Pop Quiz

I'm adding a pop quiz to our Back-to-School lesson for SR primary today... hopefully we'll have enough time to do it. We didn't get enough WJCWB learning done last week, so the questions I had prepared for last week will be used today. Using the trivia flowers that I've used before, we'll ask these questions to the chosen person when we need a break from singing:

Who's example will we follow? ("his", or Christ's)
How are we baptized? (by immersion) USE HOW INSTEAD OF WHY
What kind of power are we baptized through? (sacred priesthood)
Where will I belong if I am baptized? What will I be a member of? (Heav'nly Father's kingdom)
When will the Holy Ghost guide me if we are baptized and become members of HF's kindgom? (ev'ry hour)

Whew. And now I'm done.

Back to School - Program Song Review Day

Okay, here goes nothing:

JR: 3:10-3:30 – When Jesus Christ Was Baptized p. 102
BACK TO SCHOOL activity: I will have a giant sack with a bunch of props that represent each “subject”. A ton of people have suggested cute Back-to-school lessons, but I especially wanna thank Nicole at Sugardoodle. See http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2909&Itemid=429
§ Reading: “Tell Me the Stories of Jesus” p. 57: Let’s learn about a few stories of Christ’s life. 3 stories: (1) Sea scenes (2) Children received blessings (3) Jesus calming the sea. I’ll have to bring pictures for these ones. BOOK WITH PICTURES THAT I MAKE
§ Language: “I Love to See the Temple” p. 95: Let’s learn some more sign language for 2nd verse! It’s always good to be able to communicate. Let’s use Sis. Carpenter’s sign language for this song! (Emphasize that my ASL might not be completely accurate, but is pretty close.) ASL BOOK
§ Writing: “We Thank Thee Oh God” H19: We read the words of the prophets in all scriptures, including modern day words in the Ensign. Just like the Prophet writes words for us to read in modern day scripture, I wanted to see if we could all “write” in the air and lead the song “WTTOG” while we’re at it! Here’s what we’ll be writing in the air (draw on the board how to lead 4/4 time). PAD OF PAPER
§ Recess: “Called to Serve” p. 174: in my recess class, we do a lot of walking and shuffling. As missionaries, we do a lot of active movement. For instance, we walk to our neighbor’s house to invite them to FHE, etc. March with me to the verses of “Called to Serve”, turn sideways when I do, in good old “Follow the leader” fashion. TENNIS SHOE
§ Math: “WJCWB” p. 102: How many members of the Godhead? Turn 180 degrees when we sing about one member of the Godhead. CALCULATOR
§ Lunch: “Home” p. 192: I like to eat lunch at home, but making lunch can be hard. To make a perfect sandwich, I need some very necessary ingredients like bread, cheese, etc. To make a perfect home, we need certain necessary ingredients too. Whip out the “Home” 3 story house and piece together as we sing. SACK LUNCH

SR: 3:55-4:15 - WJCWB p. 102
Wrap up all my ASU textbooks for each class. Each kid can unwrap one. We’ll actually talk about my college courses in SR…
§ Mixed Martial Arts: p. 174 Teach them the fighters stance, teach them to keep loose (stretch arms, wiggle shoulders, etc). HAND WRAPS (note: teaching this in an effective, but reverent way is a tough one. I'm taking a fighting/self defense class, so we'll talk about fighting Satan's evil influence and working hard to build up the kingdom of God and sharing the gospel).
§ Strategic Management: p. 102 It’s all about formulating, implementing, and evaluating plans. I always have to evaluate my baptismal covenants, reformulate, and implement. STRAT MGT BOOK
§ History of Art: p. 95 we’re learning to appreciate art in today’s society. The temple is one of the most artistically beautiful pieces of architecture I’ve ever seen. It makes it even better that it is God’s house on earth. PICTURE OF TEMPLE “ART”
§ Guitar: H19 guess which prophet plays the guitar? GUITAR BOOK.
§ History of Elvis: p. 57: in my Elvis class, we learn all kinds of stories about a really pretty singer. In church, we get to learn about an even more important person. We hear lots of stories in my Elvis class and some are very happy, but some are very very sad because he sometimes made bad choices. That’s why it’s so important to look to Jesus Christ as our ultimate example. In one song, we sing about a few awesome stories about Jesus’ life. (1) Sea scenes (2) Children received blessings (3) Jesus calming the sea. BOOK WITH PICTURES IN IT.
§ Finance: p. 192: at home, families have to work hard to keep their finances in order. For one, we always pay our tithing in our household. There are lots of important pieces to a house and lots of people that work together to create a perfect home. Let’s piece the Home puzzle together. CALCULATOR


My Baptismal Covenants (Renewed Each Time I Partake of the Sacrament) (found this info on LDS.org search: baptismal covenants)

At Baptism I Covenant with the Lord to: 1. Come into the fold of God (become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ).2. Be called his son or daughter (take upon me the name of Christ).3. Bear others’ burdens, that they may be light; mourn with those that mourn; and comfort those in need of comfort (help others).4. Stand as a witness of God at all times and in all things an din all places (testify of Christ and set a good example at all times).5. Serve God and keep his commandments.

When I Keep My Baptismal Covenants, the Lord Covenants to: 1. Forgive my sins.2. Pour his Spirit more abundantly upon me (give me the companionship of the Holy Ghost).3. Redeem me that I might be numbered with those of the first resurrection and have eternal life (permit me to enter the celestial kingdom to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ).

Thank you, President Faust!

For all of us crazy women out there, President Faust's talk titled "Instruments in the Hands of God" jumped out at me tonight (yes, I"m still finishing my lesson at 11:55pm on a Saturday night).

Some of you sisters may feel inadequate (emphasis added) because you can’t seem to do all you want to do. Motherhood and parenting are most challenging roles. You also have Church callings that you fulfill so capably and conscientiously. In addition, many of you, besides all this, have to work as well as care for your family. My heart goes out to the widows and the single-parent sisters who bear so much of the responsibility of parenting. In general you noble sisters are doing a much better job of holding it all together and making it work than you realize. May I suggest that you take your challenges one day at a time. Do the best you can. Look at everything through the lens of eternity. If you will do this, life will take on a different perspective.

(for more encouraging goodies see http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=1ed178de9441c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 ). I say this because that's about as far as I got before tearing up, realizing I still need to keep searching for some more info, and moving on.

One day at a time... I can do that!

WJCWB success...

So the kids were a little crazy, big deal! Pete the repeat Parakeet was fun, the Olympic torch was fun, yadda yadda. Oh and my pianist didn't know WJCWB so we didn't sing it, we just spoke the words. That didn't go over great in JR, but SR didn't mind.

The best part of Pete was that I had all the kids speak in their best "Pete the Prakeet" voices when repeating the words. They got a real kick out of it and we repeated the phrases like a thousand times!!! I still don't think JR knows it well, but that's aight. We'll just struggle through the program like every other year!

8.24.08 WJCWB

We'll probably be reviewing verse 2 of "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized" big time this week. I have a funny feeling we still don't know it very well.

Page 102:
1. When Jesus Christ was baptizedDown in the River Jordan,Three members of the GodheadWere present there in love.The Father spoke from heavenWhen Jesus Christ was baptized;The Holy Ghost descendedAs gently as a dove.
2. And now when I am baptized,I’ll follow his example—Be baptized by immersionThrough sacred priesthood pow’r.Then I will be a memberOf Heav’nly Father’s kingdomAnd have the Holy SpiritTo guide me ev’ry hour.

Junior Primary:
Special thanks to the Yahoo Group (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/primusic/files/Repeat%20FUN/Repeat%20Parakeet/ ) for the cute Repeat Parakeet idea.

First, I'll talk about my friend Pete, the Repeat Parakeet. Emphasis on his pretty feathers. I say a line, he repeats it in a squeaky voice (that's embarassing). We'll all repeat it with Pete once we get the hang of it. Then we'll practice singing the line one-two times. When we've mastered a line, we'll sing a wiggle song of the pianist's choice. Four lines and four wiggle songs later, we've successfully repeated the 2nd verse enough to get it in our noggins.

If we finish these goodies early, then we can play with the Olympic torch (see SR below). We could even have the holder of the torch come up and "talk" for Pete or something. It could be sillly fun.

Senior Primary:

First we'll review the whole WJCWB song and I'll use some kind of flip chart thing to see what we know. Then we'll get serious about learning the 2nd verse through questions like:

• Who's example will we follow? ("his", or Christ's)
• How are we baptized? (by immersion) USE HOW INSTEAD OF WHY - I'M NOT SMART ENOUGH TO THINK OF A NEW QUESTION FOR WHY!
• What kind of power are we baptized through? (sacred priesthood)
• Where will I belong if I am baptized? What will I be a member of? (Heav'nly Father's kingdom)
• When will the Holy Ghost guide me if we are baptized and become members of HF's kindgom? (ev'ry hour)

I'll use my "trivia flowers", which are basically just 5 flowers with "Who, what, why, where, when, how" on them. I gotta double check to be sure which words really are on them... For some reason, senior gets a kick out of my trivia flowers. Oops no "How" in my garden. Oh well.

After we learn the 2nd verse well enough, we'll use this cutesy Olympic torch idea. Special thanks to ePrimary for a cute Olympic torch idea:

A very very easy torch idea is to take a flashlight and use tissue paper cut with edges that look like flames, using yellow, orange, and red combined.
Have the children pass along the torch and when the pianist stops playing, have the children that is holding the torch say the right word for the note.
This is an easy easy visual that I have used in past Olympic years.

Will do!

Nursery:

Honestly, I am just planning on winging it. I'll bring my giant school bus that I made so we can sing "Wheels on the bus", but that's about it. I am too worn out to think of a third lesson every week! Plus the kids don't even care!!! I'll also probably bring my "Two Little Eyes" because the teachers were asking about them a couple weeks ago, but we'll see. Some kids like to try to eat the eyeballs. That's no bueno.

SUB!!!

Wow, I'm going somewhere! My perfect attendance is now shattered. If I weren't going to the beach then I would be much more heartbroken. However, I can guarantee you that my toddler (who will be accompanying us) will find some way to teeth, run a fever, unlearn how to sleep, etc.

Here are some suggestions I'm giving to my sub:

Hopefully we can go over the 2nd verse to WJCWB (p. 102).
Some great pages for flip cards are at this website http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2843&Itemid=429

Some awesome spiritual application of the verse can be found at
http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2752&Itemid=5
which could be great with the other clipart.

Then some word king might be fun with the 2nd verse...
Word king: send one child outta the room, everyone chooses one word from the song, the child (word king) comes back into the room, the rest of the primary sings all of the song but that one word. Kids love it. Choristers love it. Pianists love it. It's awesome.

OR

http://www.sugardoodle.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2880&Itemid=429
This was super cute. It's ideas relating to the Olympics. I especially liked the volleyball (just need a ball as prep, like hot potatoe), racing, archery, kayaking (cute idea), taekwondo, or diving. There have been many versions of this one, but these seemed like less prep. You'd need wads of paper with song titles on them, a ball, an easily thrown soft ball, and some enthusiasm!

I hope this is helpful to my last-minute substitute! And I really hope someone loves me enough to sub at the last minute... I found out that we were going about 11 pm, which is approximately 6 hours before we are leaving at 5 am! I'm going crazy, but that's okay.

When Jesus Christ Was Baptized

Here are my notes that I will be using tomorrow. Sorry if they don't make sense. Special thanks to the "Reporter" info on Yahoo group, the "Memorization Technique" from Yahoo group, and the old 2nd verse of WJCWB on Eprimary website.

Singing Time Plan:

JR: 3:10-3:30
WJCWB – I am a reporter and I’ve been given my first assignment to cover a baptism. Who was the last person baptized? I'll be interviewing ______.
On board: (Questions I want to cover) Who:, Where:, Who came:, Speaker:, Anything else:
Sing the song with these answers.

When ____ was baptized
Down in ______________

____________ were present there in love.
_______ spoke from the stand when _______ was baptized;
_______________________
(as gently as a dove.)

I’ve been called on an even bigger assignment, another special baptism. Matthew 3:13-17
Who: Jesus Christ, Where: River Jordan, Who came: 3 member s of the Godhead (heart), Speaker: Father, Anything Else: Holy Ghost descended
Sing again.

SR: 3:55-4:15
WJCWB
Write words to 1st verse on board before… Choose 6 sticks #1-6 for questions.
Ask:
Who was baptized?
Where was He baptized?
Who was present?
Who spoke from Heaven?
Who descended?
As gentle as what?
As kids answer, underline answers on board. Erase half underlined, sing, all then sing again.

Finish with word king. Possible words: love (hard), descended, etc.

If we have extra time (could happen-all primary pres. is outta town), I'll show them the words that were posted in the July 1977 Friend that used to be the 2nd verse of WJCWB. Interesting and helps bring the message that much closer to children (at least I think so).

2. I wonder what John felt like,Who baptized by immersion,To hear a voice from heaven approving of the way.Although I was not presentWhen Jesus Christ was baptized,I always will rememberIt was a sacred day. – Friend, July 1977

Or have them draw picture helps for JR primary of 2nd verse if we have a ton of time.

Science Experiments - Colory Mystery 8.3.08

This week is finals week... Summer school finals week. Therefore, I didn't have some big elaborate spiritual lesson planned for primary yesterday.

Instead, we did the "mad scientist" science experiments that are so popular at the Yahoo Primary group. I stole the overall idea from the Yahoo group and changed a few things here and there to create my own version. I wore goofy glasses as my "safety goggles", read the letter as if I was "Dr. Sing A. Rainbow" in JR, and even taught a few quick spiritual appetizers with "When Jesus Christ Was Baptized". I stole the cute actions to WJCWB from the Julie's Singing Time blog, with a few quick changes to a few actual ASL signs. The kids were excited to learn the sign for Christ, so that was one awesome little tidbit. I also talked about the colors of the rainbow (Roy G Biv) and noted that there are 7 colors in the rainbow and we only got to get to two or three. Therefore, we'll have to keep going in the upcoming weeks and try to match all the primary program songs to colors. Actually, I might have to add an extra color or eliminate matching one song because I think there are too many, but whatev.


Singing Time Plan:
Color Mystery for Primary
Hello my friends,
My name is Dr. Sing A. Rainbow, (write that on the board) and I am here today visiting you from your local science color lab. I have heard that you might be able to help me with a problem I am having. You see, I love to sing, and I love colors. My job is to find songs and match them with the colors of the rainbow. Singing makes things sound beautiful, and colors make them look beautiful, so I get to put them together. But I am having a problem with some certain songs. I don’t know what color will go best with them. I need your help to decide which color works. Here is what we will do. I have a list of songs that I hear you are supposed to sing for a program. Those are the exact songs I need colors for. So, if we sing the song well, then we will decide what color it should be. But we don’t just pick any color. We have to do an experiment to decide. When we are done singing, we will see what color it is by mixing up the solution. Some are very easy, some have surprises. We won’t know unless we sing it good. Okay? Let’s go ahead and start!

Songs
When Jesus Christ Was Baptized p.102
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus p. 57
We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet H19
If the Savior Stood Beside Me (book)
I Love to See the Temple p. 95

Colors
Red
Orange
Yellow
Blue
Green

#2 and #5 are vinegar
“Oh, thank you so much. Now I can go back to my lab and tell everyone I have found the missing colors. I couldn’t have done it without you. You are all wonderful!”

When Jesus Christ was baptized (touch right index finger to left palm, then left index finger to right palm)
Down in the River Jordan (make waves with hand)
Three members of the Godhead (hold up 3 fingers)
Were present there in love (cross arms across chest)
The Father spoke from heaven (hold up 1 finger -- 1st person)
When Jesus Christ was baptized (hold up 2 fingers -- 2nd person)
The Holy Ghost descended (hold up 3 fingers -- 3rd person)
As gently as a dove (interlock thumbs and have fingers fly like a dove)