Today’s fun and easy no-prep activity will have the kids noticing the differences and similarities in the repeating phrases of Keep the Commandments! It uses just the first letters of each word of the song for a fun, and unique, way to introduce this song.
*See all our ways to teach Keep the Commandments here!*
Keep the Commandments First Letters
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How to Play:
Cut out each of the first letter strips out individually, so they can be moved around and flipped over.
Post the first letter strips on the board. You can put them in order or have them scrambled.
Ask the kids: What do you notice? What patterns do you see? What might the letters represent?
As they start to uncrack the code, sing through the song again to see how the code “fits” their guesses.
When the puzzle is solved, again point out what’s the same and what’s different. Do they notice the repeating letter phrases? How about the slightly different ones like ITTIS / ITTIP?
Let the kids flip upside down 2 of the letter strips. Sing through the song singing only the words from the face-up letter strips! Continue flipping additional word strips upside down and singing through the song again.
Extension Activities:
- Hide the letter strips around the room and have the kids find them first, then rearrange them in order.
- Sing only certain verses, such as:
- Skip sing every other letter strip.
- Now try singing every 3rd strip.
- Sing every other word.
- Sing only the first word of each letter strip.
- Say/sing the letters instead of the words.
- Sing only the ones that have a “match”.
- Sing only the ones that are different (no match).
For another fun activity with a new twist that uses first letters, head over to see this Stand for the Right First Letters Map lesson plan!
Keep the Commandments First Letters Printable Lesson Plan
This printable version includes 2 pages for each verse with first letters only. You can print just the pages you need or simply write the first letters on the whiteboard (and erase instead of flip over) as needed.
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Head over to this next fun Keep the Commandments Foreign Languages singing time idea!
What other fun ways could you use these first letter strips to teach Keep the Commandments?
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