Whole to part to whole.
I took a class to learn how to teach music to children in my college days. One of the strong concepts that came out of that class was Whole to Part to Whole: introduce the whole song, focus on a part, then focus on the whole once again.
When I introduced the January song of the month, I wanted the children to hear the whole song, yet be engaged at the same time. Bingo! The activity Silent Video was just the thing.
How does it work?
I used the video “The Testaments” and started at scene 16, right where there is a camera shot of the clouds. I turned off the sound of the video and showed it to the children as I sang the song and they watched. I occasionally pointed to the screen and stopped singing long enough to make a short comment like “Look at His hands.” I sang the song all the way through, singing with all my heart so that the children could sense the sacred pleading of faith that shines through this song. Their eyes were glued to the video presentation and their ears were taking in the Whole of the song through the “Back Door.” (I’ll say more about the Back Door in another post.) That day I combined Silent Video with a movement activity to help us learn the song of the month for March. I’m starting early with it because it has several verses and it is a great contrast to the feel of “I Know That My Savior Loves Me.” (The other activity is coming in my next post.)
Libby
Thank you! I don’t have the Testiments DVD, but I do have the Book Of Mormon Stories DVD. I decided to try that out with the song and found that the song works perfectly with chapter section 44 “Jesus Christ Blesses the Children. It’s only long enough to sing the first verse, but it is crazy how well it goes with the song! It’s starts off with children gathered ’round Jesus just like the song says! And when I get to the part that says, “I did not touch him or sit on his knee”, it changes to a picture of a child sitting on the Saviours knee! Ha. It even has a picture of the Savior with a tear on His cheek almost directly after I sing that part. So I think I will give this a go on Sunday!
Sharla Dance
Great suggestion!
Sharla Dance
Wonderful!
Sara H
Thank you for the great ideas! Today I only had 5 min for singing time, so I was only able to play the video and sing the song for the children. Then I shared my testimony and told them that when I sing this song, I feel like I am singing my testimony. I’ll have to do the movement activities next week. Thanks again! I’m really looking forward to helping the children REALLY learn the songs this year! 🙂
Sharla Dance
When they learn the feeling behind the songs like you gave them today, they sing with their hearts and souls. Thank you for giving them your testimony today in a wonderful way.