Teaching Aids

Use Teaching Aids

The best teaching aid for music in Primary is your enthusiasm, actions and eye contact with the children. However, pictures and other audiovisual materials can help FOCUS children's attention, STIMULATE interest in a song, and CLARIFY the message. Teachings aids should always teach correct gospel concepts.  Children are easily confused about concepts that are misrepresented.  Words should be represented accurately and not be with sound –alike pictures.  The word “I” for instance, should not be represented with a picture of a human eye.

1.      Words and pictures.

a.      Children can arrange keywords or pictures in correct order. 

b.      Identify rhyming words

c.       Count the times a word or phrase is repeated.

d.      Alternate words; Use alternate words that can make the songs more appropriate for specific occasions.  (Se “Rain Is Falling All Around.” CS 341)

e.      Answer the questions “who?”  “what?”, “where?” and “how?” of a song.

2.     Dramatizations, costumes and props.  The children could:

a.     Pretend to be characters in a song.  They could use simple props when appropriate.

b.     Use the whiteboard to draw pictures of characters or objects in a song.

c.     Make simple puppets to represent characters in a song.

3.     Movement

a.     Teach songs with suggested actions, or have the children help you improvise actions where indicated. Young children who have not yet found their singing voices may participate through movement. (See " Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, " p. 275.)

b.     Move to rhythms, melodies, and phrases of the music by clapping hands, tapping feet, nodding heads, or snapping fingers.  They could also use their entire bodies to show the up-and –down direction of the melody.

c.     Use sign language for words in a song.  Sometimes you may choose to teach a few keywords for a song instead of signing the whole song.  Lds.org has a link that will take you to a site that will show you how to sign some primary songs.  You can also use a signing website to help you figure out words.

4.     Visual Aids

a.     Use a “clothesline” to hang keywords or pictures.

b.     Use wordstrips

c.     Objects on sticks for children to hold.  Pictures, words, etc.

d.    Flip Charts with pictures or key words.

e.     Puzzles

f.       Letters to a keywords, to be unscrambled or hidden in the room

g.     Objects that relate to a song

5.      People resources

a.      Children in Primary are often the best visual aids for many of the songs.

b.      Invite a guest actor to represent a person mentioned in a song.

c.       Tell stories about the author or composer of a song.  Best to keep this short and sweet.

d.      Have a family, Primary leaders, teachers, a class or a soloist introduce a song.

e.      Groups or solo: Assign small groups to sing different sections or verses. For special occasions, have a child sing a solo, or ask a group of children to sing as a chorus.

f.        Invited a quest to come in and bear testimony of a gospel concept taught in a song.

g.      Two parts: Use songs that have two parts to sing together or optional parts such as descants, ostinatos, and obbligatos. These additional elements challenge the children and allow them to experience harmony. (See " I Am a Child of God, " p. 2.)

h.     Medley: Arrange a medley of two or more songs that have similar messages or that tell one story. Interludes between songs could be created from the suggested introductions.

6.      Music Arrangment

a.      Two parts: Use songs that have two parts to sing together or optional parts such as descants, ostinatos, and obbligatos. These additional elements challenge the children and allow them to experience harmony. (See " I Am a Child of God, " p. 2.)

b.      Medley: Arrange a medley of two or more songs that have similar messages or that tell one story. Interludes between songs could be created from the suggested introductions.

7.      Audiovisual equipment

a.      A  “tape” recorder can be used in several ways. You might play a recording of a song to help teach a song or record the children’s singing so they can listen to and evaluate themselves, or record sounds or clues to help the children identify an idea from a song.