Unit 3: Stop and Listen

Sing “Welcome, Welcome” to children and have them clap out syllables in their name when it is their turn. 

Discuss how everyone's voice has a different sound. Have children record their names and listen to the voice differences.

Have children explore making different sounds with their voices. Encourage them to use content vocabulary to describe the sounds.

Play back recordings of children’s voices and have them identify who is speaking by listening to the sound of the voice.

Read aloud Bears Snores On by Karma Wilson to children. Focus on the sounds in the story, and talk about the sounds animals make.

Read the first pages of “Bear Snores On” by Karma Wilson. Emphasize rhyme words. 

Use the book Bear Snores On to introduce children to regular singular and plural words.

Use the Target Letter and Word Routine to introduce children to the letter “Oo” and the word on.

Send a Family Connection letter home with children.

Sing “Welcome, Welcome” with children and have them say their names in a loud voice and then a soft voice.

Talk about changing voice volume with children and have children practice changing the volume of their own voices.

Sing “Listen, Listen, Little Ears” with children. Have children sing it in a loud voice, then a second time in a soft voice.

Have children focus on exploring volume and timbre with their voices, and then create patterns of sounds for others to repeat.

Play a listening game with children to have them practice using their sense of hearing to find the source of sounds.

Play the video Between the Lions “Bear Snores On” for children. Have children practice active viewing by listening for the sounds in the video.

Use the Letters in Our Names Routine to help children find the target letter “Oo” in their names.

Have children trace sandpaper letters to help them begin to write the letter “Qq.”

Show magazine pictures of animals to children. Ask them to name the animals, then sort the sounds each make on a two-column chart titled “Loud/Soft.”

Sing “Welcome, Welcome” with children and have each child respond in a high and low voice.

Have children use content vocabulary to compare the sound of each other’s voices.

Children explore the concept of pitch using their voices. Have them say and listen to high and low sounds, and record them on a chart.

Play recordings of high and low sounds. Ask children to identify the sounds by pitch.

Read aloud Oscar and the Bat: A Book About Sound by Geoff Waring and have children listen to the different sounds in the story.

Have children walk along a letter “Oo”, and make the “Oo” shape with their fingers and mouth as they walk.

Play a rhyming game with children using the words from the book Bear Snores On.

Have children review the letters “Oo,” “Ss,” “Nn,” and “Qq” as they sing “Alphabet Hokey Pokey” with you.

Sing “Welcome, Welcome” with children. Invite children to choose a different voice to sing the song.

Review the concepts of pitch and volume with children. Have them identify sounds as high, low, loud, or soft.

Take children outdoors on a listening walk to listen for animal sounds. Have them focus on the source, volume, and pitch of the sounds.

Read aloud Oscar and the Bat: A Book About Sound by Geoff Waring. Focus on why animals and people make sounds to communicate.

Have children draw a picture that shows the object that makes their favorite sound. Have them complete sentence frames to identify the sound.

Draw or tape a gigantic letter “U” outdoors and have children march along the letter.

Review the letter "y" and have children find words that have the letter "y."

Sing “Welcome, Welcome” with children. Have each child choose a pitch or volume to sing the song.

Have children stand high or crouch low as the identify high and low pitch sounds.

Review various sounds with children. Have them listen to, identify, and sort pictures of sounds.

Read aloud Oscar and the Bat: A Book About Sound by Geoff Waring and review what children have learned about sound.

Play the Between the Lions video “What’s Your Name? (o)” for children. Ask children to form a letter “Oo” when they see it onscreen. 

Play a rhyming game with children. Have them listen to pairs of words and identify which rhyme by clapping.

Review sounds of different volume, pitch, and timbre with children and animal sounds heard on a listening walk.