Sounds Good

I listened to a great webinar this week run by The British Library and Hub partners. It was all about creative ways to use sounds in primary school. Up till now, I've mainly used sounds to create a calm environment in the classroom - when they come in in the morning, or when they are doing their activity. This webinar really made me think about other ways to use sounds within my teaching itself.

One example was in science - using sounds of animals. I guess this could also be used if I was teaching any cross curricular topics involving animals. Another subject which lends itself to this resource is History. One of the speakers showed a picture of a Hackney street in the 1930s and then added a sound of the street and it made the most amazing difference! It really made the picture come alive and got all the other senses going, which made me think about the people, the smells, and how it might have really felt being in that street. As a technique to use for a starter to engage the children, it could be really powerful! And so simple!

There was speakers from the British Schools team, Tyne and Wear Archives, London Metropolitan Archives and the Bristol Archives. Nice that it wasn't London-centric too.

A really useful way to enhance my teaching! Yay!