Friday, March 1, 2013

Teaching: If the Savior Stood Beside Me in Singing time

I'm subbing again this week. The children are starting on Sunday to learn "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" by Sally DeFord.
When I was the chorister the first year of my calling this was one of the songs for the program. They had already *learned* it when I came in, but come the end of the year and they didn't know it. As a new chorister I was so frustrated. I was having to go back and teach the song and spend tons of time re-learning it. In the end I finally made discrete visuals to show the children during the program.
they said
1-Do, Follow, Live
2-Say, Words, Share, Speak
3- HE, Loves
It was effective but I felt a cop out.
So when the Chorister asked me to sub and to start teaching this song I thought long and hard about doing more than a flip-chart, something that would make an impression on them.
"Too bad I can't have a life-size Jesus standing there next to them" I thought, and then it hit me, maybe not LIFE SIZE but I wonder how big I could make it out of the roll of butcher paper I own.
I found a coloring page of Christ to trace onto the butch paper. I liked this one. To me being able to find something to trace was important because when I try to draw Christ, my drawing always ends up looking like a scruffy, happy, hippie. I like the non-scary version of this Christ.



Then measured out to go with the box I have. My butcher paper is 1 yard tall and to use with my box I made them 28 inches wide. I cut the face hole in the center at a measured height for a kneeling child. After the first child I measured (age 6 almost 7) I tried a variety of other children (luckily I had a good number of different ages at my house by chance today) all were able to knee to the height just fine. A *really* small sunbeam might now be able to reach while kneeling. From floor to "chin" mine measures 24.5 inches and the forehead is 30 inches (by default then my face is 5.5 inches tall.
My drawn people are pathetic, but they will do the job. I am going to write the words on colored paper separate from the pictures and tape them on, that way I can remove them for memorizing.
There are 5 pictures of each verse. I have only completed the 1st verse. For the photos, I used a photo of me as a baby. Its the only photo I have where the head is anywhere near big enough to almost be life size.
If the Savior Stood Beside Me
Would I do the things I do?
Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true
Would I follow His example
Would I live more Righteously? 
If I could see the Savior standing Neigh watching over me.
 I thought about doing them on one long sheet of butcher paper and then you could roll it to get it out of the way, but our primary room is small and I didn't think that many in a row would fit in one space.

When I finish I will post the rest
Here is how I plan on splitting the panels for the other verses:
2- If I the savior stood beside me (same picture as the first verse)
 -Would I say the things I say (girl with word bubble with a cloud of scribbles in it)
 -Would my words be true and kind if He were never Far away (picture patting a smaller child's head with word bubble with Hearts in it)
 -Would I try share the gospel?
    Would I speak more reverently (child handing a book of Mormon to another child with a small picture of Christ in word bubble)
-If I could see the savior standing neigh watching over me (same panel as the last for the first verse.
3-He is always near me, though I do not see Him (same as with the first two verse except Christ is so lightly traced, or get a piece of paper to hold over that part of the panel where Christ is)
  -Because he loves me dearly I am in is watchful care (boy with hears all around and faint trace of Christ)
  -So I'll be the kind of person I know I'd like to be (reverent child with hearts and nice words ie kind, loving, righteous, Christ-like, surrounding the child
 -If I could see the Savior standing neigh watching over me (same panel as with the other two verses, nothing changed)

That's the plan. I hope something inspires you from what I'm doing.