"Witness of Christmas" - teaching resources
- Angie Killian
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Witness of Christmas is a song celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. The lyrics boldly proclaim our faith in and gratitude for Him and invite others to do the same. We may not have been able to witness the miracles surrounding His humble entrance into the world, but we can stand as witnesses of His love and power every time we choose to follow Him.
I like to focus on each part of a song for several practices before moving along. This helps the music sink deep into their souls and come out of them with confidence and conviction. The activities listed below are mostly visual/logic activities, but I love using a mix of movement patterns, rhythm activities, and actions/ASL.
If you are short on time, I would suggest teaching everyone the chorus and bridge and having soloists on the verses.
Children LOVE to watch other children sing. The music video is great to show the children during practice or send the link to the parents to watch during the week. You can also turn on captions by clicking the "CC" at the bottom right of the video.
This free download includes images that go with the entire song. Since I teach songs in sections, I like to separate them into verse 1/pre-chorus, verse 2/pre-chrous, bridge, and chorus, and only use the pictures for the portion of the song I'm teaching. I'm not a big fan of flip charts, but I do love to have children put the images in the correct order as we sing that section song multiple times. This kind of activity actively engages the brain and cuts down on how much time it takes to really learn a song. You can also choose 4-5 of the images, make double copies, and play a matching game. If you feel like you really need the words, there is a version HERE with words at the bottom.
The chorus of the song was just BEGGING for this kind of activity!
How to use these puzzles:
1) print out the 5 pages on cardstock or thicker paper
2) cut on the curved line
3) put the 10 pieces around the room or mix them up on a chalkboard
4) as you sing the chorus over and over without stopping, tap on children's shoulders to go find a piece and move it to or on the board
5) continue singing until the pieces are connected and are in the correct order
Extender Activity
Challenge the children to sing only one half of the puzzles. You or any adult helpers could sing one side while they sing the other, or each side of the room could sing one side.
This bell chart is for the chorus of "Witness of Christmas." This chart is intended for learning purposes only and will not work with the final chorus (it ends on an Am chord instead of a C chord.) This chart has the red high C (Kidsplay brand.) There is another chart with a white high C if that is the set you have.
This printable color code is for the chorus of "Witness of Christmas."
How to use this code:
1) Print it out (if you have a large group, consider printing "poster size" with 2 rows and 2 columns)
2) Attach to the board in order
3) Ask the children, What do you see? What do you wonder? What is the same? What is different?
4) Collect answers, offer praise
5) Challenge the children to figure out what the code has to do with the song, then sing just the chorus
6) Ask the children what they learned, collect answers, offer praise (if they didn't figure anything out, sing again, this time pointing as you go)
7) Continue to sing, ask, collect, and praise until the children have the code figured out or it is time to move on
8) End with a 10-second testimony
**I would use this code with older children or mixed ages, but not young children on their own
These wordstrips are for the first verse of "Witness of Christmas." There are 15 words in all, each with a picture on the side to help children who don't read as well. I would do this activity with older children or a mixed group of children, but I would choose something else for a group that only has younger children.
How to use these word strips:
1) print out the 5 pages on cardstock or thicker paper
2) cut on the dotted lines
3) place the 15 strips around the room or mix them up on a chalkboard
4) as you sing the first verse/pre-chorus over and over without stopping, tap on a child's shoulders to go find a strip and move it to or on the board
5) continue singing until the pieces are connected and are in the correct order
Extender Activity
Challenge the children to sing only the words on the board. You sing the rest. Then switch. They love doing this!
How to play eraser pass?
On a large chalkboard or white board, draw a 4x4 grid like the one above. Write the words in each box.
In as little words as possible, tell the children:
Erase one word that is NOT in the song
Pass the eraser to a friend
No talking
Challenge the children to erase all the wrong words before you sing the verse 4 times. Hand out two erasers and start singing. Do not stop between verses. If a child erases a correct word, quietly write it back in the box and don’t make a big deal about it.
After the children have erased all the incorrect words, “check their work” by singing the song again and pointing to each word as you go.
Challenge the children to sing only the words in the box while you sing the other words. Then switch. I like to point to the words as we go to help keep us on track.
Why do I love this game so much?
It gives the children a chance to see the words in an active learning experience.
They get to hear the verse sung several times before I ask them to produce parts of the song. If you sing it as many times as suggested, they will get to hear the verse 7 times while their little brains are actively engaged. Active engagement will cut down on the amount of time it takes to learn a song.
The three words in each box are related. Seeing these words grouped together helps the children gain a deeper understanding of the message of the song without taking time to explain it.
Note: I would only use this activity with children who can read, or I would have something else for the younger children to do at the same time.
Enjoy!
This melody map is for the bridge of "Witness of Christmas." I love melody maps because they are a visual representation of songs. They show the words, music, and–in this case–dynamics in ways children easily connect.
How to use this map:
1) PREP: Print the pages and affix them to the board in order. If possible, arrange them in two rows of four.
2) Ask the children: What do you see? What do you wonder? What is the same? What is different?
3) Understanding: Challenge the children to figure out what the map has to do with the bridge of the song. Sing the song. Ask the children what they learned. If they are still figuring it out, sing the song again, tapping a few key notes on the board. They should learn that the symbols represent certain words, and they go up and down depending on how high or low the note is.
4) Think Deeper: Challenge the children to figure out what each symbol represents. Sing the song again. Collect their answers and offer praise. Repeat until they have learned all of the symbols. Ask questions like, "Why do you think we use a star when we sing, 'come?' Who else came when they saw a star?" or "Why are there hearts on each page?" "How many baby Jesus symbols are there?" "Why does the first set go down and the second set go up?"
6) Teach Dynamics: Ask the children which symbols are the biggest? How does that relate to the song? (The bridge starts softly and has a huge crescendo that gets louder and louder until the end.)
7) Challenge the children to start the bridge quietly and get louder and louder until the end of the song. Teach them that singing loudly does not equate to shouting.
Draw the Song
Lead the children in a "draw the song" activity. If you search on YouTube, there are dozens of tutorials to draw a nativity scene. While singing the same section of the song over and over again, draw one line at a time, leaving enough time for them to copy before moving on. Engaging the brain while hearing the lryics lets the song sneak in through the "backdoor." It's practically magic. <3
Act it Out
There is nothing more fun (for children) and adorable (for every adult who has ever lived) than seeing children dress up in nativity costumes. I can absolutely imagine groups of children taking turns being the "star," "shepherds," "angels," and "wisemen" during the chorus. You could even have "Joseph" and "Mary" and "baby Jesus" on the last line where it sings, "I'll witness of Christmas and Christ."
The entire song is very visual, so this would work with nearly every part–except for maybe the bridge.
Have so much fun!!!
Do you have more teaching ideas for this song? Please share them below!
Happy singing!
Angie