Did You Think to Pray? Eraser Pass for Older Children

posted in: Uncategorized | 7

These words are up on the whiteboard or blackboard at the front of the room.

earlier, ere, before

morning, sunrise, before noon

speak to God, pray, offer thanks

authority, commander, name

sue, ask for, petition

kind actions, loving favor, looking after

defense, shield, protection

tired, discouraged, weary

night, darkness, hopelessness

dreary, gloomy, really hard

Tell the children:

Some of these words are not in the song. Your job, when you receive the eraser, is to erase one of the words that is NOT in the song. As soon as you erase a word that is NOT in the song, hand the eraser quickly to someone else. I will sing the song 5 times. Can you work together to erase all the words that are NOT in the song by the time I finish singing? (Notice how many times I emphasize “NOT” in the song… experience has taught me that someone invariably is not listening well enough and needs me to repeat that particular instruction a couple of times<grin>.)

I keep a writing utensil close so that if a child makes a mistake and erases a word in the song, I just write it back up as I keep singing.

Once I have handed the eraser to the first child, they then hand it to another child, and that child to another child and so on, until all the songs that are NOT in the song are erased.

When only the words “ere, morning, pray, name” and so on (some of the words of the song) are left up on the board, I then ask the children to sing only the words on the board and I will sing all the rest. (That way they are hearing all of the words of the song in their head and singing outloud only on the words up on the board. Called audiation, it is a VERY stong way to learn a song.)

Now switch. The children sing all the words of the song EXCEPT the words on the board. I will sing those.

It is fun, challenging, and the pattern of the words of the song and some of their definitions slip into the backdoor of the their memory.

7 Responses

  1. Ami

    THIS WORKED SO WELL!!! I didn’t have this list, but remembered the concept from your workshop. AMAZING with Senior Primary!!! Thank you!!!

    • Sharla Dance

      Dear Chelsea,

      I have a draft ready with three ideas for Junior, but have never published it! I’ll try to get that out there. (Scarves, Make the Picture Come Alive, Action Word Melody Map). Thanks for asking!

      • Lisa Kuykendall Crowther

        Is your action word melody map something that can be accessed here or in another location?

  2. Tina Mae Heaton

    Was just called to be our Primary Chorister. Have never had this calling before. Haven’t been in Primary for 10 years. A littler nerve racking!

    • Sharla Dance

      I hope that you have had some great experiences! Have you been able to see any of the training videos from this year and past years? How is it going?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *