Christmas Musicals for Church
Issue link: http://read.jwpepper.com/i/77544
TEACHING IDEAS for: The Real Christmas Story Read the REAL Christmas Story • Provide a Bible (The NIV translation is suggested) • Enlist a senior adult or a pastor to visit • Ask the guest to read the Christmas story from Luke 2 • Remind, "Christmas is a fun time with lights, cookies, stockings, family, Santa, reindeer and music. All of those things happen because of the story just read; we give and celebrate because God gave Jesus on the first Christmas. Christmas is Jesus' birthday." • Close this time with prayer Learn the words to this song • Say, "A stage whisper is a loud, projected whisper on stage, meant to be heard by the audience. The words must be over-enunciated and over- emphasized." • Echo each phrase of the song using a stage whisper Use "Alligator Jaws" to encourage pure vowels • Show the children how to make alligator jaws with their arms by placing arms in front of body on top of each other (Place elbows on top of each other with palms coming together at the "mouth" of the alligator) • Practice the alligator jaws with the children making certain they open their jaws wider as they sing the last syllable of "above" and the word "love" • Now sing the song using alligator jaws on each "ah" vowel Make Finger Bells • Gather a glove and five jingle bells for each student • Sew a bell on each finger and the thumb of the glove • Distribute them to the children and have them wiggle their fingers to the beat of the song • NOTE: The finger bells could be used as a prop in performance during the introduction and interludes Learn about our four types of voices • Instruct, "We have four types of voices – our singing, speaking, whispering and shouting voices. In this song we use two of the voices (singing and speaking)." • Continue, "Let's practice the last line of the song ("It's the real Christmas Story") using all four voices." • Echo whisper, shout, speak and sing (on a Sol–Mi [G-E]) those words 31 Preview Copy