my hand bells. Here are some reasons why I think Pipe Chimes are better:

1) Price. Pipe Chimes cost way less than a set of handbells. You can also build your own set. A basic set includes 23 chimes for $30.00. Add $5 for 14 metal strikers. A 13-note hand bell set goes for $67.00 on Amazon.

2) Durability. These chimes are basically indestructible. I always worried about the kids touching the ringer or pulling the spring on the hand bells. I don't worry about them destroying the chimes. They are nice and sturdy.

3) Easy to play. Pipe Chimes are easy to play. Hand bells are tricky. You have to ring them "just right". Pipe Chimes are easy for little hands and it doesn't take a lot of coordination to make them sound good. Even the little kids in nursery can play them. (I don't organize a song for them to play, but they just love banging them.)

4) Range of notes. The Pipe Chime set includes 23 notes. It allows for a lot more participation and a better selection of songs to play. Hand bells are tricky if you don't have the right bells or enough bells or the song isn't written in a certain key.

5) Songbooks. The Pipe Chime website offers songbooks for $10 each if you prefer a printed copy, or for $3 for a digital copy. I find the digital copy very helpful in Primary for displaying through a projector. This allows for the children to see well and follow along easily. The songbooks are your own little "bell charts" without the work to create one. They are already done for you.

6) Made for LDS use! There are different songbooks available for purchase including LDS Primary Songs, LDS Hymns, and Christmas songs. There are also 2 other books available of other songs. There are also a few "other" songs available for download on their website for free like, "I Know That My Savior Loves Me".

7) One-Man-Band option. If you would like only one person to play multiple chimes, Pipe Chimes offers the option of purchasing "holders" for the chimes that allows you to lay the whole set out on a table. I love this option for a descant in songs like "Christmas Bells Are Ringing".

8) Easy to transport. Throw them in a bag and off you go. Hand bells need to be stored carefully in a bulky box to keep them from getting ruined. Pipe Chimes don't take up a lot of space and kids can help put them away.

9) Not just for Primary. My family has started a new tradition the past 2 Thanksgivings. After Thanksgiving dinner, we sit together, pass out Pipe Chimes, and sing and play Christmas songs out of the Christmas songbook. We have so much fun together. My mom has purchased 2 sets to accommodate our large crowds of family (close to 50 people). This has been my favorite part of Thanksgiving the past 2 years.

I hope this helps and I hope you check them out. They would be a great addition to any Primary and/or home.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Singing Time: Unbirthday Party!

Emily 7:55 PM 0 Comments

Our Primary only knows a couple of birthday songs really well. We could certainly improve. I've decided we are going to practice them (and perhaps learn one) and have an unbirthday party in Primary. I'm excited!

Prep: I'm giving each child a birthday sticker to begin with. I decided that I won't do birthday hats because I can already imagine them snapping the elastic and either getting hurt and crying or breaking it and crying that it's broken. I'm going to avoid the tears. I'm also going to wrap up a present that is addressed to the Junior Primary, and another for Senior Primary. At the end of Singing Time we'll open the present. Inside will be individually wrapped cookies or small party favors for each child. I thought about cupcakes but we really don't need frosting or cake crumbs all over the church. I'll put some streamers up and a couple of balloons just so it looks like a party. We are the first ward in the building so it would be easy to get the decorations up before church begins.

We will pretend it's all our birthdays in Primary. We will take turns singing birthday songs to a group of kids for each song we review or each time we run through the song as if it is their "birthday". We will make sure everyone has a chance to get sung to.

Here are the songs that I'd like to review:

Feliz Cumpleanos CS #282 (this one needs some teaching)

Your Happy Birthday CS #283

Happy, Happy Birthday CS #284a

You've Had a Birthday #285

If you don't already follow LDS Primary Choristers Facebook page, join! So many great ideas out there. Since I've been planning this "unbirthday party" I have found some really great ideas to make these birthday songs more fun.

One chorister posted an idea for "Your Happy Birthday" (CS #283) that I love!! For "zip-a-dee-ay" and "heigh-dee-ho" she substitutes nonsensical funny words. She has a cute jar with 2 sets of different words- one set to substitute "zip-a-dee-ay" and the other set to substitute "heigh-dee-ho". She has come up with some pretty awesome words. Click HERE to see her original post. She was so kind to write up all her fun words for others to print and use. Click HERE to access her post with the document of fun words. This will be a hit for sure!

For "You've Had a Birthday" the same talented chorister posted another idea. Click HERE to see her post. She created different "personalities" for singing the song. When the song says, "You've had a birthday, shout hooray" she substitutes "hooray" for a word that one of the "personalities" might say. For example, if the personality is a cowboy, he shouts "yee-haw!" I just love this idea! The children will have so much fun choosing the different personalities.

For "Happy, Happy Birthday" all the primary kids that are singing to the children in the front will act as "birthday candle flames" where they sway and move. At the end of the song, the children being sung to get to blow out the "candles" and all the "candles" fall into their seats.

"Feliz Cumpleanos" needs some real teaching. The pronunciation of the foreign words deters the Primary from really learning it, I think. So we will practice the pronunciation really well so they will feel comfortable with it.

This would be a great Singing Time to hold in August when the first Primary was held on August 25, 1878. Then it would be a real Primary birthday party.

I hope this goes well because I really want to do a "Visitors Day" too where we practice welcome songs.

# birthdays # church

Friday, February 19, 2016

How to Conduct a Heart-to-Heart with "The One"

Emily 11:15 AM 0 Comments

In my last blog post I discussed how to deal with a difficult child in Primary. I called this child "the one". Sometimes "the one" needs a little timeout in the hallway with a leader. This timeout should be productive. So, we will conduct a "heart-to-heart". The "heart-to-heart" is a conversation between the child and the leader meant to resolve any issues. This is also very much applicable to your children on any given day.

Here is my outline of how to conduct a "heart-to-heart".

1) Remember that you're talking to a precious son or daughter of God.

2) Use a soft voice, and look at the child with soft eyes when you speak.

3) AVOID ASKING "WHY?" ! If you ever ask a child "why" he or she did something, you're most likely going to get the answer, "I don't know." A child will not respond well to "why". The key is to ask a “curious” question (ex. I’m curious to know…) or a “what” question (ex. What is it about Primary that you don’t like today?) See the following examples of what NOT to do and what TO DO.

NO: Why are you talking?

YES: I noticed you have lots to say today. What’s on your mind?

NO: Why aren’t you sitting in your chair?

YES: I’m curious to know if your chair is bothering you today. What is it about your chair that makes you not want to sit in it? If it’s not the chair that’s bothering you, is there something else?

4) Listen. Let the child speak without interrupting. Look at him/her while he/she speaks. Give him/her all your attention.

5) Validation & Empathy. I child needs validation to let them know that what they are saying is important. “I can see why that would bother you.” Or “That sounds like it would be very difficult.”

Show that you care with some verbal feedback like, “I’m sorry you’re feeling that way.”

6) Lead child to solve his/her own problem. “What could you do fix that problem?” Or "how could you change that?"

7) Give feedback on the plan that that child comes up with. If it's a good plan say something like, “That sounds like a great idea. Try that.” If you know that the plan isn't going to work say, “Let’s think about that. If we did that, what do you think would happen?” The child may come up with a new plan. Repeat until the plan is a promising one.

8) Offer help. “Is there something I can do to help?”

9) Offer encouragement. “You’re a good kid. I know that you can do this. Let’s go back in and try it out.”

10) Ask, "Would you like me to sit by you?" This gives the child an ally if he/she wants it.

At this point you can take the child by the hand or give them a side hug and lead them back into Primary. Hopefully the child will feel better and will begin putting the plan into practice.

I've used this plan before with my own children at home and it is great. (Sometimes it pays off to have a mother who is a Marriage & Family Therapist.) This outline keeps us calm and gets us to where we need to be. I hope you find this helpful.

Let me know how it goes!

# church # parenting

Monday, February 15, 2016

How to End Singing Time Each Week

Emily 7:01 PM 2 Comments

This blog post came as a request by a sweet Primary chorister who wanted some ideas of how to end Singing Time each week. The chorister before her would do a cheer but she wanted to do something different. I loved her idea of doing something special/routine to end Singing Time. Here are a few ideas that I gathered from other teachers. I hope you find something useful here.

Puppets: Create a "Singing Time" puppet that opens and closes Singing Time. Ask it questions and let it whisper in your ear. Relay the responses and messages to the Primary.

Questions: Ask the children questions at the end. They can be anything from "How does this song make you feel?" to "What did you learn from this song today?"

60 Seconds: Ask a question that requires a one-word answer. Receive as many one-word answers from the children as fast as you can in 1 minute. You can make this as fun or spiritual or serious as you want. For example, "What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" or "How do you feel right now?" This would be a great way to get to know your primary kids real quickly too.

Call and Response: This is slightly different from the call-and-response for getting a noisy class under control again. Same idea but with a more positive vibe. For example, you can ask, "Do you know how much I love you?" and they can respond "THIS MUCH!" with arms stretched out as wide as they can. Or blow them a kiss and have them "catch it". Let them know they are loved. This is why we do what we do, right?

Goodbye song: create your own or maybe sing the "Hello Song" but instead of "hello" sing "goodbye". Here's an example:

Goodbye, goodbye,

We had some fun today, goodbye

Goodbye, goodbye,

We sure enjoyed Sunday

Because we're friends in our Primary (stress on EE)

And we can't wait to gather again next week.

Goodbye, goodbye,

We had some fun today! Hey!

I'd love to see some really good variations on the "Hello Song".

Testimony. Yours. Share it! Nothing is better than being able to share your own testimony with the children. It can be super simple and informal. "I know that Jesus lives and that he loves you."

I hope one of these is useful for you. If you have other ideas or implement one of these, let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear your experiences.

# church # Primary

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Singing Time: When Things Get Out of Control

Emily 2:44 PM 3 Comments

It's not very often that Singing Time gets out of control but when it gets to loud or crazy, how do you bring the children back to a reverent mode? Here are a few ideas that might help get their attention and get them back on track:

1) Prepare yourself. Plan your activities so that they run smoothly. Pray and know your songs. Think like a primary child. Is the activity engaging? Is the activity too complicated? It the activity simple to follow? Is there a lot of talking and not much singing?

2) Prepare the children. Get some wiggles out if necessary. Sing a couple of wiggle songs BEFORE you begin explaining the Singing Time activity. Then you can explain the activity and remind them to be reverent. For example, "We can still have fun but we must remember that we are at church, in Heavenly Father's house. We need to be respectful. Remember that there are also others around us who are also trying to learn and focus. If it gets out of control and too noisy, we will have to stop the activity." Follow through!

Once you're in the activity, you can use these suggestions:

1) Quietly say, "if you can hear me, touch your __________ (nose, head, elbow, knees, ear, etc.)" When you say this, touch something that is NOT what you said. For example, say, "if you can hear me, touch your nose." You touch your shoulders. This way those who are actually listening will be touching their noses while those you are just watching are touching their shoulders.

2) Go quiet and start a rhythm the children can follow. Pat, clap, pat, clap. See how many follow. Change it up after most of the children are listening. Pat, clap, snap. Pat, clap, snap. Children should quiet down quickly because now they are concentrating on keeping up with the rhythm. (You can make it more difficult for Senior Primary.) Once you have their attention, fold your arms and say what you need to say to continue Singing Time with reverence.

3) Use a noisemaker. Children quickly tune out familiar sounds. Do you ever catch yourself calling your own child's name 5 or 6 times before they acknowledge you? Or maybe it works the reverse with your child calling you? ;) Use a noise that is less used. Bring a bell or a triangle or an egg shaker or something that will get their attention rather than just "Shhhh!" Make sure the item isn't too loud. You want it kind of soft so they stop to hear where the sound is coming from.

5) Call-and-Response. Use catchy sayings as a cue to be quiet. For example, you can say, "1, 2, 3, eyes on me," and they respond, "1, 2, eyes on you." You will need to introduce this concept and practice a couple of times. This is a fun way to get the children's attention.

Here are some other examples:

Teacher: Ready set...
Children: You bet!

Teacher: Zip it, lock it... (use action as if you are zipping your lips)
Children: Put it in your pocket (use action as if they are putting it in their pocket)

Here are some church song ideas:

Teacher: I'm reverent...
Children: For reverence is love.

Teacher: Jesus wants me for a...
Children: Sunbeam! (children hop up and then sit down with arms folded)

Teacher: I looked out the window and what did I see?
Children: Reverent children in Pri-ma-ry! (whisper)

Teacher: The chapel doors seem to say to me...
Children: SHHHH!

I hope these help. If you have other ideas to share, please comment below. If you use one of these ideas, please share and let us know how it went.

# church # Primary

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Singing Time: Valentine's Day Conversation Hearts

Emily 9:17 AM 0 Comments

Valentine's Day is one of my very favorite holidays. Last year I posted this activity to another blog (and ended up shutting it down due to traffic control). So, I'm posting it here again for this year.

I really liked THIS idea by Crafts By Friends. I wanted to copy this but didn't have a lot of time to make the hearts and paint them. I had Peter Priesthood (aka my hot husband) work his Photoshop and Illustrator skills and whip me up some "conversation hearts" that I could just print out, cut, and laminate. He delivered.

Feel free to download and print the PDF for all images HERE.

Last year I got to the Primary room about 10 minutes early and posted hearts all over the room. When it was time for Singing Time I expressed how excited I was for Valentine's Day. I explained to the children what conversation hearts were to jog their memory and for my Sunbeams who didn't know what they were. You can even bring in a bag of hearts to show the children and reward them at the end for good singing.

I chose one child to pick a heart and read the message. It was easier for Senior Primary to try to guess which song we were going to sing based on the message. I also put a post-it note on the back that indicated HOW were were going to sing the song (hum, every other word, boys/girls, teachers/children, with actions, etc.) to mix it up a bit.

Here are the possible songs for each heart. I wrote these songs on the back with the song number so it would be easy for me to tell the pianist which song we were going to sing.

WIN

Scripture Power (Friend)

SHHH

Chapel Doors (CS #156)

I'M HAPPY

If You're Happy (CS #266)

A Happy Family (CS #198)

WISE UP

The Wise Man and the Foolish Man (CS #281)

LISTEN

Listen, Listen (#107)

Search, Ponder, and Pray (CS #109)

LOVE

Jesus Said Love Everyone (CS #61)

I WILL

Nephi's Courage (CS #120)

4 EVER

Families Can Be Together Forever (CS #188)

I DO

Do As I'm Doing (CS #276)

TEACH ME

I Am a Child of God (CS #2)

Teach Me to Walk in the Light (CS #177)

I LUV YOU

We Are Different (CS #263)

I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus (CS #78)

I'LL FOLLOW

Follow the Prophet

I Will Follow God's Plan (CS #164)

HELP ME

When We're Helping (CS #198)

LOVE ME

Love One Another (CS #136)

YOU & ME

Friends Are Fun (CS #262)

The Family Is of God (Friend)

BIG KISS

Daddy's Homecoming (CS #210)

THANKS

Children All Over the World (CS #16)

PLEASE

Help Me, Dear Father (CS #99)

CALL ME

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission (CS #169)

Quickly I'll Obey (CS #197)

BE TRUE

Stand For the Right (CS #159)

Our Primary Colors (CS #258)

BE COOL

Snow Is Falling (CS #241)

Once There Was a Snowman (CS #249)

SING 2 ME

Sing, Sing, Sing (CS #253)

SMILE

Smiles (CS #267)

I Am Like a Star (CS #163)

TWEET ME

In the Leafy Treetops (CS #240)

If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve this activity, or even variations of this activity, I'd love to hear. I always want to improve Singing Time.

# church # Primary

Monday, February 1, 2016

Adapting Singing Time to Multiple Intelligences

Emily 8:27 PM 1 Comments

Children learn different ways. Some children can learn a new song by just reading words. Others need some pictures or perform actions to really learn a song. And, still for others, these ideas may not be very effective. So, we are going to explore the different ways people learn. You may even find out the best way YOU learn.

Multiple Intelligences is a theory proposed by Howard Gardner, an American developmental psychologist. His theory suggests that our intelligence is contingent upon different abilities. We learn best through different means and not all by the same mean.

The theory outlines eight abilities:

Verbal- linguistic

Visual- spatialLogical- mathematical

Musical- rhythmic and harmonic

Bodily- kinesthetic

Interpersonal

Intrapersonal

Naturalistic

Let's go more into depth with each ability. The following diagram is a good summary.

You may already know what type of learner you are by looking at the chart. You may be a combination of these abilities. Primary is made up of many different types of learners. So, how do we adapt Singing Time to these different types of learners?

Here is a chart I created with some popular Singing Time teaching methods or ideas that coincide with the different abilities. I hope this is helpful when planning your next Singing Time lesson.