Sing for the King - teaching resources
It has been such a joy for Allie and me to watch this cute little Christmas song take off and spread throughout the world. If you are looking for some resources to teach this song, I have created/commissioned a few ideas for you below.
If you are short on time and feel like it might be a struggle to teach the whole song, I would pattern the performance after the video using soloists or duets for the verses and have the choir join on the choruses. They'll pick it up in no time at all!
Children LOVE to watch other children sing. The music video is great to show the children during practice or send the link to the parents to watch during the week. You can also turn on captions by clicking the "CC" at the bottom right of the video.
I commissioned my cute neighbor, Emily Parker, to create these beautiful illustrations. There are 11 unique, fully colored illustrations (19 pages total).
With so many children being "visual learners," illustrations are always a fun idea!!
Emily also made coloring pages!
I love using handbells with Christmas songs! They somehow make the children want to practice the song again and again. This chart corresponds to the KidsPlay Bells (because that is what I own.) The bells play a counter-melody, and it sounds so lovey together!
How to use this map:
1) Pint (if I have a big group, I like to print "poster-size" with 4 sheets of paper per page). Cut out the wordstrips on page 7. Affix first pages to board out of order (you can wait to add the wordstrips).
2) Ask the children: What do you see? What do you wonder? What is the same? What is different?
3) Challenge the children to figure out what the map has to do with the song. Sing the song. Ask the children what they learned. If they are still figuring it out, sing the song again, tapping a few key notes on the board. Ask the children to help you put it in the correct order.
4) Challenge the children to figure out what each symbol represents. Sing the song again. Collect their answers and offer praise. Repeat until they have learned all of the symbols.
5) Ask them how many times the chorus mentions Jesus. Sing the song again. Collect their answers. Check their work.
6) Challenge the children to match the wordstrips with their corresponding place on the maps as you sing the chorus again. Repeat if necessary. I like to tap children on the shoulder to go up to the board as I continue to sing. You may want a helper at the board in case they need assistance.
7) Check their work by singing again. This time, ask the children to sing all of the wordstrips while you sing all the other words. Then switch. See if they can sing the words while you sing the wordstrips.
If you don't have enough time to do all of this, I would split it up into two weeks (1-4 one week and 5-7 the following week).
I only use this with children who can read. If I were to use this with a younger group, I would keep the maps in the correct order and only go until step 4.
This eraser game is for verse 1 of "Sing for the King."
How to play eraser pass?
On a large chalkboard or white board, draw a 4x5 grid like the one above. Write the words in each box.
In as little words as possible, tell the children the words:
Erase one word that is NOT in the song
Pass the eraser to a friend
No talking
Challenge the children to erase all the wrong words before you sing the verse 4 times. Hand out two erasers and start singing. Do not stop between verses. If a child erases a correct word, quietly write it back in the box and don’t make a big deal about it.
After the children have erased all the incorrect words, “check their work” by singing the song again and pointing to each word as you go.
Challenge the children to sing only the words in the box while you sing the other words. Then switch. I like to point to the words as we go to help keep us on track.
Why do I love this game so much?
It gives the children a chance to see the words in an active learning experience.
They get to hear the verse sung several times before I ask them to produce parts of the song. If you sing it as many times as suggested, they will get to hear the verse 7 times while their little brains are actively engaged. Active engagement will cut down on the amount of time it takes to learn a song.
The three words in each box are synonyms, meaning they mean similar things. Seeing these words grouped together helps the children gain a deeper understanding of the message of the song without taking time to explain it.
Note: I would only use this activity with children who can read, or I would have something else for the younger children to do at the same time.
This is an abstract melody map for the chorus of "Sing for a King."
I love these because there are so many ways to use them. Basically, you attach the map to the board, in order, and follow along as you sing, asking the children for insights about the different shapes and colors. You can have the children trace with their finger in the air (be sure to ask the little ones which color their pretend crayon is!) or give them something to hold as you follow the map. For the map, I love finger lights, egg shakers, or ribbon wants. You can assign a specific movement to each shape, such as shaking the eggs or waving the ribbon wands quickly on the straight lines. Have fun with it!
I always like to give the children a reason to sing the song again. You can do that by asking meaningful questions. Here are some examples:
How many times do we do the big red circles?
What words do we sing on the red circles?
Why does the last pair of red circles move?
What do you notice about the green squiggly lines?
Why are the two pages different?
What do we do when the song says "King"?
Are there other words that have the same actions?
Why is one dot higher than the other?
Are there any other teaching resources you'd like to see? Send me an email, and I'll see what I can do!
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