Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?

I love the books and Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? and Polar Bear, Polar Bear What Do You Hear?  Recently some first and second graders used Polar Bear as a springboard for composing.  First we read the book and then added sound effects.  Next we used ZooPal plates to create an animal sound song on our beautiful carpet.  Since music is really just organized sound, this activity is a great way for beginning composers to get started.

As a group, students picked out a sound to represent the animal on their plate.  Then we arranged those sounds by placing them in one of the squares on the rug.

Once our song was complete we performed it.  What a growlin', howlin', buzzin' good time!  Next we took a 16 beat grid and composed individual animal sound songs.

The bulletin board outside the music room uses animal sounds and rhythm patterns and asks "Children, children what do you hear?"

Get the book here: Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?