Senses - Sound

• Practice 2 (Teaching to Enhance Development and Learning)
• (C) Teachers make plans to enable children to attain key curriculum goals across various disciplines, such as language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, art, music, physical education, and health (see “Constructing appropriate curriculum,” pp. 20–21).
• (1) Teachers incorporate a wide variety of experiences, materials and equipment, and teaching strategies in constructing curriculum to accommodate a broad range of children’s individual differences in prior experiences, maturation rates, styles of learning, needs, and interests.

Materials

• Copy of Mouse’s First Halloween by: Laura Thompson
• Sound effect play list on iPod or CD (with 10-15 various sounds; see below)
• 1 miniature pumpkin per child, hollowed prior to lesson
• Various seasonal items to place in pumpkin for sound effects; Examples include:

1. Pumpkin seeds
2. Small acorns
3. Nutmeg seeds
4. Miniature bells
5. Grains of rice
6. Cloves 

Anticipatory Set

• Read Mouse’s First Halloween by: Laura Thompson as a group.
• Have children identify the specific sounds effects they hear as you read. 

Lesson

• Sound Identification   ---   Play various sounds effects for children from the iPod playlist and ask them to take turns telling you what the sound is that they’re hearing. You may also chose to use the examples such as those shown below (found on youtube), however be sure NOT to let students see the correlating picture on the screen.  

•  Clapping Clues   ---  Have children repeat various clapping patterns after you (a “Simon-Says” format, with clapping as the variation).  

Activities

• Pumpkin Maracas ---  Administer one miniature pumpkin to each child that has been hollowed out and cleaned.  Allow children to fill their hollow pumpkins with their choice of the various items: 

1. Pumpkin seeds
2. Miniature bells
3. Small acorns
4. Cloves
5. Grains of rice
6. Dried pinto beans

• Hot glue the lids back onto pumpkins as the children begin to become satisfied with their noise making combinations, thus making miniature pumpkin maracas
• Have Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons: Autumn” playing as background music.

• What part of our bodies do we use to hear different sounds and noises?  Where are my ears?
• Who do you think can hear more sound?  An elephant with big ears, you? - (proportion related)
• Can you hear someone they same when they YELL! (vs.) when they *whisper*?  Why?

Developmental Appropriateness

• (3) Constructing appropriate curriculum
• C) Curriculum builds upon what children already know and are able to do (activating prior  knowledge) to consolidate their learning and to foster their acquisition of new concepts and skills.