Reading every day is something we encourage all students and families to do. Trying it out the “music class” way (as I always tell my kids) is even more entertaining! With some added percussion sound effects and catchy songs and chants to help to tell the tale, story-time can become a wonderful way to explore the sounds and effects of your voice and different objects around the house. The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson is a terrific book to bring to life with sounds. Here are two links of this book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyhgubvRYF4&feature=youtu.be read by Michelle Obama for PBS Kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LshGQmaJc9I brought to you by StorytimeNow. 

What music and sounds would you choose to make for the Gruffalo, mouse, fox, owl, and snake? What sounds would you make as each animal scurries away?  Give it a try with this online story or give it a try with your favourite book at home.

If you tried making your own instruments at home you can use these for each character, or gather up some cans, pots and objects from around the house to try a variety of sounds. Try body percussion and your voice as well.

Old favorites like the Three Little Pigs and the GingerBread Man work very well for this activity. Some of you might remember choosing instruments for these characters in music class. You can give it a try telling these same stories at home with your own sound effects. Goldilocks and the Three Bears or the Tortoise and the Hare are great options too! What stories can you bring to life the music class way? Let me know what story you chose or send a picture of you bringing a story to life by emailing me at paula.chapman@nbed.nb.ca. I'd love to hear from you!

Have a great week!