Primary Current Assemblies



MORNING HAS BROKEN

By the Revd Alan M. Barker

Suitable for Whole School

Aim

To explore and celebrate the songs and sounds of nature.



Preparation and materials

• You will need to play from a CD, or the internet, a number of bird songs and a recording of the dawn chorus. A number of websites are suitable. Search for ‘bird song recordings’ or ‘dawn chorus recording’. Among a number of useful sites for research are:
  www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wildbritain/look_around/birds
  www.bbc.co.uk/nature/programmes/radio/dawn_chorus/sound_advice.shtml
  www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/content/articles/2005/06/10/birdsong_jesmond_feature.shtml
  The first site includes images and songs of some common birds. The latter contains a five-minute recording of the dawn chorus with prominent blackbird song.
• You will also need some appropriate images to accompany the bird songs.
• If you are unable to use recordings either for availability or copyright reasons, use pictures instead and, if you feel up to it, you could teach the appropriate bird song to the children and create your own dawn chorus!

Assembly

1. Observe that in May the sun rises early in the morning. Has anyone been woken by the light, or the sound of birds singing? Explain that, especially during spring, birds respond to the first light in what is called the ‘dawn chorus’. Each species (kind) of bird has a different song, but they all join together in welcoming a new day.
   
2. Introduce the songs and/or images of three or four familiar birds, such as blackbird, collared dove, blue tit, rook, or cuckoo. Can the children then identify a bird simply by listening? Conclude with the song of the blackbird.
   
3. Reflect that we don’t always listen to the sounds of nature as much as we might. We may be asleep! However, the first Sunday in May is International Dawn Chorus Day. People all over the world get up very early (in the UK at just after 4 a.m.), to listen to the dawn chorus. It’s fun to experience a very special time of day that is often missed.
   
4. Suggest that everyone might listen to the dawn chorus together – but there’s no need to get up that early. Introduce a recording of the dawn chorus. How good is everyone at listening? Will a blackbird be heard? Settle the assembly into this experience of listening to ‘nature’s music’. If this is not possible see the note above about creating your own dawn chorus.
   
5. Allow the children to respond to what they have heard. Have they ever been awake and outside at dawn? How did they feel? Daybreak can bring to mind the Bible story of the dawn of creation, and words from the book of Genesis (meaning ‘beginning’): ‘God said “Let there be light”, and there was light.’ Experiences of awe and wonder can be the starting point for our chorus of praise.
   
6. Introduce and sing the song: ‘Morning has broken’. It arises from the experience of listening to the dawn chorus (including a blackbird), and the delights of a spring morning.

Time for reflection

Reflection

Listen again to the sounds of birdsong (or recreate your own version) – how does it make you feel? What pictures come to mind as you listen?

Prayer

Creator God,

Open our eyes to see the beauty of the earth

and our ears to hear the music of creation;

Open our minds to grasp new experiences

and our lips to gladly sing your praise

today and every day.

Amen.

Song

‘Morning has broken’ (Come and Praise, 1)