- audio player
- jazz music recordings
- instrument
- music
- sound
MA Standards:
Literature: RL.PK.MA.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about a story or a poem read aloud.
Literature: RL.PK.MA.9 With prompting and support, make connections between a story or poem and one’s own experiences.
Head Start Outcomes:
Literacy Knowledge/Book Appreciation and Knowledge Asks and answers questions and makes comments about print materials.
Social Emotional Development/Self-Concept and Self-Efficacy Identifies personal characteristics, preferences, thoughts, and feelings.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 6 Listen to a wide variety of age appropriate literature read aloud.
English Language Arts/Reading and Literature 10 Engage actively in read-aloud activities by asking questions, offering ideas, predicting or retelling important parts of a story or informational book.
Read Together: Jazz Baby #2
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
ELA Focus Skills: Listening and Speaking, Vocabulary
Before You Read
Have children close their eyes and listen to the short jazz recording that you played for children on Day 1. Ask them if they can recall what kind of music it is.
- Pause the recording a few times so you can talk about the sounds in the recording. Ask children to describe the sounds.
- Ask children if they can identify any instruments making the sounds. Have pictures of instruments available or turn children’s attention to the Instrument Wall for reference.
After discussing the jazz music, give children a listening focus for the reading by asking them to listen closely to the sound words as you read them aloud.
As You Read
Emphasize the sounds in the book as you read. Invite children to join in as you act out the words. Help children make connections between the sounds from the book and the music recording they just heard. Ask,
- Did you hear any CLAP-CLAP-CLAP sounds in the jazz music you listened to? How are they the same/different?
After You Read
Ask children what they liked best about the story. Ask,
- What was your favorite part of the story? Why?
- What were your favorite sounds in the story? Did your favorite sounds change from when we first read the book together? Why?
Take It Further: Invite children to act out parts of the story. Have one child be Mama, one be Daddy, and the rest of the group be baby. Focus on the points of the story that emphasize high/low (“Mama sings high. Daddy sings low.” “Mama swings high. Daddy swings low.”) and have the players act out the parts. Then have everyone play/act out/say the words of the baby.
English Language Learners: Invite children to perform a favorite song from his or her culture. Invite others to dance to the song or join in the singing as the child sings.