Hand out sheet music to your choir members.
Instruct your members to look for the letters bpm near the beginning of the song. BPM stands for beats per minute.
Ask your choir members to read the number next the bpm marking. Most songs will have bpm =... followed by a number. Explain that this number indicates how many beats you should hear in the song per minute.
Set a metronome to 60 beats per minute and have your choir member pat along with the beat. If you don't have a metronome, simply count the beat aloud and have your members pat on the beginning of each beat.
Play songs at various tempos to give your members an understanding of what different tempos sound like.
Instruct your members to look for a word or phrase printed near the beginning of the song that indicates how the song should be performed. These words are usually printed in italics. You might see a descriptor such as lively or solemnly which indicate nuances related to tempo. Tempo words and phrases also are often printed in Italian. Instruct your choir on some basic Italian tempo indicators, such as lentissimo (very slow), adagio (slow), moderato (moderate), allegro (fast) and allegrissimo (very fast).
Remind your choir that a song can change tempo, so they should be on the lookout for tempo words or phrases printed above the staff lines at various points in the song.