Hosanna

I made a poster with the words of the song.

I underlined the rhyming words: ring, king, sing, bring.

We talked about how voices usually sing, but in this song, they RING.  What usually rings?  A bell. Think of the bell at school.  Is it loud?  Does everyone in the whole school hear that bell?  So we want our voices to be as loud and clear as a bell so that everyone can hear us say Hosanna and praise Jesus.  That's what the word Hosanna means: praise and love to the person you are saying it to.

I outlined the word "life" and asked the kids why they thought I did it.  We talked about how Jesus is "triumphant" because He triumphs over death and brings LIFE to us all.

Then we sang through the verse several times.

For the chorus, I passed out fake fern leaves to each child, and told them the story of the triumphal entry and waving the palm leaves. Each time we sang Hosanna, we waved our leaves over our heads (as if you are fanning someone)  When we sang "All hail triumphant king" we waved our leaf downward and got on one knee, because that is what you do when the king is walking past you. So we practiced singing the last line as we bowed to our King.

Then we talked about echoes.  How echoes are much softer than the originals.  How if you try to yell something long, the echo will start before you are done yelling.  Then we learned the descant (just the echo part on the chorus), with one side singing the first part loudly and the other side singing the echo softly.

(This was a very fun activity the kids begged to do again.)

Sing a Story -- The Life of Christ

This can be used in Primary or FHE.  Gather the following pictures and mix them out of order.  Ask the children which picture comes first?  Then sing the song that goes with the picture.  Continue putting the pictures in order and singing the corresponding songs.

Picture of premortal council -- Sing "I Lived in Heaven"
Picture of the nativity -- Sing "He Sent His Son" OR any Christmas song
Picture of Jesus as a child -- Sing "Jesus Once was a Little Child"
Picture of Jesus being baptized -- Sing "Baptism" OR 1st verse of "This is My Beloved Son"
Picture of calling the fishermen -- Sing "Come Follow Me"
Picture of Sermon on the Mount -- Sing "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" 1st verse
Picture of Jesus with the children -- Sing "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" 2nd verse OR
                                                                  "I think when I read that Sweet Story"
Picture of Triumphal Entry -- Sing "Hosanna" (esp. chorus)
Picture of Last Supper -- Sing "The Sacrament"
Picture of Gethsemane -- Sing "I Stand All Amazed"
Picture of crucifixion -- Sing "To Think About Jesus"
Picture of resurrected Jesus with Mary -- Sing "Did Jesus Really Live Again" verse 1
Picture of resurrected Jesus with disciples -- Sing "Did Jesus Really Live Again" verse 2
Picture of Christ visiting the Americas -- Sing "Easter Hosanna" OR 2nd verse of "This is My
                                                                Beloved Son" OR "I Know that My Savior Loves Me"
Picture of the Second Coming of Christ -- Sing "I Wonder When He Comes Again"