Hi Friends,
I first published a post about teaching Nephi's Courage in 2012 and noticed a LOT of traffic to it this weekend (thousands of visitors) so I wanted to share a little more about the BEST WAY TO TEACH THIS SONG.
Since 2012, I've served as Primary President for almost six years, and have seen this song taught more than once. Of all the songs I taught, and all the ways I taught it and saw it taught, this one was my favorite song to teach and my favorite way to teach a song.The kids LOVED it and learned it SO FAST, even the Sunbeams.
I had three different choristers during my years as Primary President that were and are all seriously AMAZING music teachers, and surprisingly, this was the one teaching method that I used that I never saw repeated! So I want to make sure it's in your teaching tools. And, there's NO PREP WORK except to KNOW YOUR SONG, which is a given.
All I did was asked the children to help me make up motions for each part of the song rather than teaching them a motion. They loved being able to participate in this way and they learned it VERY fast. The only trick was that you have to remember if you are teaching this song in Junior and then again in Senior, that you may need to remember and use different motions for the different classes. I jotted down a few notes after I sat down to help me remember but if you teach the song again the following Sunday, the kids can help you remember the motion, too, especially the kid that came up with the motion that you are using.
How it works:
Chorister: [Assuming you have already discussed the first line of the song. If not, introduce it as described here.] "I want you to help me teach this song. I'm going to sing the first line of this song with the chorister, and I want you to listen carefully so you can help me think about a motion we can make with our hands to remember that line. For example, if the song was about a tree, I might go like [this] with my hands. Or if the song was about a heart, I might go like [this]."
Chorister and Pianist: [Sing the first line with the pianist.] Okay, what motion do you think we should use for "The Lord commanded Nephi to go and get the plates?"
Involving Kids: At this point, you can either call on a kid, or encourage kids to show the motion they suggest and pick the best one, or encourage children to raise their hands, and show you their motion. If the motion is really weird, ask them why they chose it. Sometimes the reason is really good, even if it's not intuitive, and you should use it! Sometimes, the motion makes no sense, and then you can gently prod them - "That's a great idea but let's do something that will remind us of a book, because plates are like a book. Do you have a motion for a book?" If they are still struggling, ask them to choose between three good options. Try to be flexible here though. If the motion isn't inappropriate, try to use it though. You want to encourage your children, and by asking why they chose that motion, you can usually find that their reasons were good behind their creative young minds. They get so excited to be able to help here. Also, try to focus on kids that don't get called on a lot. I remember I had a weird motion for "said it would not float" but the little kid explained that he was turning is hand over to show the boat tipping over, so I went with it.
Okay, you now have one line, with one or two motions to represent that line.
Chorister: "Great, let's sing just that line with that motion." (For example, it could be pointing at the sky for "Lord commanded" and then putting hands in front of you like your hands are book for "to go and get the plates.")
Chorister and kids: Sing that line with that motion.
Chorister: Okay, let's talk about the next line of the song. [Sing the line with the pianist:] "From the wicked Laban behind the city gates."
Chorister: "What motion can we use to show the wicked Laban behind the city gates?"
Kids come up with a new motion for the new line.
Chorister: "Okay, let's sing the first line and the second line."
Keep going, starting over from the very beginning after you add each line. This gives you repetition, which is one of the greatest tools in memorizing when you can do it in a FUN way. They learn it SO fast, but they're having fun because they're participating!
Chorus:
Keep the chorus simple, I pump my arms back and forth for "I will go, I will do, the things the Lord commands, ... He helps me to obey."
When the kids were reverent enough, we marched back and forth in their rows for this part, too. They were good about sitting down when we got to the first line of each new verse, then standing back up to march when we got to the fun end part. Everyone loved this, Sunbeams through 11.
I first published a post about teaching Nephi's Courage in 2012 and noticed a LOT of traffic to it this weekend (thousands of visitors) so I wanted to share a little more about the BEST WAY TO TEACH THIS SONG.
Since 2012, I've served as Primary President for almost six years, and have seen this song taught more than once. Of all the songs I taught, and all the ways I taught it and saw it taught, this one was my favorite song to teach and my favorite way to teach a song.The kids LOVED it and learned it SO FAST, even the Sunbeams.
I had three different choristers during my years as Primary President that were and are all seriously AMAZING music teachers, and surprisingly, this was the one teaching method that I used that I never saw repeated! So I want to make sure it's in your teaching tools. And, there's NO PREP WORK except to KNOW YOUR SONG, which is a given.
All I did was asked the children to help me make up motions for each part of the song rather than teaching them a motion. They loved being able to participate in this way and they learned it VERY fast. The only trick was that you have to remember if you are teaching this song in Junior and then again in Senior, that you may need to remember and use different motions for the different classes. I jotted down a few notes after I sat down to help me remember but if you teach the song again the following Sunday, the kids can help you remember the motion, too, especially the kid that came up with the motion that you are using.
How it works:
Chorister: [Assuming you have already discussed the first line of the song. If not, introduce it as described here.] "I want you to help me teach this song. I'm going to sing the first line of this song with the chorister, and I want you to listen carefully so you can help me think about a motion we can make with our hands to remember that line. For example, if the song was about a tree, I might go like [this] with my hands. Or if the song was about a heart, I might go like [this]."
Chorister and Pianist: [Sing the first line with the pianist.] Okay, what motion do you think we should use for "The Lord commanded Nephi to go and get the plates?"
Involving Kids: At this point, you can either call on a kid, or encourage kids to show the motion they suggest and pick the best one, or encourage children to raise their hands, and show you their motion. If the motion is really weird, ask them why they chose it. Sometimes the reason is really good, even if it's not intuitive, and you should use it! Sometimes, the motion makes no sense, and then you can gently prod them - "That's a great idea but let's do something that will remind us of a book, because plates are like a book. Do you have a motion for a book?" If they are still struggling, ask them to choose between three good options. Try to be flexible here though. If the motion isn't inappropriate, try to use it though. You want to encourage your children, and by asking why they chose that motion, you can usually find that their reasons were good behind their creative young minds. They get so excited to be able to help here. Also, try to focus on kids that don't get called on a lot. I remember I had a weird motion for "said it would not float" but the little kid explained that he was turning is hand over to show the boat tipping over, so I went with it.
Okay, you now have one line, with one or two motions to represent that line.
Chorister: "Great, let's sing just that line with that motion." (For example, it could be pointing at the sky for "Lord commanded" and then putting hands in front of you like your hands are book for "to go and get the plates.")
Chorister and kids: Sing that line with that motion.
Chorister: Okay, let's talk about the next line of the song. [Sing the line with the pianist:] "From the wicked Laban behind the city gates."
Chorister: "What motion can we use to show the wicked Laban behind the city gates?"
Kids come up with a new motion for the new line.
Chorister: "Okay, let's sing the first line and the second line."
Keep going, starting over from the very beginning after you add each line. This gives you repetition, which is one of the greatest tools in memorizing when you can do it in a FUN way. They learn it SO fast, but they're having fun because they're participating!
Chorus:
Keep the chorus simple, I pump my arms back and forth for "I will go, I will do, the things the Lord commands, ... He helps me to obey."
When the kids were reverent enough, we marched back and forth in their rows for this part, too. They were good about sitting down when we got to the first line of each new verse, then standing back up to march when we got to the fun end part. Everyone loved this, Sunbeams through 11.
