Section 2 : Exploring sounds and music

Key Focus Question: How can you involve your pupils in assessment?

Keywords:sound; musical instruments; assessment; local resources; game; project

Learning outcomes

By the end of this section, you will have:

  • used peer assessment with your pupils;
  • used resources from the local community to produce musical instruments with your pupils;
  • used practical activities to develop your pupils’ understanding of how to produce different sounds;

Introduction

From a very early age, we respond to familiar sounds –a baby will respond to its mother’s or carer’s voice for example –and we learn new sounds very quickly. Your pupils will have learnt to recognise a large number of different sounds. In this section, you support your pupils’ developing ideas about sounds and how they are produced. The emphasis is on practical activities and active learning. Do you play an instrument yourself? Or know someone who could visit your classroom to play to your pupils?

This section also explores ways for helping pupils to assess their own work. (See Key Resource: Assessing learning [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .) Being involved in assessment helps pupils understand their learning and set goals for future progress. It also builds self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning.

1. Using stories and games to introduce sound