To Be A Pioneer
 

  (Idea by Erin Jenkins / ga06162007) I put a "DO" and a "DON'T" sign on the board and passed out six other pictures (which I will describe later) out to the children. I told them I was going to sing a song about what we do and don't have to do in order to be like the pioneers. I asked them to listen to the words as I sang and decide which pictures went under "DO" and "DON'T." After singing through the song twice, the children had all the pictures up under the right word. I then had the children sing each line of the song with me (I would point to the picture, sing the line, they would repeat it with me.) We then sang the song all the way through without stopping. Here is a list of the pictures I drew:

Verse 1
You don't have to push a handcart, (handcart)
Leave your fam'ly dear, (faces of family members separated over a map)
Or walk a thousand miles or more (footprints)
To be a pioneer!

Verse 2
You do have to have great courage, (medal)
Faith to conquer fear, (scriptures)
And work with might for a cause that's right (hammer)
To be a pioneer!

Other thoughts:
You could also have the children listen for what phrase is repeated twice in the song ("to be a pioneer").

Also, the activity is difficult for junior primary. After singing the song the first two times, no one had put any pictures up, so I ended up having to sing each line and then ask a question about a picture that would go with that line. For example, I sang, "You do have to
have great courage" and then asked, "Do we give awards to people we think are courageous? Are soldiers courageous? Do we give them medals for their courage? Does anyone have a picture of a medal?" It took a lot longer doing it this way, but the junior primary still picked up on the song. If I did it all over again, I would have done actions
with junior primary.

The song has a catchy beat, so to review this week, I will have the kids march around the room as we sing the song. Another week we will learn the optional descant.