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Listening Walk


What are the sounds in our immediate environment?

The children listed some sounds they thought they would hear on our listening walk:
Jayla - dogs
Grace - coyotes howling
Making walking sounds
Byron - cars
Tyreese - birds singing
Sophie - a horse
Esme - people sounds.

What can I hear?
It was easy for the children to list what would be expressing sounds but difficult to describe these sounds with language. For example, when asked what sound people would make, the children stomped their feet. For myself, I never realized until today how difficult it is to describe sound!
Grace drew a picture of herself using
a rock to make different sounds.

Our listening walk was very enjoyable. We heard everything on our list except for the coyote! We also heard the wind blowing, leaves crunching under our feet and a garbage truck.
The most exciting part of our walk was when the children discovered
 they can make sounds using their bodies or other objects around them.  This led the children to begin tapping rocks to make different sounds. Esme suggested we sing a song.  While the children tapped rocks together, Esme and Sophie sang the alphabet. This action initiated by the children will lead us into the line of inquiry: how music and sounds are used to express feelings and thoughts.


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