Virtual Choirs

Elinor — Wed, 16 May 2012 01:19:30 +0000

A friend sent me this YouTube link recently, and I thought it was a pretty neat concept… a virtual choir! To create a virtual choir, the printed and audio music (performance and parts) is made available through a website. Those wishing to participate download the music and learn the parts on their own. Then they video themselves… using the performance music to sing with… so everyone has the same tempo, dynamics, etc. The videos are mixed together in a visual montage, all of them singing to the same music. Dozens of beautiful faces from all over the world linked together in one beautiful piece of music! This particular beautiful piece of music, Gloria!, was written and conducted by Lex de Azevedo. It was performed, with a live and virtual choir together, in the Tabernacle on Temple Square last Christmas.

Then just a few days ago, a choir director from Rexburg, Idaho, told me that he also gives his choir the links for their music, so they can look up their music on their computers at home, learn the parts at home, and come so fully prepared to choir practice that their choir practices are only 30 minutes long. The day may not be too far off when we will be able to have virtual choir practices!

More “Rainbow” Activities for May

Elinor — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:51:39 +0000

1. Use ribbon sticks, scarves or strips of “flow-y” fabric in the rainbow colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple. Children at the front can sway with the ribbons or fabric to the 2/4 beat of “When I Am Baptized.” Create your own movements or simply sway right, left, with each beat. The other children can sway with the children at the front. The word “best” in the last line would seem to indicate some sort of upward movement with the ribbons or fabric.

2. Discuss primary colors and sing the song “Our Primary Colors,” CS 258.

3. For your “Choose and Review” week, you might create a color wheel diagram such as the one on the left out of construction paper. Also bring red, yellow and blue food coloring and three clear glasses about 1/3 full of water. Song titles would be behind each colored circle. Just one orange, one green and one purple circle would be necessary (unlike the diagram here which has a few more shades). When a child chooses the red, yellow or blue circle, you would simply sing the song indicated on the back. When they choose orange, green or purple, they could help you demonstrate how to make that color by mixing red and yellow drops in the water of one glass to make orange; yellow and blue drops in another glass to make green; and blue and red drops in the third glass to make purple (for best results, experiment beforehand!)… and then you would sing the song on the back!

Prophets’ “Theme” Songs

Elinor — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:02:27 +0000

Our song this month, “Stand for the Right,” is a short one, and one that the children learned just last year for the 2011 CSMP. So, important though it is, it shouldn’t require as much time to learn. “Stand for the Right” supports the theme of the month, “Living Prophets Teach Me to Choose the Right.” There are, of course, many other songs and activities which support this theme. Here is one of them:

Put the pictures of the Latter-day prophets face-down on a table… fanned out so that some of each picture is visible from the back. Let a child choose a picture. He says the name of the prophet, if he knows it, or gets help from the group. Then sing a song that is somehow associated with that prophet’s “theme.” Following are suggestions for each of the prophets.

Joseph Smith: “I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ” CS #77… he organized the Church in the latter days.
Brigham Young: “Pioneer Children Sang as They Walked” CS #214… he led the pioneers to the Salt Lake valley.
John Taylor: “A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief” hymnbook #29… he sang this to Joseph Smith shortly before Joseph was martyred. Could also use “I Will Be Valiant” CS #162, since he was know as a “defender of the faith.”
Wilford Woodruff: “I Hope They Call Me on a Mission” CS #169… he was a great missionary.
Lorenzo Snow: “I’m Glad to Pay a Tithing” CS #150 (top)… he re-emphasized the paying of tithes and offerings in the Church (could just sing the 2nd verse). Could also use “I Am a Child of God” CS #2, or “Families Can Be Together Forever” CS #188, since he taught much about the plan of salvation: “As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.”
Joseph F. Smith: “Family Night” CS #195… he introduced Family Home Evening to the Church.
Heber J. Grant: “Dare to Do Right” CS #195… he was known for being determined in learning things, and practising hard till he could do them well. As a boy, he wasn’t very good at penmanship, throwing a ball, or singing, but he practised and practised until he became very accomplished at all three of these activities.
George Albert Smith: “Jesus Said Love Everone” CS #61… love was one of his favorite themes.
David O. McKay: “I Want to Be a Missionary Now” CS #168… he taught “Every member a missionary.”
Joseph Fielding Smith: “Search, Ponder and Pray” CS #109… he was a scholar of the Church and wrote many books of church doctrine.
Harold B. Lee: “A Young Man Prepared” CS #166 or “Love is Spoken Here” CS #190… he emphasized priesthood correlation.
Spencer W. Kimball: “The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden” CS #237… he taught us to plant gardens and keep our homes and yards neat and tidy.
Ezra Taft Benson: “Book of Mormon Stories” CS #118… he emphasized study of the Book of Mormon.
Howard W. Hunter: “I Love to See the Temple” CS #95… his theme was temple work.
Gordon B. Hinckley: “Go the Second Mile” CS #167… his theme was “Do it” and he also taught us to stand taller and try harder.
Thomas S. Monson: “When We’re Helping” CS #198… his life and works are a great example of service.

Childrens’ Artwork for “Stand for the Right”

Elinor — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 05:31:16 +0000

Having just learned “Stand for the Right” last year, most of the Primary children are pretty familiar with it. So, with not so much new material to learn, this might be a good month to let the children do some of the illustrations, and further internalize the message that way. You could have one class draw pictures of President Monson to use for the first line, “Our prophet has some words for you.” Then another class could draw illustrations for the phrase “At work,” another for “at play,” and others for “In darkness” and “light.” You could ask the Bishopric Counsellor in charge of Primary (or a member of the Primary Presidency) to choose the picture to be used for the Primary’s flipchart for each of the phrases. The pages for “Be true, be true” could just be words as they are in our flipchart. For the last line, “And stand for the right,” it would be great fun to enlarge digital photos you take of your Primary children standing stalwartly for the right. Take several pictures of them… individuals or groups… and print them out on 8.5″x11″ paper. You could use a different one each week you practice this song. The children would enjoy seeing whose picture comes up at that point as you turn the pages of the Picture Presenter, and it would bring “home” the fact that each of THEM needs to stand for the right… not just some other children.

Flipcharts – Two Ways

Elinor — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:05:38 +0000

I love flipcharts! They are such a simple yet effective way of teaching the Primary songs. Children love pictures, and remember so much better what they are taught when the lesson is accompanied by a picture. A flipchart generally consists of pages of pictures with cue words or phrases from the song being learned. They can be displayed and protected wonderfully well in our Picture Presenter, available from our website here. The Music Leader flips the pages one by one as they are learned or sung. It’s quite exciting to see which picture will come up next… certainly a good way of holding the children’s attention as they are taught the gospel through music.

Each month we offer a FREE flipchart for you to download here from our site. The new flipchart each month is designed to teach the new Primary song of the month. Towards the end of the month, that month’s flipchart moves to our Resources page, where it is still available for you to freely download, and the flipchart for the next month becomes available in the FREE box for new subscribers, or available upon request (use our Contact Box) for previous subscribers.

In addition to the typical flipchart (consisting of pictures and text), we also offer a flipchart with pictures only for most songs. This flipchart is particularly useful the day you introduce the new song. You can use it in the following way, and you will find that your children have to really think about… and thus, hopefully, really internalize… the message of the song:

1. Print the pictures (in this example, for the song “As a Child of God” from the 2012 CSMP) out and tape them on the walls around the Primary room in random order.
2. Sing the first line, “I came to earth with power to choose.” Ask the children to find the picture that best illustrates that line. When they find the picture, you can place it directly in the Picture Presenter, on the magnet board with magnets, or on the chalkboard with tape or poster putty… and discuss the meaning of the line, or the story the picture represents, more fully. Then sing the line together.
3. Sing the next line, “Good choices bless me and my family too.” Have the children find the picture, discuss it and put it in order. Then sing the line together. Then sing both lines together.
4. Continue in this fashion as you learn the entire song (may take a couple of weeks).
5. The pictures (either these without text, or the pictures with text) can then be placed in the
Picture Presenter for learning and review in future weeks. The Picture Presenter keeps them nicely organized, ready for you to use at a moment’s notice, and protected from certain destruction in the hands of small children!

Home-Made Rhythm Band Instruments

Elinor — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:32:09 +0000

Rhythm instruments are really great fun! Many of the songs in the Children’s Songbook lend themselves nicely to the use of rhythm/percussion instruments, and children love using them. Here are some ideas for making your own instruments out of common household items:
Drums: Use any of the following items (turned upside down)… metal pots, sturdy boxes, aluminum pie plates or large plastic ice cream containers. Children can drum with their hands or drumsticks.
Drumsticks or rhythm sticks: Wood or metal spoons
Cymbals: Two metal pot lids
Maracas: Pringles containers or other plastic Tupperware-type bowls, or plastic juice bottles, filled with uncooked rice, popcorn kernels, beans or small pebbles (make sure you tape the lids shut!).
Triangle: Metal cake/cookie cooling rack on a string, with a metal spoon for striking.
Tambourine: Two paper plates (or aluminum pie plates for a louder sound) filled with dry beans and taped securely together.
Bells: Large jingle bells can be sewn securely to a loop of sturdy fabric.
Coconut clappers: After a coconut is cut in half, cleaned and dried out, the two halves make a marvelous percussion “clapper.”
It’s always important, with rhythm bands, for children to understand that using the instruments is a special privilege which can be revoked if they don’t use their instruments properly. Then it’s fun for everyone!
If anyone has other ideas for rhythm bands, we’d love to hear them!

“Little Jesus” – CS#39

Elinor — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 03:14:35 +0000

This delightful little Christmas song is ideal for performing with rhythm instruments. You will need three rhythm instruments. Ideas for these might include: a shaker, a tambourine or drum, sticks, bells, sandpaper blocks, coconut clappers, spoons, maracas, etc. These can be purchased fairly cheaply at toy stores or music stores, or you can make your own. Shakers can be made out of containers with lids… like Pringles containers or Tupperware bowls… filled with rice, beans or pebbles. Drums can be made out of pots or bowls. Sticks can be made out of wooden spoons or, well… sticks. Big jingle bells can be purchased at fabric stores and sewn to sturdy loops of cloth for a jingle bell percussion instrument.

Give an instrument to each of three children… your band!… who line up in the front of the room. If you have enough instruments for more children, they should still be just in three groups. Group 1 only plays during the first phrase (Fairest little Jesus child), Group 2 only during the second (Came to earth so meek and mild), Group 3 only during the third phrase (Came to earth to show the way) and all three groups join in for a rousing finish… “Praise we sing on Christmas Day!” The seated children can join in on that last phrase with hand clapping. Verse two would be done in similar fashion.

Falling Leaves

Elinor — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:15:50 +0000

A great theme for “Choose and Review” at this time of year is, of course, Fall leaves. Beautiful and colourful, they are easy to create out of paper or cardstock. To make things very simple, make a line drawing of a tree… with several branches… on the chalkboard or whiteboard in your Primary room. Attach several construction paper leaves (cut out of various Fall colors like orange, red, yellow or brown) to the tree with tape or magnets (good to get this done before the children arrive). On the back of each leaf write the name of one of the songs you would like to review or learn that day. During Singing Time, the children can be reminded that the leaves fall off the trees at this time of year. The leaves are finished for the season, and they need to fall so that the tree is ready to grow new leaves next Spring. Invite the children to help the leaves “fall” off your tree. When they remove a leaf, you or the child can check for the song written on the back. Then everyone gets to sing it!

Review with a “Twist”

Elinor — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:20:15 +0000

Its’s that time of year! Time to review all the songs you’ve been learning since January in preparation for the Primary Sacrament Meeting Presentation. Some of those songs the kids might know really well, and some… not so well. Some they may be getting tired of. This is a great way to put some new life into the whole process.

Use the spinner board from a game of “Twister” and make four corresponding construction paper circles – one blue, one yellow, one red and one green. They can just be posted on the chalkboard or wall near the spinner board. On the circles, write the names of each of the songs you are reviewing. You could even make eight corresponding circles… for each color top and bottom! There would then be two rows of each of the four colored circles. The upper four would correspond to the upper four on the spinner board, and the lower four would correspond to the lower four on the spinner board. A child is chosen to spin the spinner and then whichever song/color the spinner lands on is the one you sing! Using all eight works out well for the eight songs you have to review. Or you could focus on the four that need the most work.

Another variation of this game… if you just want to focus on one song… is to write in the circles different ways to sing the one song: loud, soft, fast, slow, boys only, girls only, standing on one foot, while marching, a capella, etc. A child spins the spinner and the song is sung according to the color it lands on. A fun “twist” to this, that one of our Primary children suggested, is if the spinner lands between two circles you sing it BOTH ways: e.g., fast while standing on one foot!