- chart paper
- marker
- pictures of musical instruments (including drum and guitar)
- toy guitar
- drum
- music
- musical instrument
- musician
- sound
MA Standards:
Speaking and Listening: SL.PK.MA.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners during daily routines and play.
Language: L.PK.MA.1 Demonstrate use of oral language in informal everyday activities
Head Start Outcomes:
Language Development/Receptive Language Attends to language during conversations, songs, stories, or other learning experiences.
Language Development/Expressive Language Uses language to express ideas and needs.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Language 2 Participate actively in discussions, listen to the ideas of others, and ask and answer relevant questions.
Talk Together: Making Music
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
STEM Key Concepts: An action has to happen to make a sound; Different objects make different sounds
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: Have pictures of musical instruments or real instruments on display. Be sure to show a drum and a guitar in the group.
Introduce the idea of making music to children by playing a favorite musical recording. Talk with children about what they like about the music. Then ask, How do you think the musicians make the different sounds? Can you tell me one way you can make music?
Emphasize that we make music in many ways. Say, One of the ways you can make music is with your voice. Have children sing “la, la, la, la.” You may want to sing it a second time and have children put their hands at their throat to feel the vibrations as they sing.
Direct the discussion to how we can make music by playing musical instruments. Point to the instrument picture wall and say, There are many different kinds of musical instruments and each one has a different sound. Then hold up a drum and say,
- This is a drum. Let’s all say drum together. What do you know about drums? Where have you seen a drum before?
- Beat the drum with your hands. Say, What does the drum sound like when I beat it with my hands? Then beat the drum with sticks. Ask, What does it sound like when I beat it with these sticks? Does the sound change? What words would you use to describe the new sounds?
Encourage children to talk about other musical instruments they know.
Tell them they will be listening to and exploring lots of musical sounds over the next few weeks.
English Language Learners: Say aloud the vocabulary terms guitar and drum. Ask children to repeat the terms after you. Then have children point to the objects and also the corresponding pictures of the objects, and name them for you again.