At the front of the room are these 18 word sets:
(This is the order because it corresponds to the order of the words in the first verse.)
Approval, Glory
Share thoughts, confides in
Messiah, Son of God
Christ, Savior
Set Apart, Consecrated
Sees the future, Receives revelation
Rewarded, Consecrated
Time period, Gospel division of time
Commend, Celebrate
Admire, Exalt
Honor, Salute
Went Up, Risen
Disloyal persons, conspirators
Bullies, Oppressors
Useless, Pointless
Associating, Joining
Members, Family of God
Overcome, Defeat
Around the room are these words (in a random order):
Praise
Communed
Jehovah
Jesus
Anointed
Seer
Blessed
Dispensation
Extol
Revere
Hail
Ascended
Traitors
Tyrannts
Vain
Mingling
Brethren
Conquer
Tell the children “We are going to play Word Link. Around the room are different words that link up to these words up front. As I sing, I will tap you on the shoulder so you can go choose a word from around the room and tape it to the matching set of words up front. Hint: Colors might have something to do with it.”
Beginning singing, and then tapping different children on the shoulder to go get a word from around the room. The children may need help and pointing to different sets as you sing. Continue singing the song over and over again as the children try to link up the right word with other words from the set. (These are similar words from the thesaurus.)
The beauty of this activity is that the children are concentrating on matching up these complicated words with a set of words of similar meaning while you are singing the song over and over again. The children hear the pitch, the rhythm, the beat, and the words of the song in a pattern over and over again, but don’t even recognize it. Their brain does, though, and allows those patterns to go in the back door. The children are engaged and participating to figure out the challenge.
Note: You could also use these words for the game Eraser Pass, and just put the words up in sets of 3 on the board, then have the children erase the words that are NOT in the song.
Extender activity – After the children have matched all the words, have the children sing only the words that are displayed up front, and you sing all the other words. Now switch and you sing the words displayed while the children sing all the other words.
CD Jensen
Thank you for sharing this!
Debbie Miller
Awesome!! My kids love to do this and it is a challenge for them. They know the first verse so I will try to do it with the next verse and see if I’m smart enough to get the words needed. ??
Sharla Dance
I used an online thesaurus and adjusted it for what it means in the gospel. Are you teaching the 3rd verse next?
Debie Miller
Yes. We are singing the 1st and 3rd in our program.
By the way I love what you do! I taught third grade using the intelligences and it is
so powerful. For some choristers it might be a leap of faith to try these things but once they do it they will never change.
Sharla Dance
Dear Debie,
Yes! It is powerful. Good luck with the thesaurus. You might also want to try beat verse rhythm with this song to get them moving, yet challenged. Take care, Sharla
Jen Bayles
Suggestions for anyone looking for 3rd verse synonyms. 🙂
Glory
Splendor
Greatness
Endless
Everlasting
Constant
Priesthood
Power
Authority
Ever and ever
Unceasingly
Eternally
Hold
Ownership
Posses
Faithful
Devoted
Upright
True
Exact
Honest
Kingdom
Dominion
Empire
Crowned
Adorned
Honored
Midst
Among
Middle of
Prophets
Seers
Revelators
Charlotte
Thank you for the 3rd verse synonyms Jen! And thanks for all your great ideas and training Sharla! You have been a great blessing to me and my primary!
Kristina
I love this, what a great way for them to see these difficult words. May I ask, what font size did you use? I’m trying to figure out if the definitions pages are a whole sheet of paper, or if they are cut down into quarters. Thank you, Sister Dance!
Sharla Dance
It is 72 size and 1/2 page per set of definitions. (I wanted it to be big enough to see from the back of the room.) Good luck with this!
Kristina
Perfect, thank you! My kids are going to love this. I used your Crack the Code activity on the second verse of Search, Ponder and Pray last week, and they were so focused!
Cameron Peterson
Just wanted to share an activity that was really helpful to help kids practice the hard words in Praise to the Man.
After writing the words on the board, I would ask the kids to sing the first out of the four lines on the board. While they sing the first line, I ask them to clap on one word, starting with praise. So it would go like this: “*clap* to the man who communed with Jehovah.” I erase the word Praise, and then sing the line again “Praise *clap” the man who communed with Jehovah”. I would repeat this for the entire line until each word has been clapped on and erased. To keep it exciting for the kids, each time they successfully clap on a word and we erase it, I put a plastic cup upside down on the counter and stack the cups in like a pyramid (flat, not 3D). Once the first line is through, we start the process over again on the second line, clapping, erasing, and stacking cups each time. At the end, I have the kids sing the song all the way through while I stack the cups one on the other on the top cup like a needle (one cup down, the next up, the next down, one directly on top the other). I had to use a chair, but the kids loved singing and watching how high it can stack. It finally toppled, and the kids shriek with glee. It helped us to sing each line several times through while emphasizing each word in the song with a clap. Just thought I’d share that if anybody else wants to try it.
Kristina
What a great idea, thanks for sharing!
Sharla Dance
Dear Cameron, So great. Love it! Sharla
pamela friske
Thank you Sharla for all your helpful and successful ideas! I taught the 2nd v. of IILWMY last sunday with the cup rhythm. I had introduced it a previous week with the picture puzzles. They LOVED the cup routine. Every child was engaged, even the older boys. THANK YOU!!!
Sharla Dance
Dear Pamela,
Your Primary children are blessed by you! Way to go.
Josie
Thank you for your great music teaching ideas! They are heaven sent, and I cannot say that enough!
Jana Riska-Shakespeare
I already did verse one and have plans for three, but I’m wondering if it might be too much to try to do this for both verses in two week’s time-especially since the chorus repeats, so it won’t take as much space. What do you think, is two verses they’ve learned already while singing both too much for the board or for them?
Sharla Dance
I teach each verse as a different entity, and with different activities. Because of the way music lodges in the brain, it can mix up easily unless there is a different approach to a different verse. Thanks for asking.