Tips for teaching Dogma Dogs songs

I developed the Dogma Dogs songs for use with a children's choir, with kids from grades 1-6 but mostly 2nd and 3rd graders. I found that a 4-week cycle worked well for them to master a song and its concepts. I was with the children for an hour a week working on liturgical music, and I used the Dogma Dogs songs at the end of a rehearsal as a "treat." I allowed 10 minutes per song, per session -- sometimes longer. We learned 6-7 songs over the year, and performed them in the spring in a 20-minute concert.

I had to be careful not to refer to these as the "fun" songs, because then by implication none of the other music was fun! I was trying very hard to make hymns and psalms fun for the kids. So the Dogma Dogs songs had to be the "funny" or "silly" songs. And, since they awere treat, I could threaten (and go through with) skipping them if the group was misbehaving more than usual--"consequences."

This was my general pattern:

Week 1

• Introduce the main concept of a song briefly with a question-and-answer discussion: what is Lent? What does it mean to love your neighbor? What book do we read from at Mass? Etc.
• Teach the refrain -- I usually put it on a big poster board so it was always visible. This also is important if there are hand motions, so your hands are free.
• Singing each line one at a time, then having the kids echo you works better than singing with them when you teach. They learn more quickly and it sinks in more deeply.
• Have the kids sing the refrain without accompaniment.
• Sing the whole song, with accompaniment, and have them join you on the refrain

If you have the same kids every year, you can pick a different main concept each year -- most of the songs can be approached from a few different angles. Instead of "what book do we read from at Mass" you could begin with "what's a Gospel?" or "how do we know what Jesus did on earth?"

Resist the temptation to explain everything in each song. Pick one or two ideas and the kids will be satisfied that they know what they're singing about. They usually want to sing more than they want to learn theology, so keep them singing, not listening to a lecture.

Out of necessity, I developed these rules about dancing:

• you can dance around freely only when you have learned the song.
• If you don't know it yet you have to pay attention until you learn it.
• Dancing shouldn't mess up your singing. This is singing class, not dancing class.
• If I didn't see your mouth moving, you weren't singing

Week 2

• Ask some leading questions about the concept discussed last week. "OK, so last week we learned there were five gospel writers? No? Were there three?" etc. They probably won't remember much yet.
• There will be one child who knows every answer. Limit how much he/she is allowed to shout out (let others have time to think).
• Bring out the poster for the refrain. The kids will immediately start singing it, usually with a few mistakes. Don't bring it out til you're ready for noise and inattention
• Have everyone sing the refrain with you -- then correct the mistakes before they are reinforced
• Teach one verse. Pick out a couple of the hard words in advance, and explain meaning and pronunciation together. Ask the class "Alms. Let's say it together. Alms. What are alms? Anyone know?" If you're feeling playful, joke with them -- point to your hand and ask "is this an alm?" (it's a palm)
• Sing the verse, line by line or phrase by phrase, having them echo you. Again, try not to sing with them, so they have to do the work.
• Sing through chorus-verse-chorus. They will join in louder on the chorus since they know it better.
• If there are no verses, start the kids on hand motions the second week. You might be tempted to start them week 1, but the fewer things they have to focus on, the better they'll learn what you teach- especially the littlest ones.

I use a song sheet for verses, but you can also make more posters. For 21 Ecumenical Councils, I had a poster for each verse. I would point to a Council and say its name, and have the kids repeat. Then I would point and have the kids try to say the name from memory. It can be a fun game. You can use a specific silly voice for each city -- con-stan-tin-O-ple --if you're feeling creative.

Week 3

• Bring out the words and have everyone sing through chorus-verse-chorus without any discussion. The kids have begun to feel like they know the song and will join in happily.
• Sing through the remaining verses
• Quiz them again on the same questions you asked last week. Give hints ("starts with a G...") The older/smarter kids will start to remember the answers.
• Point out and work on any musical problems.
• Sing again with reckless abandon

Week 4

• Quiz them again on the same questions, acting like of course they know the answer by now. The whole group should have it by now, or most of them. If not, quiz again later the same period-- give them a chance to be right.
• Sing through the whole song carefully
• Sing again with reckless abandon