The listening game and celebrating National Book Week 2012

“The Listening Walk” by Paul Showers is a book I have owned for as long as I can remember.  I really wanted to share it with my class but had to go digging through my piles of books laying all over the floor to find it.

I would like to tell you my books are all up on the shelves in nice neat rows but sadly, they are currently stacked up in piles all over the floor.

“The Listening Walk” is a book about a child going for a walk and taking the time to listen to the the different sounds in her world. Along the way, the child hears sounds that are familiar to most preschool age children. Sounds like a dog barking, a baby crying, the lawn mower, shoes tapping, and so forth. It is a simple book with great illustrations that tell a story all by themselves.

In fact, this book would also be a great book to start off with a picture walk. The illustrations alone tell the story quite well. I didn’t think of taking a picture walk at the time though – so I will mark that down as an idea for next year.

After reading the book, the children listened to a few sounds that I had downloaded onto my cell phone.  As they listened to each sound, they would try and guess what it was.  The children had no problem guessing what most of the sounds were since they were familiar with most of them like a phone ringing, a clock ticking, and the sound of a car driving by.

And then we played a simple sound game with our “Listening tubes.”  We painted these tubes over 4 weeks ago and they were supposed to be rainsticks when we finished them but we never got around to finishing them up. So after reading this post about listening tubes by Preschool Daze, our rainsticks were now magically transformed into listening tubes! And just so you know, not one of my preschoolers even questioned this executive decision.

To play the listening tube game, I started us off by saying “hello” into my neighbor’s tube and my neighbor had to guess what I said. By the way, we talked about how we can’t shout into the tubes or it will hurt our ears but sure enough we had one of our three year old’s who just couldn’t resist and shouted into the tube.  But luckily, his neighbor wasn’t really listening all that well anyway.  Each child took a turn saying something into their neighbor’s listening tube but I heard lots of giggling and goofy sounds going on more than any real words being shared.

Tomorrow, I will share with you part two of our Listening Walk adventures! Now don’t go away, be sure to check out the  Children’s Book Week Linky below. If you are viewing this post by email, reader, or m.teachpreschool.wpengine.com, then you may have to come to the regular blog post to view the linky.

Question of the day…

So am I the only one that is completely unorganized by this time of the school year? How organized are your materials right now?

Available on Amazon

Children’s Book Week Linky

In Honor of Children’s Book Week 2012, the Children’s Book Week Linky is being sponsored by

www.momto2poshlildivas.com : www.readingconfetti.com

www.smilinglikesunshine1.blogspot.com : www.carrotsareorange.com

teachpreschool.org

Do you have a favorite children’s book and activity to share? Then feel free to linky up!

Deborah J Stewart

Deborah J Stewart

Every time I think I know everything I need to know about teaching young children, God says, "Hold on a minute!" and gives me a new challenge.

Let me tell ya...

With each new challenge that you overcome, you will find yourself better equipped and more passionate about teaching young children.

God didn't call wimps to lead, teach, or care for His children. Nope, he has high expectations, so get ready. You will have to give your very best but after teaching for over 30 years, I can tell you that it is a wonderful and rewarding journey.

Whenever your calling feels hard, just remember, 'He who began a good work in you (and in the children you serve) will be faithful to complete it.'

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