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Classroom Inquiry
Making
Sound
Our discoveries about
things that make sound:
Initially this project was prompted when one child at

the Innovation Station started to experiment with
sound. She found that when she put a ball of tape in a
plastic pot it made a sound she liked. She showed me
her creation and I asked what other things she
needed to continue her experiments. She asked me
for some beads and rice to add to the station. I added
these and some other materials that I thought would
provoke some interesting sounds and soon most of
the class were engaged in creating instruments.
The children worked together to design and create musical Soon a classroom of collaboration evolved, where children
instruments, they were encouraged first to draw their design were sharing their ideas, expertise and materials.
before trying to make it come to life.
Student comments: -“Harder things make louder sound in
We guided their discoveries by asking them questions such my shaker.” -“The more objects I add, the louder it
as: “What could help make your design more successful?”, gets.”-“The bands are shaking to make sound.”-“The bigger
“how did you overcome that problem?”, “can you help others box makes a deeper sound.”-“The hole in the box is like the
to make their designs come to life?” and “what would you like hole in a guitar.”
to do with your creations?”.
Connections
One student noticed that his rubber bands vibrated when

played on his box instrument. He noticed that the same thing
happened to our music teacher’s strings when she played her
guitar.
On our next music lesson, the students asked their music

teacher how the guitar made noise and she let them watch the
strings and feel the guitar when she played.
She also covered the sound hole on her guitar so the children
could see how it was important to help make the sound louder,
which in turn changed the way our musical instruments were
being made at the Innovation Station.
One child noted that the vibrations on the music teacher’s

guitar strings sounded like a bee buzzing and another child
made a link to her voice box “buzzing” when she spoke, which
we had previously learnt about in an inquiry on our bodies.
Another child said her metal coffee container drum also

vibrated when she hit it.
It was fascinating to see that the children had come up with

their own theories on sound without being explicitly taught.
After investigating vibrations and creating many innovative
and successful musical instruments, the children showcased
their creations to each other, describing how they made noise
and how they overcame any design
challenges that they had during the making
process.
Every time a different type of instrument

was created (string, wind) the student show
cased their work as a new creation.
This turned in to a weekly discussion/

sharing circle.
We then brainstormed some ideas with the

students about things that make sound.
This was used at the basis for our planning and our next
steps.
We brought in musical instruments for the class to play,

manipulate, draw, and study. The classroom was very noisy
but the children were learning through collaboration and
exploration!
The children voted to use their creations to put on a show. The
children chose the songs they wanted to perform and when we
documented our project via Seesaw to our parents, one family
volunteered to come in as our “experts” to play the guitar and
drums to accompany the students. Together, we put on the
show for the principal, the office staff, and the SK class. The
children were very proud of their creations and their music.
They chose to write about their experiences in their journals at
the writing centre.
The children drew detailed pictures of the instruments that we

brought into the class and labeled them.
Spin Off Inquiries
Weather:
- We made the sounds of weather with our bodies and voices.

We also experimented with how to make the sounds of
weather with our instruments.
Bubbles in the Water Cooler:
-We used the water table to discover how we could make

bubbles.
Toys and Cars:
-The children brought in a “noisy” toy each from home to

share with the class
Animals:
-We sang animal sounds songs in our music class.

Four Frames
Belonging and Contributing
1. communicate with others in a variety of ways, for a variety of purposes, and in a variety on contexts
3. identify and use social skills in play and other contexts
4. demonstrate an ability to use problem-solving skills in a variety of contexts, including social contexts
30. demonstrate an awareness of themselves as dramatists, actors, dancers, artists, and musicians through engagement in the arts
Self-Regulating and Wellbeing
1/2. demonstrate independence, self regulation, and a willingness to take responsibility in learning and other endeavours
3/4
Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematic Behaviours
1/10. demonstrate literacy behaviours that enable beginning writers to communicate with others
Problem Solving and Innovation
13. use the processes and skills of an inquiry stance (i.e., questioning, planning, predicting, observing, and communicating)
24. use problem-solving strategies, on their own and with others, in the process of creating and designing (i.e., questioning,
planning, constructing, analysing, redesigning, and communicating)
Communication for Learning Comments for this Inquiry
Belonging and Contributing
*** interacts with her peers in considerate and creative ways. She helped her friend design a musical instrument at the Innovation Station by
first helping her draw the creation and then by demonstrating how to put the materials together. When they discovered challenges, *** was able
to problem solve and offer solutions. *** was also able to resolve classroom conflicts during this time, by offering advice on how to share
materials. *** took great pleasure in helping to plan a class concert and performed as a musician in front of the SK class with pride. We will
encourage *** to reflect on her thinking and her innovations during this inquiry project , and to share with the class her findings which will
contribute further to our class learning.
Self-Regulating and Wellbeing
*** relates well to her classmates and was able to recognise when her friend was feeling unsure of how to make her instrument and understood
through non-verbal cues that her friend needed help. She used kind and considerate language to help her friend solve problems in creating her
instrument. *** was also able to ask her teachers for new materials to help her creations come to fruition and relished the opportunity to
experiment with new materials and persisted when her creations were unsuccessful.
Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematic Behaviours
*** was able to explore rhythm and sound by shaking her instrument on every syllable of her friend’s names. Whilst helping her friends to do
the same, *** used constructive comments to help them. *** was very eager to write sentences describing her instrument in the writing centre.
She used her knowledge of phonics and sight words to construct these sentences independently. Additionally, *** asked the teachers the names
and spelling of different parts of real instruments so she could draw and label her pictures in the art centre.
Problem Solving and Innovation
*** is inquisitive and enjoyed creating theories and testing them out during this inquiry project. She was able to make predictions about
whether a design would work once actualised and was able to find solutions to designs that did not work effectively. *** communicated her own
findings with her peers in order to aid their design process. We will continue to encourage ***’s innovation skills by providing new provocations
at the Innovation Station in our classroom and through using *** as a classroom expert so she can continue to share her skills with her friends.
Comments and Reflections: Ideas for Sharing with Community:
This project had provided a lot of opportunity for learning I shared this inquiry day by day via Seesaw with our parents
across all four frames. so that they could see the inquiry unfold. Additionally,
children could be recorded explaining their own learning and
The thinking and learning that was visible throughout the this could be added to Seesaw to truly make learning visible.
project was rich, but after writing the communication for
learning comment, I realised I could have found more ways As an extension of the Seesaw documentation, I created an
to incorporate math concepts into the inquiry. inquiry board that was simple and easy to digest for the
children, which was displayed at the Innovation Station at
On reflection I would also liked to have extended the project eye level so the children were made aware of their own
to also cover drama. We did read picture books thats were learning and progress.
related to music and musical instruments, but it would have
been beneficial to extend this further and dramatise one of I would like in future to create a board describing this inquiry
the stories whilst using our made musical instruments. project outside the classroom to showcase our leaning with
the rest of the school.

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Classroom Inquiry

Initially this project was prompted when one child at

One student noticed that his rubber bands vibrated when

On our next music lesson, the students asked their music

One child noted that the vibrations on the music teacher’s

Another child said her metal coffee container drum also

It was fascinating to see that the children had come up with

Every time a different type of instrument

This turned in to a weekly discussion/

We then brainstormed some ideas with the

We brought in musical instruments for the class to play,

The children drew detailed pictures of the instruments that we

- We made the sounds of weather with our bodies and voices.

Bubbles in the Water Cooler:

-We used the water table to discover how we could make

Toys and Cars:

-The children brought in a “noisy” toy each from home to

-We sang animal sounds songs in our music class.

3. identify and use social skills in play and other contexts

Self-Regulating and Wellbeing

Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematic Behaviours

Problem Solving and Innovation

Self-Regulating and Wellbeing

Demonstrating Literacy and Mathematic Behaviours

Problem Solving and Innovation

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