Teaching Process Skills Through Children’s Literature: What’s That Sound?

whats that sound

What's that Sound by Mary Lawrence with illustrations by Lynn Adams combines science with literature to engage children's problem solving and reasoning skills.  Tim and his older sister, Amy, are on vacation in a spooky, old house that Tim believes is haunted.  Amy assures him that it is not by explaining every noise he believes to be a ghost.  By the end of the book Tim becomes brave and explores the sounds on his own, only to find a man playing the tuba!

The book offers fun and colorful cartoon illustrations that children enjoy, while at the same time every page explains why and how a sound occurs in a scientific manner.  The book also includes suggestions for related sound activities, such as making a kazoo or creating a sound code.

Curriculum Connections

 This is a great book that is easy to apply to the big picture of learning science, learning how to use what we know and applying that to solve problems.  What’s that Sound can be used to get kids thinking and creating ideas (3.1a, 3.1c).  This book can also be used with younger students (K.1a and K1.b).

Additional Resources

  • Auditory Processing provides games and songs for children to have to repeat and learn different types of sounds and games to help children improve their auditory memory.
  • Processing Skills is a website that provides auditory games for children with disabilities.  These activities can be done either at home or a school, so it is useful for both teachers and parents.
  • Hotchalk provides a fun science activity for younger children that requires then to uses their senses to observe, describe, and figure out what an object is.

 General Information

  • Book: What’s That Sound?

  • Written by: Mary Lawrence

  • Illustrated by: Lynn Adams  

  • Publisher: Lerner Publishing

  • Publication Date:2006

  • Pages:32

  • Grade range:  K to 3rd grade

  • ISBN:1575651181

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