20 Minutes for singing time, what should I do? A plan for maximizing effectiveness in singing time.

Structuring your 20 minutes each Sunday to maximize effectiveness.

Enthusiastic Greeting

1 minute or less  

You need to get their attention.  Their minds will be all over the place.  Greet them with enthusiasm, hook their attention so you can sing!  Sing!  SING!

Wiggle Song (or two!)

3 minutes

Maybe they just came from class and are feeling wiggly.  Maybe they just came from Sacrament meeting and they just can't sit still.  Sing a fun song, or two or three and get the wiggles out.  Don't be afraid to sing it in a silly style to make it even more fun!

Practice Song 

9 minutes

Review Songs

5 minutes

This is the time to sing one or two practice songs for the program, or throw in more favorites so the kids continue to pay attention.  Everyone needs a break from singing the same verse of the practice song over and over again!

Practice Song

1 minute

After a short break of review/fun songs sing this weeks practice song one more time.  It lets you know how well they learned what you taught earlier and the parts of the song where the kids are struggling.  This way you know what to focus on next week.

Reverent Song

1 minute

Whether the kids are about to go into sharing time, class or home always end with a reverent song.  The reverent song lets the kids know it's time to settle down and be prepared to pay attention to what is next.

A well organized singing time will have time for 8 to ten songs, even if you are spending ten minutes teaching a song.  Reviewing songs is very important!  It helps reinforce gospel principles, it's fun and it's what singing time is all about!  SINGING!

What if sharing time goes long and I don't have the full 20 minutes?

Not a problem!  You can know exactly what to do by looking at your kids.

Are they super wiggly? 

Wiggle Songs 4 minutes

Practice Song 4 minutes

Review Songs 2 minutes  (probably one song or two short ones)

Reverent Song 1 minute 

Are they being reverent?  

Practice song 5 minutes

Review/fun songs 5 minutes

Reverent song 2 minutes

What if it's important to explain a gospel principle so that teaching the song is more effective?  Where is the time for that?

Sharing time!  If the song of the month (or any song) needs extra time to be explained get with the person doing sharing time that week.  Have sharing time be first.  Talk about the song.  Explain the gospel principles and have the children participate while learning.  Then when it's time to sing, you have time to sing and there was plenty of time to learn about the song as well.

I don't see time for games or activities in your schedule.

Keep the games simple.  If they take too much time, you lose valuable practice and singing time.  Don't let the game be so involved that you don't sing any songs!  When we have a singing time where I will be calling on the children to pick what we sing I usually ask right at the beginning for them to each think of a song, that way they already have a song they want to sing if they are called on.

You don't have to spend all 9 minutes working on the practice song.  Sometimes you only need 5.  Sometimes the kids just need to review the practice songs, and you don't need that time for learning a new song.  That's a great time to throw in a fun game that needs a little extra time.

Well begun is half done!

This is definitely the Mary Poppins in me!

Be organized.  Know what songs you plan to sing for opening song, closing, wiggle songs, birthday songs, and review songs.  It's very helpful to give that list to the pianist so that they can get to the next song quickly.  Take the extra step and write down the page number for them!  You don't want the kids to get restless and stop paying attention because they are waiting for the pianist find the page. Make everything go smoother by being prepared!

Know the songs!  Practice all week, or for several weeks so you know the song you are teaching.  As soon as you pick up your phone to look at the words you've lost the kids and it's really hard to get their attention back.

Watch the kids!  Pay Attention!

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just lose them.  It's sad.  It's heartbreaking.  But you have to continue on.  It's time to abandon the schedule and get them back on track before you can continue with the regularly scheduled activities.

What to do when you have lost control and the primary kids aren't paying attention:  

Action songs - kids can't help but join in.  They love to move around.

Sing it silly - The kids need singing time to be fun.  Pick a wiggle or action song and sing it like a pirate.  You will have their full attention.

Do something drastic.  Have an emergency visual aid handy.  I have reverent glasses.  When I put them on the kids are magically reverent.  Have something that lights up!  Change your location.  Move to the back of the room!

Use your pianist!!! Fall asleep if they sing too quiet and have the pianist wake you up.  Have the pianist play a fanfare if they do a great job, or play some minor chords when they don't sing well.  

Send me an email!  I would love to answer any questions you have and help in any way I can.  All primaries are different!  matildaquilts@gmail.com

My Country Patriotic Primary Song

My Country

This is my country! 
I sing it with pride
Whether it's desert 
sand duned and wide,

  

Mountains with pine trees, 
land iceberg bound.

It's here where my home 
and my loved ones are found.





I put together 8 visual aids to help teach the song.  They each have pictures to show images from the song and all but one shows key words.  I had kids come up and hold the visual aids.  We went through each sign adding that part of the song and singing it.  After each time we sang the song, the children would go pick someone who had not had a turn to come to the front and hold the sign.  
They also had to put themselves in the correct order.
 

I taped sticks to the back so that the kids can hold them up. 
When you are looking at visual aids from the back it's hard to tell what they are.  I always number them so I know they are in the right order, and I often have the words back there to remind me which visual aid goes with which words.
These took an afternoon to make.  They would also be great using photos or drawings.  Imagine a photo of pine trees on a mountain or a real desert.  Those would be just as fabulous.  In fact I wish I had thought of it first!

Primary Singing Time Trivia

 Question:  In the song "Our Primary Colors"  what does red stand for?

Answer:  courage to do what is right

 
Early Sunday morning I was packing my bag for church.  I am teaching a new song!  My daughter instantly complained......"Mom, you can't just teach a song!  You have to play a game!"  (please insert whiny voice).

A game!  

I spend all week getting ready for the song and now I need a game!?!?

Okay, I think to myself, I can do this. 
So I go to the living room and close my eyes and think of a game.  A trivia game!  I grab some paper and start writing and the trivia game is born!
During singing time I asked one class a question.  If they answered correctly they picked the song, if not, then we reviewed a program song. 
I also thought it would be fun if I had some bells like you see on the counter of businesses so that we could play "Family Feud" style and have two kids vie for the right answer.  But alas this is one of those marvelous ideas  that come too late to do the same day.

I've included the trivia game as a Google doc here.  I hope you enjoy the questions as much as I have enjoyed writing them, and as much as my family, friends and primary kids have enjoyed trying to answer.  I was blown away by the knowledge the primary kids had, even when I was sure they wouldn't know the answer.  Smart kids!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1doRkpzG6Guj9WrN5mnfCnCepHr1BxwKfXZgjkOeYe6o/edit

Baptism #100

 One of the 2014 program songs is a personal favorite.  I love this song!  For some reason kids seem to be attached to the "rainbow song" but for kids in my generation this was the song.  This song, written by Mabel Jones Gabbott and Crawford Gates was THE baptism song.  We used this version, from the orange Sing with Me primary book.  It's in a different key than the one  you find in the newer book but if you have a pianist that can play it, I highly recommend it.

 I have visual aids that I made for this song, which you can find by going here:

 http://primarysingingtimewithmatilda.blogspot.com/2009/05/baptism.html

I don't have these to scan and put up for you.  Sadly, they have been misplaced. 

One young lady from senior primary said:

"I DON'T LIKE THIS SONG!"

I almost never stop during singing time to do a sharing time. Actually in all the years I've ever done singing time I've only done this once.  (Sharing time is for sharing time and singing time is for singing).  I stopped to talk to the primary about this song.  I talked about how important it is.  How they can learn about the principle of baptism from this song.  If anyone ever asks them why we are baptized they have the words of this song to give them the answer.  And!  I said if you learn this song you will always KNOW the answer to any question about baptism.  They won't even have to think about it, the answer is easy.  Just think of the song.  So many primary songs convey important gospel principles once learned they provide information, answers and direction for life.

Mother's Day Songs

I have several other posts about Mother's Day, but this year I think I am thinking of "I Often Go Walking".  I think it's the song I loved to sing to my Mom when I was in primary and it's the one I always want to hear them sing to me.  What are you having your kids sing this year?

Getting Blown Away

I have to admit this wasn't my idea but I just loved it!  A friend in another ward was directing a stake primary choir.  She was trying to inspire them to sing loud enough to fill the chapel.  She told them she wanted them to blow her away.  So when the kids began to sing she acted like she felt a breeze, and as they sang louder she acted like she was being blown by a very strong wind.  The wind blew her down the aisle and out the back door.  She was very theatrical how she did it and the kids sang their hearts out for her.  I wish I had pictures!!!!!  You could definitely do this in the primary room too!

The trouble with only singing program songs.....is that you don't know any songs.

Today I was going through my files looking through old things and organizing visual aids.  I didn't realize how much I had, but after 4 years it kind of makes sense.  I found a list of songs from 2008 when I was first put in.  There were about 15 songs on it that the kids in primary knew.  Mostly they were program songs, but there was also the snowman song, a birthday song and Hello!  They really didn't know any songs!  They had had four leaders over the previous year who spent the whole 15-20 minutes every Sunday only teaching and reviewing program songs.  There was no continuity.  These children didn't know core songs, or even the program songs from the previous year!  I went through the list today and highlighted all the songs they knew. 

THEY KNOW 71 SONGS!!!!!!

These are songs that they can sing well, without visual aids, at anytime.  This is probably about what a primary should be able to sing, but for this primary it's a huge step!  I am so proud of these children and all their hard work learning songs!

The trouble with only singing program songs is that ultimately the kids don't know any songs.  In order for them to truly learn a song, you have to sing it well beyond the program and keep singing them into the next year.  I know it's hard.  It takes a lot of planning, and even with good planning sometimes songs fall through the cracks.  But consider this, a song taught once, and reviewed periodically, doesn't have to be retaught.  The younger kids learn it by hearing the older ones sing it.  And that's how favorites and classics are made, and gospel principles are retained.