Creating soundscapes with Caterina's kindergarten class has become one of our favorite highlights in The Classroom Chronicles, and this week's adventure continues this wonderful tradition. I deeply appreciate the thoughtful planning that goes into Caterina's lessons and find it inspiring to watch how her young students consistently rise to meet the challenges she presents.
Carlo
Read about Caterina's Soundscapes Activity from earlier this school year.
I spent pretty much the whole day with her kindergarten class this week. The day started as our previous soundscape field trips did– we packed up our stuff and headed out to the local park. But this time around, we kicked things up a notch! The kids weren't just listening anymore– they had to pay attention to what they could see too. When we got back to school, they practiced explaining about why certain sights and sounds caught their interest. It was amazing to see these little ones not just noticing the world around them, but also starting to understand their own reactions to it.
Exploring the Zones of the Park 🧭
We divided the students into small groups and rotated between three zones:
- 🛝 Playground/Tunnels – where I led students in exploring their surroundings and listening closely to sounds.
- 🌲 Forest – where they observed wildlife and rustling leaves.
- 🏖️ Beach – where waves, birds, and skipping rocks provided a variety of sensory experiences.
Each student took turns holding the iPad, capturing something they found interesting, and explaining why.
"I like the water because it's fun to throw rocks in"
Encouraging Deeper Thinking 🤔
For this iteration of the field trip, Caterina’s goal was to guide students beyond simple preferences like “I like it” and encourage them to articulate reasons, such as:
- “I like seeing the playground because it looks like fun to play in.”
- “I like hearing the birds because they sound pretty.”
- “I like looking at the water because I like swimming.”
This may seem simple, but for Kindergarten students, forming complete thoughts with reasoning is a big developmental step.
"I like the mushrooms in the forest because they're so beautiful and big"
From Initial Recording to Reflection 🎙️
After two and a half hours at the park, we returned to school. You might think we had plenty of content to post in the student’s Seesaw portfolios, but these initial recordings were just the beginning. In the afternoon, we helped the students recall their experiences, choose their favorite zone, and record final video responses.
- “My favorite zone was the forest because I saw rolly pollies, and I like wood bugs.”
- “I liked the castle zone because I liked playing in the tunnels.”
- “I liked the beach because I liked throwing rocks in the water.”
“I like looking at the trees because they give us shade.”
These videos ended up as the actual Seesaw posts, part of a process to reinforce observation skills, reflection, and communication—key foundational skills for young learners.
Cross-Curricular Learning in Action 🔀
One of the biggest successes of the day was Caterina identifying five assessment areas connected to the upcoming progress report. With one field trip, she was able to document evidence of learning across her entire Kindergarten curriculum.
- ✅ Science – Understanding our natural world (practicing observation and documentation skills).
- ✅ Social Studies – Exploring our local community.
- ✅ Language Arts – Forming two-part messages: “I like ____ because____.”
- ✅ ADST – Using iPads to record videos .
- ✅ Religion Studies – Identifying and appreciating “God’s living creatures.”
Beyond these academic connections, students also built on Core Competencies like self-awareness and communication. This is yet another example of how cross-curricular projects foster deep learning!
A Rich Portfolio Requires Rich Learning Experiences 🌅
During our afternoon debrief, Caterina and I discussed how assessment and reporting are evolving, particularly the challenge of documenting work into digital portfolios. Projects like this one show us that, with intentional lesson design, even a single journal entry can include a number of assessments from across the curriculum and offer a place for students to watch their learning grow.
Create Your Own Soundscape 🎧
After a long day of guiding young learners, sometimes you need a moment to unwind. Enter myNoise.net—a customizable sound generator that lets you create the perfect background noise for relaxation, focus, or even sleeping. Use it in your class during quiet work time to promote a cozy work environment for your students.