Praise to the Man: Word Link Game for Older – First Verse

At the front of the room are these 18 word sets:

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(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

 

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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.

 

18 Responses

  1. 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!

  2. 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!

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Josie

    Thank you for your great music teaching ideas! They are heaven sent, and I cannot say that enough!

  6. 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.

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