Unit Introduction
In Unit 4, children build on their exploration of sound in Unit 3 to investigate the world of music. Through free exploration and guided, hands-on activities, children gain understanding of how sounds are transformed into music and how music can affect them—both emotionally and physically. Children will also begin to explore making and performing their own music.
- Tap, Shake & Pluck (Week One). Children continue to explore making sounds by tapping, shaking, plucking, drumming, and scraping different materials. They will investigate the sounds different materials produce and begin to understand how to change sounds to produce a desired result. Children will begin to think about the concept of pitch while making sounds with their voices and “rubber band guitars.”
- Vibrations: Changing a Sound (Week Two). In week two, children deepen their understanding of how to change a sound. They will begin to talk and listen through tubes and begin to understand what vibration is by plucking rubber band guitars and feeling the vibration of their voices as they talk through tubes. Children will also begin to explore how music makes them feel.
- Move to the Music (Week Three). In this last week, children will use what they’ve learned about tapping, shaking, plucking, drumming, and scraping to make music together. They will also further explore how music makes them feel by moving and painting to music. At the end of the week, children will perform music together in a group.
Children’s learning is supported through daily hands-on exploration and by listening to read-aloud books and watching media throughout the unit. Children also begin to learn strategies they can use for communicating with others, making good choices, problem solving, cooperation and planning, and getting along with others.