Age group(s) / Subject(s)
5 to 7, 8 to11 / Music, Science
Topic / Language Level
Sound / Beginner , Intermediate
Description of resource
- Musical instruments picture cards PowerPoint
- Connect 4 game board and cards
- Writing about how sounds are made table
- Making sounds substitution table
- Answers reference sheet
- Musical instruments top trumps
Preparation needed
You will need:
1 set of picture cards for each group of 3 to 4 learners.
1 game board and 1 set of cards for the Connect 4 game
1 set of cards for each group of 3 to 4 learners for the Top Trumps game.
One copy of the substitution table for each learner.
One A4 copy of the writing table for each pair/group.
You will need to:
Print out the picture cards. Go to print, select handouts (2 per page) and then print.
Print out the Connect 4 game board onto and laminate. Print out the Connect 4 cards onto card, laminate and cut out.
Print out onto card the Top Trumps cards by going to print. Cut out the cards but do not laminate as any writing will rub off during the game.
Curriculum objectives
To understand the different ways of making a sound on a musical instrument
Language / literacy objectives
Functions / Structures
Describing / Simple present tense (e.g. You pluck a guitar)
Comparing / Comparatives (e.g. A didgeridoo is bigger than a recorder.)
Complex sentences / Conjunction when (e.g. You make a sound when you pluck a guitar.)
Vocabulary
Verbs: pluck, blow, bang, scrape
Comparatives: bigger, smaller, higher (pitch), lower, louder, quieter, easier, harder/more difficult
Instruments: piano, harp, trombone, drum, violin, recorder, maracas, guitar, didgeridoo, balalaika, saxophone, pan pipes, cello, xylophone, tambourine, mandolin, sitar, kemence
This resource could be used:
whole class
as differentiation within class
one to one or small group
independent learning
Ideas for using the resource
What to do
Provide as many of the instruments shows on the picture cards as possible. Demonstrate the difference between plucking, banging, scraping, shaking and blowing. Provide learners with the opportunity to try out each of these actions on the instruments. Model sentences such as ‘You scrape a violin.’ ‘You bang a drum’. Sentences could be extended to ‘You make a sound when you bang the drum.’ ‘You make a sound when you scrape the violin.’
In pairs or small groups, ask the learners to sort the picture cards according to whether they are plucked, banged, blown, scraped or shaken.
After sorting the picture cards, the learners complete the Writing about how sounds are made table. Learners could then use the table to write simple sentences such as ‘You blow a trombone.’ ‘You pluck a banjo.’ (a completed version is included in the resources)
Connect 4 - a game for 2 players.
Provide each player with 8 cards in one colour. Players take it in turns to pick a card and match the verb (blow, shake, pluck, scrape or bang) to an instrument.
If a player can’t make a match they miss a turn. The player who has four tokens in a straight line is the winner.
Modelwriting a sentence using the substitution table. Ask learners to orally rehearse sentences using the substitution table. Then ask learners to write sentences independently using the substitution table. Picture cards could be provided to extend learners writing about other instruments using the structure from the substitution table.
Top Trumps
Using actual instruments, demonstrate and describe size (bigger, smaller), pitch (higher, lower), loudness (louder, quieter) and ease of creating a sound (easier, harder). Model sentences describing this, e.g. ‘The pan pipes have a higher pitch than the trombone.’ ‘The piano is louder than the recorder.’ The cello is bigger than the violin.’
In small groups, learners compare instruments (with as many actual instruments available for them to use as possible) and record scores between 1 and 5 on the top trumps cards. 1 would be the loudest and 5 the quietest, 1 would be the highest and 5 would be the lowest, 1 would be the largest and 5 would be the smallest, 1 would be the easiest to play and 5 would be the most difficult (additional cards are provided to enable the teacher or the learners to add more instruments to the pack).
Now play the game in pairs or 3s. Deal the cards face down. One player chooses a characteristic (e.g. size, pitch, loudness or how easy to play. Each player turns over their top card. The player with the highest score for that characteristic makes a sentence e.g. The … is the loudest, and keeps all the cards. The player to their left then chooses the characteristic. The game continues for a specified amount of time or until one player has all the cards.
Other ideas for making the best use of this resource
The cards could also be used to play a pairs game, with learners matching the instruments to learn their names
Learners could sort the picturecards according to particular characteristics. This activity could then be used to support learners to compare and contrast the instruments.
Activities could be carried out in the first language.
Possible extension activities
Learners could play a quiz game where one player chooses a picture card and then describes the pitch, size, loudness, how a sound is made and how easy the instrument is to play to other learners who try to guess which instrument it is.