This particular series took place at Mountain View Methodist Day School during the spring of 2014. It was an 15 week series which focused on learning the Old Testament books and stories. As with previous preschool classes, I like to open with movement (this allows us to get the wiggles out before we get down to business). For this series, I used The B-I-B-L-E, The Drums of the Lord from Leap of Faith (Movement and Praise Songs for Kids) which can be found on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Leap-Faith-Movement-Praise-Songs/dp/B003AFLIGM/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1451403306&sr=8-15&keywords=Leap+of+Faith%2C+music+book) and Father Abraham. I also like doing a closing song, which for this series I re-used Go Now in Peace (I also used during the Creation series). For this particular series, we learned to sing the books of the Old Testament to the tune of Ten Little Indians. Each week, I'd add a new phrase, and broke the song into three large sections. I didn't use music- I basically copied this guy from YouTube: I don't have music for Father Abraham- I taught it from memory as a song that I learned as a kid. You can probably find it on YouTube. I should also note that while I play my ukulele most of the time with my preschool kids, I do not during movement time, I just sing. What I have found is that as soon as I stop doing the motions, the kids stop doing the motions, and during movement, I think it's really important to engage the whole body with the music. I want them to FEEL the beat. We learned about seven different stories in the Bible- Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses parting the Red Sea, David and Goliath, Daniel, Shadrach, Mesach, and Abendigo, and Jonah. There were three large songs which combined multiple stories- Fill in the Blanks, Drums of the Lord (from movement), and Adam, Adam. Each week, I would start with one of the familiar songs and add the new verse, then have a "story time" where we read the story. I used The Lion Book of Five-Minute Bible Stories- except for SMA, then I had to improvise. But as we were doing It's Cool in the Furnace for music camp that year, I was in a Shadrach, Mesach, and Abendigo mood. I found their story in a book called Bedtime Bible Stories that I borrowed from the library. It wasn't very colorful, but I still managed to get the story out. One last note: I did create a CD and music lyrics sheet for each class. The teachers liked to include music as part of their day, and having lyric sheets during music class helped them out. Plus, sometimes the teachers helped keep ME straight. I tend to go off-book so I can interact with the kids, and sometimes forget what the lyrics are, or what comes next. :) Class #1Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E (verses 1 and 2) My kids knew verse 1 already, so we sang it for fun, and then learned verse 2. Also, by adding verse 2 in the first week, you can get them clapping early. Learn: Drums of the Lord. Just the chorus. I broke it into two sections- the "drums of the Lord keep pounding, pounding" part and the "Way oh, oh way oh" part. They had fun with the steady beat on the thighs. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament- Genesis-Numbers. I had the kids sing it with me 5 times- I would hold up fingers- it's good for preschoolers to count. Read: Psalm 119:105- Thy word is a light unto my feet and a light unto my path. For the rest of this series, we are going to be reading God's word, and learning the stories of past believers. Who do you already know about from the Bible, who do you want to learn about? Discuss. Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #2Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1 and 2, learn verse 3. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament- Deuteronomy-Ruth. I had the kids sing it with me 5 times, then added it to Genesis-Numbers 5 times. Sing: Drums of the Lord. Review the chorus and learn the Daniel verse. Read: Daniel and the Lions- P. 57. For obvious copyright reasons, I can't include the whole story. Again, I used The Lion Book of Five-Minute Bible Stories, but feel free to use any illustrated Bible book you wish. I HAVE included one picture from the story just as an idea. Learn: Fill in the Blanks (just the Daniel verse- #3). You can use it to review the story. Sing: Go Now in Peace. Class #3Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-3, learn verse 4. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament- add 1 Samuel-2 Chronicles. Again, sing them 5 times, then add them to Genesis-Ruth 5 times. Sing: The Drums of the Lord- Review the chorus and Daniel verse. Learn the Jonah verse. Sing: Fill in the Blanks. Review the Daniel verse, add the Jonah verse (verse 1) Read: Jonah and the Big Fish p. 52 Learn: Hey Jonah! Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #4A Review Week. Nothing new. This allows you to talk through the stories as you sing familiar songs. Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle. Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Verses 1-4. Review: The Books of the Old Testament- Genesis-2 Chronicles. Sing it through 5 times. Sing: The Drums of the Lord. At this point you should be able to do the entire song. Sing: Fill in the Blanks. Just the Daniel and Jonah verses. Review the stories of Jonah and Daniel. Discuss. Sing: Hey Jonah! Sing: Go Now in Peace. Class #5Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-4, add verse 5. Learn: The Books of the Old Testament. Learn Ezra-Job. Sing it 5 times. Add to Genesis-2 Chronicles. Sing: The Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! Sing: Adam, Adam. Just the Adam verse Read: The Garden of Eden p. 11 Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #6Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-5, add verse 6 Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Psalms-Ecclesiastes. Sing it through 5 times, then add it to Ezra-Job five times. Go from Genesis-Ecclesiastes once. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Adam, Adam. Add the Noah verse. Read: Noah and the Flood p. 16 Sing: Arky, Arky. Learn verses 1-2 Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #7Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review verses 1-6, add verse 7. This should complete the song. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Song of Songs through Lamentations. Sing through 5 times, then start back at Ezra 5 times. Go from Genesis to Lamentations once. Sing: Adam, Adam. Both the Adam and Noah verses. Recall the stories and discuss. Then, in no particular order- whichever the kids prefer... Sing: Arky Arky. Review verses 1-2, learn verses 3-4. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #8Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Finally, the complete song. Review, review, review. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Just a review of the two larger sections: Genesis-2 Chronicles and Ezra-Lamentations. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky. Review verses 1-4, add verse 5 to complete the song. Sing: Adam, Adam. Review the Adam and Noah verses, then learn the Moses verse. Read: Moses and the Great Escape p. 38 Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #9Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Ezekiel-Joel. Sing through 5 times. Add to Genesis-Lamentations once. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Adam, Adam. Review the Adam, Noah, and Moses verses. Learn the David verse. Read: David and Goliath p 47 Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #10Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E. Review the entire song. Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Amos-Micah. Sing through 5 times, then add to Ezekiel-Joel 5 times. Go from Genesis-Micah once. Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Adam, Adam. Review the Adam, Noah, Moses, and David verses. Add Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Read: The Furnace of Blazing Fire and Four Men Walk in the Fire p. 184-185. Sing: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego Sing: Go Now in Peace Note: At this point, the kids know all the songs that will appear in the spring program. They need to finish learning the Books of the Old Testament, but for the next five weeks, I reviewed all the songs in two large chunks: Drums of the Lord, Hey Jonah!, and Fill in the Blanks and Adam, Adam, Adam in the Garden, Arky, Arky, How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea?, Only a Boy Named David, and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Class #11Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Learn Nahum-Malachi. These are the last 6 books. Sing through 5 times, then sing from Ezekiel-Malachi 5 times. Sing from Genesis once. Yay! You know them all now! Sing: Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! Review all the stories. I had success with bringing up a name, and letting the kids tell me the story. Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #12Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. For the last three classes, I focused on one of the three phrases in addition to putting it all together. This week, we did Ezekiel-Malachi 5 times, then went from Genesis-Malachi 5 times. Sing: Adam, Adam Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Shadrach, Mesach, Abednego Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #13Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Review Ezra-Lamentations. Sing Genesis-Malachi 5 times as well. Sing: The Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! ART PROJECT: Draw your favorite Old Testament Bible story. Everyone talked about their favorite story, and I used these to decorate the Ministry Center. Parents could wander through and see all the stories that we talked about. Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #14Movement: Father Abraham Have a seat in a circle Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Learn: the Books of the Old Testament. Review Genesis-2 Chronicles. Then Genesis-Malachi. Sing: Adam, Adam Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Shadrach, Mesach, and Abednego Sing: Go Now in Peace Class #15The final class. For this class, we just did a spring concert run-through. Because I worry about kids falling off risers, I don't do movement for the concerts. Sing: The B-I-B-L-E Sing: the Books of the Old Testament Sing: The Drums of the Lord Sing: Fill in the Blanks Sing: Hey Jonah! Sing: Adam, Adam Sing: Adam in the Garden Sing: Arky, Arky Sing: How Did Moses Cross the Red Sea? Sing: Only a Boy Named David Sing: Shadrach, Mesach and Abednego Thanks so much for reading!
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Amy Riffle-Kouyeasis a professional pianist, teacher, singer, and Music Director currently residing in Snohomish, Washington. She is the Director of Music at Peace Lutheran Church in Monroe, WA, and also teaches private piano, voice and ukulele lessons at The ARK in Snohomish, WA. |