The theme was: Songs of the Heart. 

Objective:  To help music leaders understand how teaching the Primary songs can help lock the gospel principles into the children’ hearts.

H—How to teach a song

1. Know the Song
2. Sing the Words—Children learn better by listening than by reading.  Teach by rote—hear it then sing it.  We know the words to Primary songs because they’re learned by rote.  Hymns are read so we don’t know them as well.
3. Direct the children’s listening using questions (Using I Believe in Christ as the example, each prompt is a line in the song)
   a. Listen for another name for Christ.  Sing first line…  Now sing, emphasizing the name
   b. Listen for how I sing to Him…  When you hear the answer, put your hand on your heart.
   c. Listen to the melody.  Does it go up or down?  Show up or down with your hand.  Now sing it with me.  Increase your voices as the melody goes up.
   d. Listen for words meaning offering praise or prayer.  Sing the line with me.  Now sing the last 2 lines together
   e. If you had written this hymn, what would you have titled it?
   f. Everyone slump over in chair for one line.  “We didn’t sound very good, did we?  The song says to be sung enthusiastically.  If I use small movements with my arm, use soft voices.  If I make larger arm movements, use larger voices.  Remember to never sing louder than beautiful.”

E—Engage the children

• “Teach me to Walk”  She put Isaiah 2:5 up on the board.  She prompted us, “Remember the scripture we talked about in Sharing Time?  What is a song we could sing that sings of this principle?  “Teach me to Walk”  Listen and count how many times we sing light  and teach .  After you sing, ask, “Who’s light are we singing of?”  then bear testimony of obeying commandments and walking in His love.
• How to ask questions:  What where who when why…  phrase questions so the children can sing the answers.  “Who should be reverent?”  answer line 1.  “Why should we be reverent?”  answer line 2.  Young children love to follow hand actions.  Put hand over heart (teach me to walk in the light of his love), hand raised to heaven (teach me to talk to my Father above), fold arms, etc…
•  “When I am Baptized”  make big rainbows with arms, no wimpy ones.  They did pitch leading by standing up taller as the melody went up and bending down low as the melody went down.  They demonstrated the melody on chorus (how it bounces up and down) by showing it with their hands, in steps in the air.  Then, as with all the songs, they bore testimony to the truthfulness of the principle in the song.  Vary tempo, dynamics, to emphasize meaning.  They taught what a fermata was and why it would be used (to emphasize the point) “the best I can.”  Have children emphasize “can” as they sing the chorus.
•  “Faith”  They used the church produced video of sign language songs (next years songs are not yet out).  Don’t try to sign every word.
• “Sing a Song”  and “Lift up your Voice and Sing”  Children and movement go together.  Stop if children aren’t responding.  Allow them time for proper movement.  She had us clap our hands to Sing Sing Sing in Sing a Song.  Then she had us bend our knees to the beat and sing, “Sing sing sing”, going up and down 5ths.  Then we put them together.  Half sang “Sing a Song” while clapping the rhythm while the others sang “sing sing sing” (you sing the tone on the first sing, then drop down a 5th for the second tone, then back up to the original tone for the third sing, then repeat while bending knees).  (I hope this makes sense because this was absolutely fantastic!)  Then they had us snap the rhythm to “Lift up your Voice” and then we put ALL 3 parts together.  It was amazing.  Then she had us switch parts.  Older children like the challenge and younger children like the movement.  Challenge them to take it home and teach it to their families for FHE.
• ****Always remember to keep it appropriate.  Never let the movement take away from the spirit of the song.

A—Approved Resources

• if a visual needs too much explanation, don’t use it.
• Use www.lds.org <http://www.lds.org/>   new stuff on it as of today!!!  Go to serving in the church, then primary.  Unbelievable resources.  Go to music and then to the Children’s Songbook.  You can listen to only melody, accompaniment, or accompaniment with voices.  You can have the song transposed and print it off!!!!  If a song is too high for your Primary, transpose it, print it and give it to your pianist!  This is wonderful if you want to put a flute or violin, etc…  to the music, also!
• “I Will Follow God’s Plan” Use key words and have 4 children draw pictures to represent the key word they are given, as you sing the song to the children.  Key words are: gift   heaven   home   light.  Divide the children into 4 groups.  Everyone sings the whole song, but as your group sings the phrase of your key word, you stand up and remain standing as you finish the song.
• Sing as a relay.  Have a baton that the children pass from one group to the next.  Your group sings when your group leader has the baton.

R—Repeat and Review

• “I Will Follow God’s Plan”  One helper is going through scriptures (first line), next helper holds an iron rod (pipe, 2nd line), third helper holds a garden hoe, fourth folds arms as in prayer.  Fifth is walking in place, sixth makes an Earth with arms and has a big smile on face.  Sixth (or the whole Primary, points to heaven.  Ask, “How is this to be sung?  The book says with excitement”
• “When I am Baptized”  Here they demonstrated “cuing”  where they said the line quickly as the music slowed and then the children sang the line.  She also did a stop/go hand motion to have the children stop singing, but the music continued.  It is using a principle called “inner hearing” where the principle of the gospel is heard in their head as the music continues to play.

T—Testify

• Music leaders are gospel doctrine teachers
• The spirit can testify through music and plant it in their hearts.
• When kids are hurt, alone or scared, Primary songs can help them feel the Savior’s love for the (See “A Wildflower and a Prayer”, Friend, March 2004 pg 46-7
• The good feelings they feel when they sing the Primary songs can come to them and be carried with them wherever they go. 
• Primary songs are nuggets of gospel they have with them always.
• Primary songs lock the gospel principles into the children’s hearts.  These children are our future leaders, parents, etc… so we need them to have these principles in their hearts.