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Sounds
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Give students a different way of listening by playing sounds.  Students listen to the sounds and identify them.  What is interesting is that some sounds may be different in Spanish-speaking countries, such as sirens or animals.  You can make your own recordings, obtain them online, or assign students to make sound recordings of animals, machines, home, and school. 


Sound Activities

    Guessing Sounds
    1. Record sounds that are tied to a theme.  For example, record sounds during your morning routine: alarm clock, yawn, shower, blow dryer, flushing toilet, sizzling bacon, brushing your teeth, humming while in front of the mirror, etc. 
    2. Play the sounds for the class.
    3. It is not necessary to play them in order. 
    4. Then let students guess what they are. 
    5. After they guess correctly, ask students about their morning routine in Spanish.
    6. Afterwards, students write a short composition describing their morning routine.
    7. Make it fun and humorous. 

    Sound Bingo
    Sound Bingo is a great way to help students remember new vocabulary.  This is because they associate words with sounds they make. 

    1. Make bingo cards of things that make sounds. 
    2. You can use words or pictures.  
    3. Organize sound files on a CD or on a computer with a speaker.
    4. Before the game begins, discuss the sounds.  Talk about who makes it, where you might hear it, and show pictures or video clips. 
    5. Begin the game and play the sounds. 
    6. Meanwhile, students put a chip on the picture or word of the sound maker on the bingo card.
    7. The winner has to name the sound makers in Spanish. 
    8. At the end of the lesson students take their study guides home.
    9. As a follow up, students read an article or a story about the subject and have a class discussion. 
    10. Afterwards, students write sentences, paragraphs, or short stories relating to the subject.  

 

Creating Your Own Digitally Recorded Sounds

There is a great program that is free called Audacity. Once you have recorded and saved your sounds, you can edit them. Since there may be quite a bit of noise, you should use an external microphone even if your computer has a built-in microphone.  You can also use sound editing software to reduce the noise and improve the quality of your recording.   Once you have created your sounds, you can add them to a website, word document, PowerPoint presentation, burn them onto a CD, or upload them to an iPod or MP3 player.


Resources

Microsoft Office Clip art Sounds - Microsoft Office Clip art has sounds on their website such as bells, sirens, laughing, cheering, talking, screaming, animals, etc.

Bzzz Peek - This fun website has many animal and vehicle sounds in different languages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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