- crayons
- markers
- paper
- tape recorder
- high
- loud
- low
- sound
MA Standards:
Foundational Skills/RF.PK.MA.1: With guidance and support, demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of printed and written text: books, words, letters, and the alphabet.
Writing/W.PK.MA.2: Use a combination of dictating and drawing to explain information about a topic.
Head Start Outcomes:
Social Emotional Development/Self-Concept and Self-Efficacy: Identifies personal characteristics, preferences, thoughts, and feelings.
Language Development/Expressive Language: Uses language to express ideas and needs.
Literacy Knowledge/Early Writing: Recognizes that writing is a way of communicating for a variety of purposes, such as giving information, sharing stories, or giving an opinion.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Composition 16: Use their own words or illustrations to describe their experiences, tell imaginative stories, or communicate information about a topic of interest.
Draw and Write Together: Favorite Sounds
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: Sounds have a source; Different objects make different sounds; Sounds vary in three ways: volume, pitch, and timbre
ELA Focus Skills: Concepts of Print, Creative Expression, Fine Motor Skills
Educator Prep: Prepare a sheet of paper for each child with the following sentence stem across the bottom: “My favorite sound is .”
Have children draw a picture that shows the object that makes their favorite sound. Ask children to think about the sounds they heard on the listening walks, sounds they heard in the book Oscar and the Bat: A Book About Sound by Geoff Waring, or sounds they heard in another book about sound. Ask them to identify a favorite sound.
- Can you describe your favorite sound? Encourage children to use descriptive words and complete sentences to describe the sound. (The bird made a high tweety chirp. The big dog made a loud growly bark. The elephant's sound was like a low silly laugh.)
- Can you describe the object that makes your favorite sound?
Have children dictate or write their response on a separate sheet of paper using the sentence stem “My favorite sound is ." Fill in the blank with any words children give.
- Have each child draw a picture of the object or animal that makes the favorite sound. Help children write their names on the drawings.
- Continue this activity in the Writing Center until each child has completed a page. Gather the pages to create an “Our Favorite Sounds” book. Allow children to view the book while listening to the recordings made on the listening walk.