Where the Wild (Musical) Things Are

One of my favorite books of all time is Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.  This month in first grade music we used this story as a way to practice our listening and playing skills.  After reading the book, we discussed some ways to add sound effects to the story.  "What instrument makes the sound of an ocean sailing by?"  "Which instrument would make the best sound for 'roar their terrible roar? A wood instrument? A metal instrument? A drum?"  Students used their problem solving skills to match classroom instruments with words and phrases from the book.  Next we read and played the story again.  Our favorite part was "Let the wild rumpus begin!"  Boy, do these first graders know how to have a wild instrument rumpus!