Composing with animal sounds

Last year I was inspired by another blogger who I found on Pinterest. They were using ZooPals to inspire students to create a sound piece.

Available at Target and Walmart

I began my lesson by reading the story Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you Hear? by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle. Students repeat each line after I read to them, then they create the animal sounds from the story.

 When we are finished with the story, I place the ZooPals plates on the board. I pick four or five animals to show on the board. I glue small magnets on the back with craft glue from AC Moore so they will stay on the board. You can also place them on the carpet if you have one. I ask students to make the sound of the animals and I teach them the animal names in Spanish. This ties in with Hispanic Heritage month. Several of my students speak Spanish, so they love teaching the other students how to pronounce the names of the animals. I continue by playing a folksong from Argentina called I Have a Little Farm. I changed it to I have a Little Zoo or Jungle depending on the plates available at the store.

At the end of this lesson, I place a series of plates on the carpet, showing them that each box represents a part of the song. In music each box is called a measure. As I walk the measures, students make the sounds of the animals, creating a sound piece. 

During week two, each student has a grid and colored pencils/crayons. We choose an order for the sounds and I place the plates on the board. Students color/draw their animals on their grids. 

I give a few simple ways to draw the animals so they don't get hung up on making a perfect lion or snake. We then record our animal song using a live recorder. Students also sing the folksong adding the animal sounds from the ZooPals plates.

Technology Extension: Monster Choir Making Patterns
This is a fun way to identify and create patterns using (monster) sounds. 

Click here for Monster Choir Patterns