HOW TO TEACH "THAT SOMEONE" IN 2 WEEKS (2 SUNDAYS / 10 MINUTES EACH SUNDAY)
To start with, I get it. I've been the Primary Music Leader (Primary is the children's group in my local congregation) 6 or 7 different times for a total of almost 20 years.
I understand the fatigue of barely finishing a Mother's Day song only to be facing Father's Day in a month. So I'm going to teach you how to teach "That Someone" in two weeks.
Teaching songs in Primary, to me, is all about efficiency, and then all about repetition. And those of you who know me know I don't spend a lot of time on visual aids. Or any time.
This is the way I teach every song: I ask a question. Then I sing. The kids answer. Then the kids sing. Rinse and repeat until they know the part of the song you wanted to teach that day. Then find some fun ways to repeat it.
DETAILS:
FIRST: Ask an older primary child (9 or 10) to sing the first verse as a solo.
NEXT: Ask a young woman (or a young man) to sing the 2nd verse as a solo.
*Now you only have to teach the chorus on Sundays.
I WOULD START TEACHING THIS ON THE LAST SUNDAY IN MAY, so you can have 2 weeks to teach it and 5 minutes the following week to sing (review) it - with the soloists.
SUNDAY #1:
ME: Today we're going to start learning a song for Father's Day. We're only going to learn the chorus. And we only have two weeks to learn it. So, I need you to focus 100%!
ME: This song is called "That Someone." I'm going to sing the whole chorus and I want you to count how many times I sing the word "Someone."
(Sing it)
How many times?
CHILD: 5!
ME: Yes! Way to listen! Now I'm going to sing the same thing again and I want you to listen to the melody. In this chorus, there are four parts. Three of them start with the very same melody and one of them starts with a different melody. When you hear the different melody, please quietly raise your hand. Then when I'm done singing, I'm going to ask you what words that different melody starts with.
(Sing the whole chorus again. They should raise their hands on the 3rd part that starts "Someone who takes my hand.")
ME: Awesome. You raised your hands on the 3rd part of this chorus. What words does it start with?
CHILD: "Someone who takes my hand"
ME: Great! Wow. You guys are 100% so far!
Let's see if you can keep it up.
One more question for the whole chorus:
I'm going to sing it one more time, and I want to see if you can count how many different things "that someone" (which is referring to your dad) does for the child in this song.
(Sing the whole chorus again.)
ME: Okay. How many separate things?
CHILD: I counted 7. (They may say 8 or something else. Whatever they say, if it's different than 7, just say "Good! Let's count them together!)
(*Okay. So far, you've only taken 3 minutes. And by now, the kids have heard the whole chorus 3 times. You will be surprised how many words they already know.)
ME: What's the first one?
CHILDREN:
1. Lights the way (with every step I take)
2. Always on my side
3. Cheers me on
4. Shows me right from wrong
5. Feels my heartache when I cry
6. Takes my hand
7. Tells me I can (become who I'm striving to be)
As the children identify each one of these, draw a simple picture on the board of them.
1. Lights the way (with every step I take) - Draw a candle and a foot
2. Always on my side - Two stick figures. One bigger than the other
3. Cheers me on - a pom-pom or a stick figure with hands in the air
4. Shows me right from wrong - just write the words "right from wrong"
5. Feels my heartache when I cry - broken heart and tears
6. Takes my hand - hand
7. Tells me I can - write the words "Tells me that I can."
This shouldn't take more than 2 minutes. 5 minutes total so far.
ME: Look - here's most of the chorus laid out with little pictures. But I know something that you probably don't realize yet. I know that you don't really need all these pictures. So, we're going to sing this much of the chorus 7 times, and each time I'm going to erase one of the pictures.
*Here's the critical part. As they sing, if they struggle with a certain part, stop and say or sing that part for them and have them repeat sing it with you.
But whatever you do, don't let them off easy. Erase a picture or two every time. They will try really hard to show you they can do it.
7X45 seconds = about 5 minutes. 10 minutes so far.
END THE FIRST WEEK HERE. "Wow! You learned 3/4 of the chorus in - what? - 10 minutes?! That's incredible! Great job!" (Now sing something else.)
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SUNDAY #2
ME: Last week we learned a new song. Who remembers the word that we sing 5 times in it?
CHILD: Someone.
ME: You're right! You remembered! Thank you!
Okay - this is going to be a real test. Let's see if we can just sing that chorus right now, with no warm up and no reminders about how it goes. Except for this: What does it start with?
(If they don't come up with it, step to the board and re-draw your candle. Then they'll know.)
SING IT THROUGH. Then sing it through again.
*Take a minute to talk about some of the concepts that might be a little harder to understand. "Have you ever been sad and your dad - or your mom - sits down with you and listens while you talk about it? That's him 'feeling your heartache.' Your dad usually feels sad when you feel sad.
And so on.
6 minutes so far.
*Now teach the last part of the song.
ME: Do you remember that you learned 3/4 of the chorus last week? So today, we only have to learn the last little part. And there's something special about this part. Because the whole time, you've been singing about your dad (that someone). But now you're going to sing about something else. Actually about someONE else. See if you can figure out who these words are talking about:
Sing "Oh, I sing my praises to / The One who gave me you."
Ask: Who is "The One who gave me you?"
CHILD: Heavenly Father?
ME: Yes! Heavenly Father gave us families, and when we pray each day, we should thank Him for the wonderful blessing of having a mom or a dad to take care of us. (Something like that.)
Sing that phrase again, then ask them to sing it with you. If I were you, I would say this:
ME: This is such a fun part of the song, because it starts with that really fun, "Oh" So I want to hear you on that! And I want to hear you like you're really singing praises to your Heavenly Father!
Sing it together. If it's not with enough energy, have them sing it again. "Remember, we are singing praises to Heavenly Father!"
ME: Okay. I don't need to tell you the last line, do I? I bet you already know it. Who wants to try?
CHILD: For you are that someone to me.
ME: Perfect! Let's sing it!
8 minutes so far.
ME: WHEW! We know the whole song!! Let's sing it!
Sing it all. Compliment them. But say, "Okay. You're going to be singing this song to the whole congregation - and this time, I want you to sing it like you are singing to the people on the very back row. You want them to hear you!"
ME: You are the best. Just the very best in the whole world. Go home from Church today and tell your dad (and/or your mom) Thank You for all they do to make your life better. Now let's sing something else.
DONE! 10 minutes.
All of the music for “That Someone” can be found here: https://shawnaedwardsmusic.com/pages/that-someone
Thank you for the beautiful song and also for the wonderful directions HOW to teach it simply, positively and effectively. It is greatly appreciated.
So sweet and endearing
How do I get the sheet music or a bundle?
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