The ultimate list of classroom management strategies, organized into verbal and non-verbal strategies, parent communication tips,rewards and prizes, games, brain breaks, and visual strategies.

Need some fun, active learning activities for teaching prepositions in Kindergarten, first grade, or second grade? This post has 5 ideas to get you started!

Teaching and learning research; trial and error; participation in studies; experience of teaching and observing teachers over the past 25 years.

This so actually do creative and cute✨🥰🎥Credit : mrs mcgrady_1stgrade 🍎✏️ Like our page Be Happy Teachers for more teaching ideas and methods. A team of teachers sharing the highs, lows and honest...

So you have a few days to prepare for your Primary Program Singing time coming up on Sunday? CHECK. You want to do something fun that has a MEDIUM amount of prep? CHECK. Nothing too overboard and fancy, but an idea that is a little more special than your regular Sunday Singing Time? CHECK. Well then, here’s a good list of MEDIUM Prep Primary Program Review Ideas for you!!! 1-Emoji Progress Emoji’s are easy for the Primary children to understand! So what better image to “grade” their Primary Program Songs??? Create a similar chart with your Program songs and mark which spot you think that song deserves after they sing it! You could even move your finger during the song where you think you’ll mark to “meter” where they’re at during the song J 2-Racecar Singing Bring two racecar tracks (or 2 old wrapping paper tubes) and bring toy hot wheels cars with song titles on them. Have two children come pick a car and race them down the tracks. Whichever car goes the farthest, is the song you sing! STOP/GO signs to hold up would work great with this activity as they sing. STOP = stop singing piano still plays. GO = sing! It would also be fun to use this singing meter to change the tempo during the song. Make sure the pianist can see it as you sing! 3-Musical Measles This one is SOOOO fun, keeps the kids’ attention and keeps them singing well! Win, win, win. Tell the kids that singing can be contagious (songs can spread joy, peace, and feel the Spirit) just like the Measles!!!! Pass out red stickers to all teachers. Pick a song to sing. After the song, each teacher pick 2 kids from their class to get a stickers. Aaand the stickers get stuck on YOU (or the Pianist!) It’s so fun to see how many stickers “measles” you end up with at the end! Have fun with this one, but make sure to tell them, they only get a sticker if they’re singing their best! 4-Cookie Bake What gets kids attention and motivates like COOKIES?!?!?!?!? Make a poster with 8 ingredients (or however many songs you’d like to review). Each ingredient represents a song to sing. After they sing it (their best!), then a child can come put the ingredient into the bowl. Sniff, sniff. Can you smell them??? At the end of Singing Time, pass out cookies as a handout! 5-Punch out board This one never gets old! Have a reverent child who’s been singing well come and pick a hole to PUNCH! Inside is a song to sing. You could also pick the song yourself and have a ‘way to sing’ inside the holes. Hieeee yah! CLICK HERE to follow instructions on how to make one for your Primary Singing Time! 6-Brother Billy Bubblegum The kids love to see how big the bubble gets! The louder they sing, the bigger the bubble! Can it POP?!?!?!?!? CLICK HERE for the original instructions 7-Cut the Tie The classic shock of cutting a Brother, Bishop’s or Missionary’s TIE in PRIMARY!!! Buy a tie at a thrift shop (or use one that need to be recycled from your husband closet hehe). Prearrange the volunteer Brother/Bishop/Missionary to wear that tie. Have the children review their Primary Songs. The better they sing, the more of the TIE that gets cut off! This would be fun to have 2 ties and have the missionaries come and cut each other’s TIE!!! 8-Bubble Gum Machine Mmmm bubble gum! All you need for this one is some colorful stickers and a bubble gum machine printable (you could also hand draw this on a poster board or on the chalkboard). Remember you’ll need 2 – 1 for Junior and 1 for Senior Primary. Pick the Primary Program song to sing and tell the children if they’re singing their best, they will get a bubble gum to stick in the machine. Pass out the stickers during the song and have them put them up after the song. This is a great motivator to have all the children sit and sing their best. Challenge the Senior to fill it to the top!!! Free Bubblegum Printable HERE 9-Tic Tac KNOW the Program CLICK HERE for the original link we posted of this idea. Primary kids always like a game and challenge!!! 10-Airplane Flight Make paper airplanes with song titles on each. Call up two children and have them throw. Whosever goes the farthest is the song to Review! aaaaaa 11, why not? 11-Secret Agent Review While the kids are singing, you draw a name out of the name container and whoever you draw out you look to see if they are singing. If they are, the kids get a point, if not you get a point. For this Singing Time Review you could have someone come act/dress as a spy and walk to isles during the song. Or even sit by the piano with binoculars! The “spy” add a point to the kids if the name drawn child was singing their best. Review all Primary songs and see who wins! Good luck with your Practicing!!!! Hopefully one of these ideas can help you! -iheartprimarymusic

I was really excited to see that this was one of the suggested songs in January 2020!!! I love this song and wanted to make sure that the children understood the words to it and the story behind it. So I thought making a poster would be the best way!!!! *Also, at the end of this post is a link that will lead you to iheartprimary's Book of Mormon Singing Times. Click the link for more 2020 BofM ideas :) The little boy at the end of the song moves/slides, so that you can lead him to Heavenly Father, Jesus, and his family :) To introduce this song, I'm going to quickly tell the children of Nephi's vision and the importance of holding onto the Rod (the Word of God). Next, I will tell them the words and meaning on the poster. Then, I will have them listen to the piano to hear the melody of the song as I point to the words on the poster. After that, I plan to sing the words to them and have them listen for answers to some questions. So before I sing the song, I will ask a question such as, "What does the Iron Rod represent", "What are the 3 ways the Iron Rod is described in the song", "Where will holding onto the Iron Rod lead to?". As they listen to me sing, they need to find out to answer to the question. They are welcome to start singing along as we sing it again to listen for the answers. I hope in the end, that they know what the song is conveying and that they start to realize the importance of holding onto the Word of God and the true Gospel in their lives. For a link to this hymn on the Church's website, click HERE. For a Google Doc of the clipart that was used for this poster, CLICK HERE. Just print ans glue to make your own song visual! If you're wondering how I put together the THROUGH part, here are some instructions: First, I glued a small strip of white paper down. This is so that you wouldn't see the blue poster board underneath when you slide the boy. Then I made my Iron Rod and used an exacto knife to cut a small strip cut-out of where I wanted the boy to slide. I put a penny down (this is what keeps the boy in place). Then, I glued the Rod down over the penny- ONLY ON THE OUTSIDE THE EDGES. This is so that the penny can still slide! Lastly, I put a very small line of hot glue on the penny where it slides. Then added the boy on top. Magic!!!! Hopefully this makes sense and can help another chorister!!! And one last thing, I plan to hand out this coloring page for them to take home. Hopefully this will encourage them to sing this song with their family for CFM-FHE and talk about and read the scriptures about the Tree of Life. ----------> And as told at the beginning of this post, HERE is this link that will lead you to our Book of Mormon Singing Time ideas and activities to help inspire you in 2020! *****Hey you! Needing ideas on HOW TO TEACH NEW SONGS in 2020???? Click HERE for our ideas on how to Teach a Song from Scratch! We'd love to be able to help inspire you with some singing time ideas :) -iheartprimarymusic

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Ideas to help you deal with the aftermath of the LDS Primary Program!

You’ve taught them the new song for the month…. now you need to REPEAT aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand REPEAT it!!! Children (and adults) learn best with repetition so we thought we’d compile a list of ways to repeat a song without the children hearing, “One more time” and “Play it again” or “From the top”. The best kind of Singing Time when repeating and reviewing a new Primary Song is the one where the kids don’t realize they’re singing the same song over and over again! This is also great for them the repeat the words again and again, learn and melody, and feel/understand the message of the song. So you wanna know the ways to do this for your Primary? We came come up with this list as a resource for you to draw from!!! Alright, here is the list, “from the top” : 1-Play Hot Potato. Pass an object around the Primary room as they sing the song to review. The child that ends up with the object gets to say something they love about Primary. Hot Potato Option 2 – Have the Piano play and children sing and pass the “hot potato”. Arrange for the pianist to stop suddenly during the song at different times. The child who has the potato when the music stops says the next word or line to the song (they can get help from the Primary, if needed). 2-Voice Changer. Let the children pick a different voice to sing the song. For example, have them change their voice to sound like: -Computer Robot (staccato) -Baby Voice (sweet and lispy) -Underwater (plug nose, or move pointer finger up and down in lips) -Grandma Voice (pinch a small piece of your neck and move away and then back toward your neck really fast) -Opera (self-explanatory - use hand actions too!) -Feather Voice (whisper) -Bee Voice (Hum) -Chipmunk Voice (sing high, tighten neck and show teeth) -Ninja Movie Voice (move mouth in between words and pauses) -Giant Voice (sing deep and low) -Cowboy Voice (like a country singer) These voices can be chosen from paper strips on the chalkboard, punch out board, rolling a dice (each number represents a way to sing), spinner wheel, or any of our holiday/seasonal pick-and-choose activity. For our Ultimate list of Different Ways to Sing (over 50 ideas) CLICK HERE. 3-Singing Meters. Most kids love a challenge. They like to see how well they’re doing, so Singing Meters are perfect for that. Singing Meters can control their speed, volume, and overall how well they all are singing. A helium balloon as a meter or Eddie Spaghetti, Billy Bubblegum are great for this. Also our Racecar Singing Meter. 4-Stop/Go, ooooo ahhh, boys sing/girls sing Signs. Hold up a sign that tells the children who or how to sing. Switch them during the song so they have to pay attention. 5-Different Lead Sticks. Bring a variety of leading wands/sticks and display them on the table. Choose a child to pick one and lead the song. Tell the children you will be watching to see who is singing their best, and you will pick another child to pick a wand and lead. 6-Hot N Cold. Choose 2 children. One is the hider and the other is the seeker. Have the seeker go into the hall. Have the seeker hide a small object in the Primary room. Call the seeker back into the room and have the children start singing the song. The closer the seeker is to the object the LOUDER the children should sing. The farther away from the object, the QUIETER. If they find the object before the song is over, KEEP SINGING! My Primary children never get sick of this activity! 7-Silent Singer. One child goes out in the hall. Another child is chosen to be the “Silent Singer” meaning that child “lip sings” the song. Have the child in the hall come back in and all children sing – except for the silent singer who is lip singing. See if the child that was in the hall can guess who the “Silent Singer” is. Finish singing the song even if they guess before it’s over! 8-Rubberband Primary Band. Have some recycled instruments displayed on the table. Pick a child for each instrument. Sing that song as those children with their instrument keep the beat. At the end of the song, have them pass their instrument onto another child. Sing the song until each child has had a turn. Some examples of instruments are, oatmeal tube as a drum, egg carton and stick as a Guiro, 2 paper plates as cymbals, comb (scratch fingers across), spoons back to back (hit knee and hand), tap 2 wood spoon together on the stick part, large and wide rubber band around an open box or Tupperware bowl, etc. You could also use bells, shakers, etc. and to finish the song, have a special helper be the finishing cymbal and clap two chalkboard erasers together!!! 9-Hat Review. Display different hats on the table. Sing the song and whichever class sung the best gets to pick a hat from the table and have their teacher wear it! You could also have different categories such as: The class who is sitting up the straightest and folding arms. The class that is smiling the most. The class that is the loudest. The class that is singing the most enthusiastically. Which class know the song the best without the visual? The class that is overall the best in all categories. 10-Missing Mystery. Send a child in the hall. Pick another child to be the “missing mystery” – meaning they hide behind the chalkboard (or piano) for the song. Call the child back out from the hall and have the children start sing the song. See if the child from the hall can guess who’s missing before the song’s end. If they guess who it is, too soon, keep singing until the end of the song! 11-Headbands. Choose some words that are sung in the song and write them on an index card size paper. Call up a child who is up for a challenge. Put a headband (like a basketball sweatband) around their forehead. Clip the index card with the written word to the band. The child should not be able to see the word. Have the Primary children start singing the song. When the word on the card is to be sung, have them skip over it (don’t sing that word). Have the child with the headband try to guess what word is on their forehead. If they don’t guess it the first time, sing the song again and this time have the children sing that word LOUD and obvious, make sure they sing all the way to the end of the song. 12-Musical Measles. All you need for this one is some small round dot stickers. Be careful the measles are contagious! Original post HERE. 13-Guess the Leader. Have one of the members of the Primary Presidency go out in the hall with a child (or by themselves, depending on the child). Choose another child from the Primary to be the “leader”. The “leader’s” job is the have the other Primary children follow their actions during the song. Have the child in the hall come back in and all start singing. The leader starts doing different actions such as clapping, rolling arms, pat head – all the children follow. Have the child who was in the hall try to guess who the “leader” is before the end of the song. 14-Class action. Each class is assigned a secret word (such as the, am, I, etc.) from the song. As a class, they decide on an action to do or sound to make when this secret word is sung in the song. Examples of actions are, jump up off their chair, clap, dab, meow like a cat, etc. Sing the song until all secret words are figured out for each class. Option 2 – Pick some different words that get repeated a few times in the song such as “I or to”. Tell the children NOT to sing that word but to replace it with an action or sound (examples are above). You can replace a different word every time, or have them build on each other each time to make it a fun challenge! 15-Mindful Singing. First, start by having the kids rub their temples on the head to get their “minds ready.” Next, have the children sing the song - to refresh their minds. Then, have the pianist play the song and tell the children to sing the song in their head (mind). Have the pianist stop suddenly and see if the children can say what the next word or line of the song. Have them raise their hand if they think they know it. Sing the song out loud again all together, then play mindful singing. Make sure to give your pianist a heads up on this singing activity before it starts! 16- Heads or Thumbs. Before you sing the song to review, have the children stand up and either put their hands on their head or give a thumbs up – whichever one they want to choose. Sing the song, after the song is sung, flip a coin. If the coin lands on heads, those with their thumbs up, sit down. If the coin lands on Tails, those touching their head, sit down. Start over with those still standing. ALL children sing. Flip the coin at the end of the song. Repeat and sing until there is one child standing! 17-Switching Seats. Have one child go out in the hall. Have another 2 children from the Primary switch seats. Have the child in the hall come back, primary start singing the song, and before the songs end, see if the child that was in the hall can guess who switched seats! Well, now there you go!!!! You have 17 ways to REPEAT a song in a fun way! We hope this helps you feel empowered to help the Primary children review any song. Keep in mind that not every one of these work for every song. Some songs are longer than others and may not work, or some songs are to be sung more reverent than others. Thanks for visiting our site and be sure to check out our other pick and choose review ideas and following our Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook pages!!! -iheartprimarymusic

A couple of years ago I used this Popcorn poster as an incentive to refine their songs for the primary program. The idea was to have them g...

Every month, there are 3 suggested songs to teach the Primary children. Discuss with your Primary President, and other chorister(s), which songs you’d like to focus on for each month. I try to pick one that THEY KNOW pretty well and one that they DON’T KNOW from the suggested songs. Teaching 3 new songs from scratch a month would be a lot for them to learn! So for the 3rd song, I will either sing it during a pick-and-choose Sunday, or as one of the opening songs that month. On the first Sunday of the month, I introduce the NEW SONG (the suggested song that they are unfamiliar with). To make Primary Singing Time interesting and fun and also bring the Spirit, I like to introduce the songs in different ways. I think introducing a song can be the most daunting of Sunday’s! I LOVE repeating songs, doing pick-and-choose activities, and incorporating holiday’s (if you follow our Instagram, it’s packed with those ideas!) But introducing a NEW song seems… I don’t know… boring? I don’t want to lose focus with their short attention spans by just telling them the words and then singing it over and over. So we’ve compiled some ideas as a resource on how to first introduce and help the children learn a BRAND NEW song. One they’ve NEVER heard before. ***With any and every new song, make sure you have the right attitude and prayer in your heart about the message the song will bring. Be enthusiastic, saying something like, “Today we are going to be learning a wonderful song”. You can also explain the words, message and story it conveys. Alright, you’ve waited long enough! Here are the ideas!!!!!! 1-Flipchart or Posters. I pretty much ALWAYS use a poster or flipchart for every song. I feel most children are visual learners and this helps Junior and Senior learn the words through pictures and words. Poster (my preference) Flipchart: (this flipchart is from Finch Family games found HERE) 2-Compound Learning. First, have them LISTEN to the song. This can be played on the piano, your phone through the Sacred Music app, CD, cassette, or Youtube video, etc. Second, let them HUM along to the melody. Third, have them SWAY their bodies (or sway scarves/wands) and hum to the music. Fourth, after showing and explaining the poster board/flipchart, SING the words to them (holding up the Poster or Flipchart). Fifth, have THEM SING along. Sixth, have them use shakers, paper plate drum, or clap/snap the rhythm as they sing along. 3-I sing, You Sing. After explaining the meaning of the song and showing the visual, play the music to the song all the way through. Sing the first line of the song with the piano, have the children repeat. Sing the second line of the song, have them repeat. Put the first and second line together and sing together. Continue on for the whole song. Make sure that before Primary you let your pianist know what you’re planning to do. You could also start with learning the chorus of the song. 4-Guess the Visual. Have the flipchart papers up on the board – all scrambled up and out of their correct order. Sing the first line of the song and have them guess which flipchart paper matches the first line. Continue this for each line of the song and put the flipchart in order. For Senior Primary, you could have word strips of each line of the song (out of order). Sing the first line and have them pick our which word strip is the correct one and have the children put the strips in order as you continue singing the rest of the song. For Senior Primary, you could have word strips of each line of the song (out of order). Sing the first line and have them pick our which word strip is the correct one and have the children put the strips in order as you continue singing the rest of the song. 5-Vanishing Flipchart Papers. For this one, call up as many children as papers you have in the flipchart. Each child holding one paper. Sing the song with children, one flipchart paper at a time. After the whole song has been sung, take away 1 paper and have that child stay standing. Sing the song and point to child as they sing that missing flipchart paper. Continue taking away papers and having them sing the song again until they’re all gone! Keep them up to the challenge using reverse psychology saying things like “Oh no! Can we do it now? (Yes!) Ok, here we go!” or “I don’t know, do you think you can remember this one????” 6-Bubblegum Blobs. For this idea, you’ll need a flipchart or poster hung up on the chalkboard. Sing the song with children (with idea number 2 or 3 on our list above). Tell the children you stepped on some sticky bubble gum on your way to church and thought the gum could help with singing time. Use one pink “gum blob” (pink paper or poster board cut into blob shape) to cover up a part of the song at a time. Sing after each blob is added. 7-Fill in the Blank. Write the words to the song on the chalkboard leaving out a word on each line. So intentionally NOT write some of the words to the song but draw a blank _______ so it can be added in. Sing the first line of the song. Have the children listen and see what the blank word is and fill it in. Continue on for each line of the song. This is a great one to get the children really listening! 8-Disappearing Words (eraser pass). Write the words to the song on the chalkboard. Have the children listen to the song as you point to the words. Next, sing the song with the piano. After, have the Primary sing along. Sing it one more time all together and tell the children to try to remember the words because they are going to start to disappear! As they sing the song, have them pass around the eraser. Whoever ends up with it at the end of the song, gets to erase 2-3 words!!! Sing again and pass the eraser! 9-Use Hand-Actions (or sign language). Sing the first line of the song. Ask the children to think of a hand action to be used for the meaning of the words. Sing the second line and again, ask them to think of a hand-action that would represent the words. Continue on for the whole song and combine all the hand-actions. This is another great idea for getting them to really listen to the words! (You could also sing the whole song together and only do sign language for KEY words). 10- Find It’s Home. Have the words to the song on the board - cut into separate word-strips and in the correct song order. Call up a child and give them a picture that matches up to one of the wordstrips. Have them match that picture to the word strip as you sing each line of the song. Have children sing along as they learn. 11-Picture to Lyric Match. (This one is the harder version of #10 "Find It's Home") Have pictures and song lyrics for each line of the song on the board (like a flipchart, but cut the words out separate from the picture so they’re not together). Sing the first line of the song and have the children try to match the picture to the words. Sing the song over and over until they’re all put in the correct place! 12-Listening Detective. Start by explaining we have a new song case. Listen up detectives!!! We need to find out: Who is it about? What do we learn? How many times does it read “He” or “Love”, etc.? You may want to read the scripture reference at the bottom of the song in the Songbook. 13-Visual Object Lesson. Show a quick visual lesson on what the song is about. Just a quick object lesson before you have them listen to the melody. In the Primary Music Instructions it say’s: For example, the song “Faith” (Children’s Songbook, 96–97) mentions a little seed. You could show the children a seed and talk about how we show faith when we plant a seed; this could lead to a discussion about ways we show faith in Jesus Christ, as described in the song. I also did this for “How Firm a Foundation” years ago. This helps them understand the meaning behind the song. Remember, it’s not just about learning the song and words, but learning and feeling the Spirit. AND now 2 last small tips: 14- Have the Pianist play the song as the interlude so that the children can hear the melody and be familiar with the tune. 15- Find the song in A Children’s Songbook Companion and read what’s suggested! This is a great resource for teaching the songs in the Primary Children’s Songbook. I refer to this book often. Find one HERE. It's seriously been a lifesaver on some Sunday's when I need an idea on how to introduce a specific song! and it also includes visuals on some songs! **Remember! This is the children's FIRST time hearing and learning this song! So don’t feel like a failure if they don’t pick it up right away! As you repeat and repeat this song, they will catch on! Also, remember the purpose is to help draw in the Spirit and let them feel the words and the meaning of the song. Good luck with your introducing your new song! Pray and listen the Spirit as you prepare! You can do this! -iheartprimarymusic

Need some fun activities to teach nouns to your 1st or 2nd grade students? These activities will help you teach common nouns and proper nouns!

Primary program review ideas, tips for reviewing for your primary program, prepare for your Primary presentation using these simple ideas

What other can you use coloring pages?

One of my favorite Primary songs is "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus" and I loved teaching it to the children last year. I used mostly pictures from the Children's Songbook to make my flipchart. I tried to use very few words, mostly because the Juniors can't read much anyway and the Seniors mostly knew the song. I tried to use pictures that helped them remember the words and what they mean. You can find my flipchart here: I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

How to create the ideal LDS Primary class for you and your students

Teaching questioning to primary readers can be challenging. I recently released a new edition of Concrete Comprehension for Primary Readers: