Materials
- tape recorder
- markers
- craft paper
- digital or 35-mm camera
What to do
1. Before going outside on a "listening walk," do the following activity with the children. Use a tape recorder to record a variety of sounds heard in daily life, such as water from a faucet, a toilet flushing, radio or television, lawnmower, car motor, airplane, dog barking, cat meowing, birds chirping, and people talking.
2. Use craft paper and markers to create a picture for each recorded sound.
3. At circle time, give each child a picture of a sound. Play each sound and ask the children to guess what the sound is. The child holding the picture of the sound stands up. Continue until all the recorded sounds have been identified.
4. Go on a listening walk outdoors to create your own sound recordings. Bring a tape recorder and a camera.
5. Walk around a designated area with the children. Every few minutes have the children stand still and listen. Ask them to identify a sound they hear.
6. Take a photo of the sound source. For example, if the children hear a truck passing by, take a photo of the truck. Record the sound with the tape recorder.
7. Continue doing this with other sounds until you have a variety of sounds recorded. Remember to take a photo of each sound source.
8. After developing the photographs, glue each photo to the top of a piece of white craft paper. Ask the children to dictate text for each photo. Keep the text simple. For example, under the photo of a truck print, "We heard a truck driving on the road."
9. Brainstorm to think of a title for the book. Create a cover and bind the photo pages together.
10. Read the listening book together, playing each sound as you read.
More to do
- School-to-Home Connection: Let the children take turns taking the tape recorder home to record several sounds at home. When they return to school, play a guessing game in which the children try to identify the sounds.
-Virginia Jean Herrod, Columbia, SC
Instructions
1. Ask the children to help you make a sun and some fluffy white clouds out of
craft paper. Make clouds extra puffy by stapling two cloud shapes together
and stuffing with batting or newspaper.
2. Hang the sun and clouds from the ceiling with floss or string.
3. Put the wading pool underneath the sun. Make a sign that reads "Swimming
Area" and place it by the pool.
4. Set up the folding chair next to the pool and label it with a sign that reads
"Lifeguard."
5. Put beach chairs in the area along with beach toys, life preservers, beach
clothes, props, towels, and so on. Make sure swimsuits are larger than the
children's size so they may be worn over clothes. Let the children use all
these props freely during center time.
6. Talk to the children as they play. Ask them to tell you about their own beach
experiences. Ask them about times they have gone on picnics. Enjoy your
beach vacation as long as you like!
7. If possible, ask a lifeguard to come visit your classroom to talk about beach
safety. He or she can bring rescue equipment and explain its use.
More to do Field Trip: Take a field trip to the beach, if you live near one, or to a local lake
with a beach area.
