Head outdoors for a listening walk

Have you ever read the book, “The Listening Book” by Paul Showers?

It is a terrific book that will get your students outside using their listening ears as they take a listening walk with this fun listening walk checklist.

The children were each given a little clipboard and checklist to use as they took their own listening walk…

I created this listening walk checklist on my computer and I specifically chose things that were already in our environment like a dog, cars, birds, and so on.

I printed a copy for each child and cut them to fit on our small clipboards.

I find using our smaller clipboards are easier for the children to carry around when we go on outdoor walks.

Some of the sounds were going to be heard inside the classroom and the others were only going to be heard if we went outside. So we took our clipboards and went outside for a little morning walk…

As the children heard something that was on the list, they placed a check mark next to the item on their checklist…

Not everything works out quite as planned. We have a dog that is usually out next door in a fenced in yard. I bet that dog is out everyday just barking away. In fact, he is out there right now while I am writing this but during our walk, the dog was not outside.  So once again, we decided that since we usually hear the dog barking outside, we could mark that off our list too…

And when we went outside, there happened to be a worker outside using a leaf blower and ALL we could hear was the leaf blower so we had to walk all the way over to where he was and ask him to please turn it off for a few minutes so we could hear something else…

So even though we couldn’t hear a real firetruck and the dog wasn’t out barking at us like usual, we still managed to hear lots of other sounds in our environment. Taking a listening walk was a good opportunity to stop and think for just a minute about the sounds we hear but don’t always notice…

Go ahead try it.  Stop for just a minute and then just listen. What do you hear? I was surprised at what I could really hear once I really stopped to listen on our outdoor listening walk…

Get your ‘Listening Walk’ download, today!

Here’s the next stop for your Listening Walk…
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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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