A Making Sense Of Hearing Lesson Plan

By listening and learning we can discover a whole world waiting to be explored. This lesson plan harnesses children's natural inquisitiveness and passion for life and through fun and educational activities, helps them to listen to the world in which they live and interpret what they hear.

Nowadays we are bombarded with noise and it is easy to shut our ears and not really listen to anything. Listening and learning is a skill that we need to guard, whether it's waking up and listening to the birds welcoming a new day or sitting patiently and listening to a friend share their heart. Sometimes we need to stop and just listen to music, rather than it being constant background noise that seeks to blot out reality. Let's turn sound into positive experiences that enhance our lives. We can help children to seek out the good sounds and welcome them into their lives, but also to be able to listen and interpret what they are hearing.

Come and listen to me as I share with you a tried and tested teaching plan based on the sense of hearing. I hope you are able to make use of these ideas and have as much fun and rewards as we did!

Photo lensmasters own

If you have a cow call prop, like the one below, keeping it hidden, turn it upside down and ask the children what animal makes this sound. Go on to talk about what sounds they would hear from other animals.

Have fun with the book shown below, or one similar.

Let them take turns in sharing their news, explaining the importance of listening to each other. Ask them how they can best do this. i.e. by sitting quietly. Have a soft toy animal to pass to each child whilst they share their news. Tell them you will ask questions afterwards about what they told everyone, to check that they were really listening.

Although we do a lot of music in this lesson plan, don't worry, you don't have to be a talented musician, but using hands as instruments will really help you along. Begin with the well known song:

If you're happy and you know it. You can listen to it below.

Here is another that teaches them loud and soft. Put a little tune to it or say as a rhyme, gettting loud and finishing quiet:

Listen to the music and clap your hands (repeat x3)

Until the music stops- Shshshshsh....!

Listen to the music and play your chest, tap your head, pop your cheeks etc. (rep x3)

Until the music stops- Shshshshsh...!

Here is a cute rhyme- don't forget the actions!

I can hear my hands go clap, clap, clap

I can hear my knees go tap, tap, tap

I can hear my tummy go thud, thud, thud

But I can't hear my head go nod, nod, nod

I went to my local builders yard and asked them to cut me some (two for each child) out of dowling, which was economical. Or you can purchase them below.

This is sung to the tune of "Hot cross buns" and uses one pair of sticks:

Tap your name, tap your name

Pass the sticks around the ring and tap your name

As each child in turn takes the sticks, they tap them together as they speak out their name (one tap for each syllabal), before passing on to the next child.

This next one was a firm favorite, sung to the tune of "Sing a song of sixpence"!

Take a stick in this hand, take a stick in that

Put them both together- tap, tap, tap

Tap them near the ceiling

Tap them near the floor

Tap them just in front of you and

BANG THEM ON THE FLOOR!

This next one is to the tune of "Polly put the kettle on".

Postman's knocking rat-a-tat-tat (repx3)

He's at your door.

Or to "Tom, Tom the piper's son"

BANG, BANG the sticks go bang

Play as loudly as you can

Now as quietly as a mouse, creeping softly throught the house.

Make up a tune for this or say as a rhyme:

When I see the lightening the thunder goes CRASH

The thunder goes CRASH, the thunder goes CRASH

When I see the the lightening the thunder goes CRASH

And the rain comes tumbling down.

Use the sticks further to mime out stormy weather, with pitter, patter sounds for rain.

Collect up the sticks.

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This is such a heart-warming story and teaches so much about listening to your conscience, bravery, loyalty and of course honesty. For this teaching plan, I particularly brought out the point about listening to your conscience and we went on to talk about how we can listen to God. I used puppets for mine, which always keeps the children enthralled, but the book will also provide you with illustrations and the DVD can tell the story whilst having a snack (see below).

Make a phone. Connect each beaker to each end of the string by making a small hole in the bottom of each beaker, threading the string through and tying with a knot. The open beaker should be pointing away from the string. Get the children into pairs and let them take a statement from the treasure box from the activity above. Try out the phone by standing as far apart as the string allows and quietly speaking the statement into the cup. Can their partner hear them? If time, they could decorate their phones with colourful stickers or by sticking on the statements from the treasure box.

They could all sit down together and watch this Pinocchio DVD, whilst eating their popcorn or simply eat it with a drink when they need a snack.

For the complete collection

plus an introductory lesson plan, click here:

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