Unit Plan 28 (Grade K Music): Sound Pictures

Focus: Create sounds to match pictures or images, exploring how beat, pitch direction, and dynamics can tell simple stories.

Grade Level: K

Subject Area: Music (Creating • Performing • Responding)

Total Unit Duration: 2–4 sessions (2+ weeks), 20–30 minutes per session

I. Introduction

In this unit, students become “sound illustrators” by using voices, body percussion, and classroom instruments to create Sound Pictures that match images or scenes. With guidance, they explore beat, melodic contour (high/low, up/down), and loud/soft contrasts while deciding how music can represent rain, animals, vehicles, or feelings in a picture. Students share their choices with simple language, building early creative skills and confidence in making musical decisions.

Essential Questions

• How can we use sounds to show what we see in a picture or image?
• How do high/low, loud/soft, and steady beat help our music match a scene?
• How can we work together to make a sound story that fits what we see?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. With guidance, explore steady beat and simple pitch direction (high/low) while responding to pictures.
2. Choose and create sounds (voice, body percussion, instruments) that match a given picture or scene.
3. Organize simple Sound Picture patterns (beginning, middle, end) to tell a very short sound story.
4. Use simple language (e.g., “high,” “soft,” “fast”) to describe how their sounds match the image.

Standards Alignment — Kindergarten Music (NAfME-Aligned)

• MU:Cr1.1.Ka — With guidance, explore and experience music concepts such as beat and melodic contour.
  • Example: Exploring steady beat by tapping or moving to music.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can keep a beat or move my voice up or down to match what I see in a picture.
• I can choose sounds that fit a picture (for example, soft sounds for rain or loud sounds for thunder).
• I can help my group put sounds in order to tell a little sound story.
• I can tell a friend why my sounds match the picture using words like high, low, loud, or soft.