Last practice before Father's Day (Re- Learning "The Dearest Names" and reviewing "Love is Spoken Here")

6/9/ a.m. update - Sorry - a little slow on updates this month. I know I have left some holes with "TBD" unfinished that I just barely filled in. Please bear with me. I am the Girl's Camp director this year, too, and Girl's Camp is coming up soon :)

While the Senior Primary knows "Love is Spoken Here," the Junior Primary does not know it quite as well. So, in Junior Primary, after ensuring the children knew the lyrics for "Love is Spoken Here," I then explained to them how to sing the song as a duet. I was surprised and pleased by how joyfully they sang - they sat with their backs straight, totally intent, and SANG their little hearts out.

The next day, a friend of mine emailed me and told me about a little moment that happened while she was talking to her daughter on Sunday. The girl is about 5. This is her third year in Junior Primary. My friend said,

"She started humming and then she burst out, 'Mom, we sang the most beautiful song today in primary!'  She was talking about 'Love is Spoken Here.'"  

The girl then explained to her mom the fun way we sang the song (which is the traditional way - girls, then boys, then everyone.)

I wanted to share that moment because it was so beautiful and perfect.

This week's lesson plan
1. Teach "The Dearest Names." The children learned it last year so they just need a brush-up.
2. Review "Love is Spoken Here."

First song - "Dearest Names"

Junior Primary
1. Tell the children there is a word I am going to say over and over again in the song. Ask them to listen closely and tell me the word. (Name) If the children don't know the answer, sing the song again and have them listen again.
2. Next, ask the children to listen carefully and tell me how many times I say the word, "Names."
3. By now, they should be able to sing with me. Ask them to stand up and sit back down every time I say the word "Name."
4. There are three words used to describe Father (Noble, Brave, and True). Show them a motion to remember them and have them act it out every time we get to that point in the song. If time, discuss what Noble, Brave, and True mean.
5. Play a volume game to see how loudly they can sing the song. Either have a teacher walk down the hallway to show how loudly they are singing, or make a little volume meter you can use to show them how loudly they sang that song. Have a primary counselor adjust the volume to show the loudness on the meter.

- OR -

If I don't have enough time, I might just play an echo game. I sing a line, then one side of the room echoes the same line, then the other side of the room echos the same line again. This repetition will help them remember the lines more quickly. To make this more interesting, I could even make up a fun action for me, and for one side of the room, and for the other side of the room. Or, I could throw in some questions from above and mix them with the echo game.

Senior Primary
1. The children know this song and just need a review from last year, so first, I'll just sing it for them and ask them to join me if they remember the lines of the song.

2. Snap, clap rhythm game. I have done this several times before but couldn't find a previous post about it. I think I may have tagged this post badly. So, to explain it again:

a. One side of the room will be the beat of the song, which they will do by representing each note in a measure with a different motion. "Dearest Names" works if I treat it as 3/4 time so that means 3 different notes/actions per measure: hands on lap, then clap, then snap: I (slap hands onto lap), Know (clap), A (snap), Name (slap hands onto lap) (clap) , a  (snap), glor- (hands on lap), io (clap), ous (snap), etc.
b. The other side of the room will be the rhythm of the song, basically clapping their hands to the melody line of the song.
c. Switch and then have the other side do the same thing.

Second song - "Love is Spoken Here"

I didn't have time to make the volume meter like I described below, so instead, I want to ask a leader to leave the church building with a ball of yarn and tell us how far away she was able to walk before she could no longer hear us. She can come back and show us how much yarn it took! The object here is to encourage the children to sing loudly.

Both Junior and Senior Primary now this song now so I think I just want to sing it a couple of times, maybe with a Volume Meter and a Mumble Meter. I have an idea of how to make one with a strip of paper you can pull up ... so I'll post it and make a note that I've updated this post when I make it. That might not be until Saturday thoguh. I started thinking I could make funny pictures, but then the more I think about it now, the more I think that I like the reminder from Henkel House in the comments section a couple of posts ago, about how she made a super simple visual that was a big hit. I think I just want to focus on a big strip of color and big, fun meters, thermometer-style. I am basing this on things I remember vaguely from when I was in elementary school - definitely not a new concept!

If I have time remaining in Senior Primary, I will work on other volume and enunciation games.

Bring out the Bells! Father's Day Preparation: "Love is Spoken Here" and "The Dearest Names"

Change of plans: I moved working on "When I Am Baptized" to Father's Day ... possibly mixed in with some Father's Day activities. You can see the preparation I made for this song here. 

Today, I'm bringing out the Singing Time bells.

I have access to a large format printer (LFP) so I printed out a PDF of the song Love is Spoken Here and wrote all the notes above the music. I have found that it works very well if I label the name of the bell above the word of the song, then also point to the words as we sing :) I usually only do this in Senior Primary, because Junior Primary is always playing catch-up. I love that I can repeat this song several times to help cement this song into their minds, while the children wait for their turn with the bells. Everyone gets a turn.

If we have time, we'll work on Dearest Names, too. I made this last year, before I had access to a LFP. See how I introduced the song here: 

Teaching "Love is Spoken Here" for Father's Day

I am going to start teaching one of the Father's Day songs this Sunday, before returning to the regularly scheduled program songs since I'm more stressed about a program in June than one in October! Fortunately, the June song will be quick and easy to teach since it is an easy song, and more importantly, the primary children learned this song (When I Am Baptized) last year ... and the year before ... for the program .

I am excited to have the children sing one of my personal favorites, "Love is Spoken Here," for Father's Day.

This song is beloved by many, but often avoided because it is trickier than it seems: it has voices come in a beat before the notes in at least one spot, and it's hard to lead when the boys and girls are singing different lines at the same time. I will just make sure the children know the lyrics though, then I plan to have someone in the ward lead the boys part of this song while I lead the girls part. Problem solved! I specifically want the other person leading the boy's part to be a man in the ward because I think it will be fun for the boys to look to a man they admire to lead them in their part.

I debated about how I wanted to teach this song since it is such a beloved song that many of the children know it, just from their parents. I found this lesson plan on LDS.org and LOVE it!

You will need:

1. Heart drawings to supplement the lesson. I drew the heart pics below that you are welcome to use! Just right-click to save to your desktop and then print. Or, send me your email address if you want me to email these images directly to you.
2. Chalk to draw a house on the board.

P.S. Although these visuals were specifically meant to supplement the below lesson, I also intentionally drew them to match a poster I made for this song previously, which I guess I never shared. I can't find a post about it. So, I"ll post those pics later, but they were the "real" art from which these doodles are made. Therefore if the drawing looks vaguely familiar to you, there's a reason for that ...

From the February 2004 Friend:

5. Song Presentation: Draw a simple outline of a house on the board (large enough to fit the six pictures—from the GAK or the Church magazines—used in the second part of the presentation below). Pass out some paper hearts to the children. Tell the children that love can be spoken in their homes. As the pianist plays the melody to the first verse of “Love Is Spoken Here” (p. 190–91), have the children pass the hearts around and be thinking of some kind words they say in their homes. When the music stops, have those who are holding hearts share their responses. Write their responses on the board inside the house. Fill the house with “spoken words” until both verses of the song have been played through once.

Tell the children there are other ways that love is spoken in our homes. Place the pictures on the board around the outside of the house in random order. 

Pictures: 

Verse 1—family prayer, paper with word “whispers,” heart paper, and the Savior. 

Verse 2—father blessing a sick child, parents teaching in family home evening, heart paper, and Jesus Christ (all heart papers should be the size of the pictures, with a red heart in the center of each).

Verse 1: 

Have the children listen as you sing the first line of the verse. Ask them to repeat it for you. 

As you sing the second line, have them listen for something that tells them there is love in our home (mother praying). Ask for a response, and then have them repeat that line. 

Sing the two lines together. 

Have the children listen for which word you sing on the highest note as you sing the last two lines of the verse.  Ask for a response (“plea”). Tell them that a plea is a prayer. Have the children repeat those two lines for you. 

Have the children listen to how you sing the last line of the song (softly and gently). Ask them to repeat and sing the same way.

Verse 2: 

As you sing the first two lines, have the children listen for what my home is blessed with (priesthood power). Ask for responses. Have them repeat that line.

As you finish the verse, have them listen for what is crystal clear (the things our parents teach). Ask for responses and have them repeat the line. 

Sing the last line, and have them repeat it, singing softly. 

Review the second verse.

Remind the children that you have just sung about other ways that we can know that love is spoken in our homes. Choose someone who thinks he or she will be able to put the pictures in order inside our home while you sing the whole song. 

You may need to sing it a second time, having the girls sing the first verse and the boys sing the second, to give the child an opportunity to put the pictures in order. 

Bear testimony that we can feel our Savior near when love is spoken and expressed in our homes.