How does a child differentiate between a first verse and a third verse of a song?
They have to learn it with a different experience so that it categorizes into a different place in the memory. Here is an rhythmic activity with specific actions for the 3rd verse of Praise to the Man.
(Disclaimer – I’m singing with a cold. Please look beyond that. )
Great – Swing your arm in front as if punching
is – patsch
glory – arms and hands pushing upward like light glowing
endless his priesthood – hand over eyes then extending forward
Ever and ever – circle one hand above your head 4 times
keys – hold out hands, palms up
hold – put two hands together as if catching something
Faithful and true – point to your head, bring the side of your hand down to your other palm, then slice thru your palm
enter his kingdom – hold your hand straight and point it up to heaven
Crowned – put a crown on your head
prophets of old – ASL sign for prophet
Chorus:
Patsch, patsch clap with R hand on top, turn hand to clap with L hand on top – x3
(on the end of the 3rd time, you will wait on the fermata)
Patsch, patsch clap with R hand on top, turn hand to clap with L hand on top – x4
Kaitlee
earth, atone, blood of that man- are from the 4th verse. Just thought to let you know!
Sharla Dance
Thank you so much Kaitlee! I just fixed it to be ever and ever the keys he will hold. I really appreciate you saying something!
Kelsea
I need extra help. Please add a video
Sharla Dance
Coming!
Emily
Do you have video of these actions? That was really helpful for me on the first verse, plus your daughter makes cute/fun faces:)
Natalie
these rhythmic dances have been working so well in our primary. the songs really get stuck in their heads, haha. I work at the school and have heard the kids singing.
I am hoping you get a chance to post a video for the 3rd vs actions. I need the visual help.
Thanks!!
Sharla Dance
Trying to get my cute helper to learn it today so we can post it. Thanks for asking!
Joyce Staley
Thank you! My Juniors weren’t really excited at first. We have them come back in for closing exercises and when they came back in (I did the same for Jr’s and Sr’s) the Jr’s were sooooo excited! Thanks again! (And, YES, we want to see that cute helper!
Trina
A video would really help! I did the first verse this last Sunday and the kids loved!
Sharla Dance
Coming!
Ann McDougall
I was wondering why you do different actions for the chorus then you do with the first verse.
Sharla Dance
I teach each verse as a different entity so that it catalogs in the brain without getting mixed up. Hopefully this will help that verse lodge in a good place, and it provides two different “hooks” into the memory for the chorus. It is actually good for the memory to have more than one way to remember something, so it goes deeper and wider into their memory. Thanks for asking!
Chelsea
Thank you for all your hard work! Both my Jr and Sr primary responded so well to learning the song this way! It took, what I thought was going to be, an intimidating job and made it easy and fun to teach…and most importantly, the kids loved it! Crossing my fingers for a 3rd video, too!
sarah
I am so EXCITED to see the video to this. My kids LOVED the first verse actions.
Sandra Wheeler
I taught this to my Junior Primary and they loved it! The movements really helped them to learn the first verse very quickly. I wasn’t planning to teach the Senior Primary the same way, thinking they would be too “grownup” to learn this way. But I was wrong. I ended up teaching the movements to the Seniors as well, and they also learned the song very quickly.
Thanks so much. I’m hoping for the video in time to teach the second verse tomorrow.
Sharla Dance
Dear Sandra,
My daughter just finished some huge testing, and can now probably be my video “actor.” In the meantime, the children’s brains will benefit from different activities, too. I see real merit in using a code game, a puzzle game, a rhythm band, a silent video, or an activity that draws on different parts of the brain, in addition to the movement. I’d love to hear how it goes.
amber bingham
The video you did with your sweet daughter was so helpful. I am such a visual person, I am having a hard time understanding what your instructions are for verse three. Is there a video for that one?
Sharla Dance
It’s coming.
Erin Harris
Thank you so much. I was just called to this calling, and have found this song to be quite overwhelming. I really enjoyed the video from the first verse. Do you plan on making another? It would be super helpful. Thanks again!
Sharla Dance
Dear Erin, Hopefully it will go up this week. Thanks for asking!
Rachelle
Video please!! I just learned the chorus and am teaching the 3rd verse on sunday. Please and thank you!!
Sharla Dance
Dear Rachelle, I just got the video up today. Take care, Sharla
Angela Sorenson
Hi Sharla,
I don’t mean to belabor the point, but just to clarify. Are you suggesting that if I did the action word actions last week for the first verse, I should do an entirely different type of activity for the third? Even though the actions are different for the chorus? I think that is what you are saying, and I believe I understand why. I just want to be sure. It seems like it would be fun to teach them the actions this week to the third verse and then we can put it all together. But I also see the value in using an entirely different activity.
Sharla Dance
Dear Angela, It is important to use more than one type of activity to teach each verse. It helps the song to go deeper into the memory, and helps the children to broaden their experience with the song. If I teach the first verse one Sunday using Action Word Actions, the next Sunday I would teach it again using some kind of visuals or the song story or the wind wands. When I teach the 3rd verse, I use 3 different activities (on 3 different Sundays) to teach that verse, too.
By doing this, when it comes to reviewing the songs in August, the children just seem to know the songs! (You’ve actually made their experience deep enough for the song to be lodged several places in their memory.) I hope this makes sense.
You can totally use the actions for the 3rd verse. I just put the video up today. Please keep asking questions!
Take care, Sharla
Myla
Thank you for the question Angela & thank you Sharla!!! Last week I had less than 10 minutes (probably more like 5) to introduce the song, in junior & senior, and I felt like I got so much taught in that time!!! We’re still going to do actions tomorrow (we didn’t even get to the chorus of the first verse actually) so tomorrow I’m doing actions and I’m doing the word link game for the first verse. I am creating little pictures to go with the words so that the junior primary can match them too. And they have some great Primary Symbols on lds.org that I’m choosing to go with them. Just thought I’d share since you’re so generous in sharing! 🙂
Darbie Hall
I too am looking for a video to teach verse 3 tomorrow. Help!!!! Funny, we adults need a video too! How do we find the video once you post it?
Sharla Dance
Hope the video will help. I just put it up today. Take care, Sharla
Alicia
Can’t wait to see the video for the 3rd verse! I’ll be using your actions for the 1st verse tomorrow. I know it will be great!! I love using actions with my kiddos. This was a no-brainer for me! Thank you for your help and for sharing!
Sharla Dance
Dear Alicia, I just got the video of the 3rd verse actions up today. Take care, Sharla
Smwk
I would love to see a video 🙂
Sharla Dance
Just put one up today! Thanks for asking.
Angela
I see a video has been posted, but I can’t find it. I need a visual for the 3rd vs.
Sharla Dance
I just posted it today, so it should be up on the website now. Take care, Sharla
JaynAnn
Thank you, Sharla, for the 3rd verse AND for all your hard work!
Sharla Dance
Just posted a story song activity for the 3rd verse.
Sheryl
Thank you! My senior boys (you know the ones we all work really hard to engage) loved learning the 1st verse this way. I was surprised they enjoyed it so much. They love the rhythm of the song though, so I shouldn’t have been surprised. I cannot wait to teach them the third verse. Thanks for your extra time and effort and for sharing with us!
Adrienne
Thank you so much for making this available! It is absolutely invaluable – I appreciate your help!
Beth
These are wonderful; thank you so much for them! Just a quick question, though: is there any particular reason why the chorus actions are different from verse to verse? Would there be any harm in using the same actions for the chorus after each of the verses? I just started doing Primary music, so I don’t want to unintentionally mess the kids up. Thank you so much! These are a hit!
Sharla Dance
Dear Beth,
You can do the same actions. Here is the reason for switching things up. Just like a couple of different roads into the same city, memory needs several different hooks to remember things in the most efficient way. With children’s music, learning the song with a visual puzzle, through a movement pattern, and through movement with wind wands or paper plates allows the children to attach all of those pathways to remembering the song. I often do at least 3 to 4 different activities with every song I teach. I only take 5 to 7 minutes with the activity, then move on to another experience with a different song.
When the children sing in the program, their brain has had so many different experiences with the song that they sing robustly and confidently. Each of the attitudes of fun from each of the experiences combine together to make the memory strong and full of life.
Thanks for asking!
Lynda Pearson
Thank you so much for sharing your methods and ideas. I taught both Junior and Senior Primary the 1st verse actions last Sunday and they loved it. I appreciate the way your activities address different intelligences and paths to memory, and thank you for your informative explanations. I am looking forward to the fifth Sunday so we can review. The kids lit up last Sunday.
Thanks again.
Rachel
Thank you so much for your ideas and videos! I taught the first verse last week to the junior primary using your beat and action word actions and they loved it. One question about the verse 3 video: why/how exactly did you choose the actions for “faithful and true?” Thanks again!
Sharla Dance
Those are the actions for being faithful in ASL sign language.
Lori Call
I have had a lot of fun doing action word actions for many of the songs this year. We had a short time in our Primary to learn the songs for both Easter and Mother’s Day. The song we did for Easter wasn’t nearly as successful as the one for Mother’s Day and they were comparable in length and complexity. I think part of the reason why is, instead of holding up words/pictures as prompts, I taught both Jr. and Sr. Primary the actions for the Mother’s Day song. It helped both and the Senior primary really got into learning the signs! The fun part for all of us was when I conducted the song in sacrament meeting I could do the actions on the tough parts and the kids knew exactly what to sing! A great resource for coming up with actions for the songs has been the website: https://www.signingsavvy.com/search/home Love your ideas Sharla!
Olivia Larsen
I just got called to Primary Song Leader a couple weeks ago and I’m so glad I found your website!
I taught verse 1 to my junior primary and then had extra time after a game with senior so I taught it to them as well and they LOVED it.
I’m so excited to teach the motions for the third verse to each of them because they are so responsive. It helps with the wiggles and helps them learn.
Thank you so much for all of your hard work. I appreciate everything you are doing!
Kristi Nelson
I really appreciate your suggestions and teaching. I am so excited to try it on Sunday. Have you motions for the 2nd and 4th verses by chance? I love this song!
Sharla Dance
No motions for those verses, but perhaps the other two verses with movement will spur some ideas for you. Thanks for asking!
Darcie Waite
Thank you BOTH for your help! Jr. primary loves using hand actions with songs and it helps so much. I have a tough time coming up with concrete actions for abstract ideas. Your actions are always fit so well and depict the meaning as well! Again, thank your for sharing!!!
Jennifer
Thank you!
Chanin
I have a combine singing time with both Junior and Senior sharing time. I used these actions and it went brilliantly! I have been feeling so unsuccessful as of late with lyrics. Somehow the movement just pushed the lyrics into their little brains today. It was so fabulous. I am on a spiritual high from their sweet voices and participation. Thank you a million times over for working so hard to feed us ideas that really work and bring such sweet rewards. Thank you!
4-Corners Review – Singing Time Ideas | LDS | Camille's Primary Ideas
[…] up with. You can find her actions for the 1st verse and chorus HERE and her 3rd verse actions HERE (the chorus is different for the 3rd verse but I’m going to simplify and only teach the […]