Lame title, I know. Let me know if you can think of something else to call this...
So, the songs have hopefully all been taught, and now we just need to polish up and review all the songs from the year.
This is a quick-prep activity that you can use on many songs, or just one song.
We chose to work on just one song.
Object:
When the piano stops playing, fill in the words.
Game:
1) Have two players come up to the front of the room.
2) Roll the dice to find out how many words the kids will need to remember, after the pianis t stops playing. (For example, I rolled a 5)
3) Start singing the song, and the pianist will pick a spot to stop playing.
4) Starting with the next word, the kids will need to fill in the next words. Since we rolled a five, the kids will need to write in the next five words. I love my dry-erase boards for this, but you could also use the chalkboard, or a regular piece of paper.
5) This is NOT a race game, so if BOTH kids get it correct, both teams get a point.
6) In between "rounds," we sang through the whole song/verse. While we were singing, I'd walk around and pick the next two players, and motion them to come up to the front. I like this game, because there is really little "down time" and the kids need to concentrate on the exact words.
7) The "winning team" got to listen to a personal performance of the song/verse, by the losing team. :)
Tips:
Some primaries may not be able to "handle" competition games, and be so concerned about the losing/winning that reverence becomes an issue. I have a great primary who just enjoys playing the game, so we can do these competition games.
I think this is appropriate for SR primary only, since writing words is involved. You could play a similar game with the juniors, by just having them SAY the words.
This idea reminds me of the game show "Remember the Lyrics". YOu could title it that.
ReplyDeleteI just would like to say THANK YOU for doing this blog. I have just been put in as the primary choraster and have never done this calling before. With the program over we don't have any specific songs to learn and I am panicking at the lack of direction. I've searched through your posts and have found some fabulous ideas that is draining the stress. Thanks again! You bet I'll be following your posts.
ReplyDelete~Rachel
Love this idea. I think I will try it out tomorrow since we are learning a new song. It will make the monotony of singing it over and over again a little easier. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI did a variation of this game today that worked out pretty well. I picked 9 songs (less would have worked just fine) for Jr. and Sr. (we have a ton of Sunbeams and not so many older kids) and I drew pictures of food on the top of the chalkboard- each corresponding to a song. For Jr. they didn't write the next words- mainly because they didn't know how to write! I just had them say them- occasionally with the help of a teacher.
ReplyDeleteFor the dice, I used a dice from a dice version of Phase 10 that had 1-4 and two "W"'s on it. If they rolled a W, I had some slips of paper for them with bonus round activities they had to do while the song was sung(no stopping and filling in the blanks). These were kind of difficult things like standing on one leg for the entire song or balancing a hymn book on top of their head or holding one hymn book in each hand and holding them straight out for the entire song. I modified the difficulty for Jr. primary but one little boy who I think was 5 actually balanced the hymnal on his head for the entire song without using his hand- which I said was allowable for jr.. Sometimes those children amaze me!
Anyhow, it turned out well so I thought I'd say THANK YOU for the inspiration and share the variation.