Use this fun Tell Me Dear Lord Egg Shakers pattern in singing time this month! You’ll love trying this living music activity with 4 simple egg shaker actions as you review Tell Me Dear Lord!
This pattern is sure to be a hit in primary! Grab some egg shakers and have some fun using these rhythmic instruments in primary!
Tell Me Dear Lord Egg Shakers
Sing through the first verse of Tell Me Dear Lord as a refresher. If you are teaching both verses of this song, start with just one of the verses. Tip: this pattern works great for both verses!
Post the first page of the egg shaker pattern on the board and pass out egg shakers. What could these symbols mean? What actions do you think we’ll be learning? It might be fun to have the kids try and guess the actions before you teach them.
Demonstrate all 4 egg shaker actions and have the kids try them with you. Try speaking the rhythm for the first line while following the pattern. Have the kids follow along.
Then, add in the melody! Sing through the first two lines of the song with the repeating pattern. This pattern is super easy to learn because it contains one repeated pattern for the first two lines and nother repeated pattern for the last two lines.
When you feel pretty comfortable with the pattern for the first two lines, post the pattern for the last two lines! We already know these actions! We just have to put them in a different order.
Once you’ve tried both lines separately, sing through the entire song using the egg shaker pattern. This is a great way to get in lots of practice! You’ll love it!
4 Egg Shaker Actions:
What’s great about this pattern for this song is that it is made of 2 patterns that are repeated throughout the song! I’ve outlined the pattern below, but you can also find the entire pattern guide in the printable later in this post.
Fast Shake: This action is represented by a large egg shaker with a lightning cloud. Shake your egg shaker as fast as you can!
Steady Shake: In the pattern, the steady shake is symbolized by a single egg shaker.
Pass Behind Your Back: This action only comes up in the first half of the song! It is represented in the pattern by an arrow with a small egg shaker. Shake the egg shaker while passing it behind your back.
Tap Palm: This action is represented by a hand symbol. Hold the egg shaker with one hand and tap your opposite hand with the shaker.
Egg Shaker Pattern:
In general, taps and steady shakes occur on shorter notes. The fast shake happens on longer notes and these words are italicized in the pattern to differentiate between long and short notes.
The only exception to this rule is on the very last line of the song, where two half notes are broken down into 4 steady shakes.
Lines 1-2:
Fast Shake – Shake – Shake – Fast Shake – Shake (Tell me dear Lord, in)
Tap – Tap – Tap – Tap – Pass Behind Your Back (Thine own way I pray)
*Repeat this pattern for the next line* (What thou would’st have me say and do today)
Lines 3-4:
Fast Shake – Tap – Tap – Fast Shake – Shake (Teach me to know and)
Shake – Shake – Shake – Shake – Fast Shake (love thy will, O Lord)
*Repeat for the last line* (Help me to understand thy loving word) – you’ll notice that “loving” is longer rhythmically. To keep with the pattern for the previous line, we’ll just break it down into 4 short shakes.
Extension Activities:
- Try swapping egg shakers with a neighbor halfway through the song! You can substitute this action for passing behind the back!
- Split the room in half. Have one half of the room learn the actions for the first two lines while the other half learns the actions for the last half of the song. Then, have them teach their pattern to each other!
- Try adding in some other actions! Some actions to try include: shake high/low, shake loud/soft, shake right/left, toss up, Tap knees
For another fun similar activity, head over to see this Kindness Begins With Me Egg Shakers singing time activity!
Tell Me Dear Lord Egg Shakers Printable Song Helps
This free in-post printable includes a two-page pattern guide with colorful symbols for all 4 actions.
Join INSTANT Primary Singing for extended printables including a 1-page pattern and black and white printables plus a pattern guide. You’ll find these bonus files included when Tell Me Dear Lord is the featured song of the month.
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Head over to this cute Tell Me Dear Lord Word Order game next!
What other fun ways will you use this singing time activity in your Primary room?
