Daily Noise 

Objectives

To gain an appreciation of different living conditions

To become aware of stimuli surrounding various living environments

To perceive, understand and appreciate differences

Subjects

Language arts, dramatic arts

Nature

Creatrive, cognitive (group activity)

Duration

Two 1-hour sessions

Rationale:

It becomes very evident, after reading several of the stories, that the author witnessed many everyday sounds that were quite different from those she was accustomed to in her own home.  The aim of this activity is for the participants to create a short skit highlighting sounds that a family, from a given country, would hear everyday and, by doing so, bring about an awareness of different living conditions.

Method:

The participants will be divided into groups of four or five. Each group will select a country/family from the book on which to base their skit.  Groups should indicate their selected country to the educator before beginning the activity so as to avoid duplication.  The educator should ensure that one group chooses a North American family for comparative purposes.  Having selected a family, the group will then read through the text making note of all sounds that could be used for their skit..

After listing the sounds, the group will decide how each sound can be mimicked.  The sounds should be arranged in a sequence of events and finally used in a skit which will take us through a typical day of the chosen family.

Note:  The dialogue of the skit should give clues to the sounds being mimicked.

Discussion after the presentations can involve such things as:  identifying the individual sounds, distinguishing familiar from unfamiliar sounds, and determining a possible country.

Materials:

Text:   Families of the World

One tape recorder per group

Materials to make sound effects

Writing materials

Follow-up:

Sounds could be recorded on tape and used during a reading of the text.