Erfving, Emilia

Sintonen, Sara

Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto

ACTIVITY CARDS FOR KEEN EARS 2, web publication©University of Helsinki, Department of Teacher Education, and authors 2016 ISBN 978-951-51-2191-2 (pdf )Texts: Sara Sintonen and Emilia ErfvingIllustrations and layout: Emilia ErfvingDistribution and free use of this publication for non-commercialpurposes is permitted.Activity Cards for Keen Ears 2 is a sequel of a pedagogical material focusing on sounds. It is designed for the first few years of primary education. The material is published digitally, and it can be used and distributed freely for non-commercial purposes.The pedagogical goal of the activity cards is to spark interest, curiosity and sensitivitytowards sounds and audiovisuality. The tasks encourage in a playful way to observe, think, imagine, see, and above all to listen. Activity Cards for Keen Ears can be used in teaching various subjects, and they contribute to the development of multiliteracies.The activity cards can be printed, saved, projected on a screen, or worked on a mobiledevice in a way that best suits the situation and goals. They can also be applied in many different ways by combining and supplementing them, or by coming up with new ones yourself.The authors, Sara Sintonen and Emilia Erfving, are pedagogues who are interested in digital culture and multimodal literacies. Sara Sintonen works as a university lecturer at the Department of Teacher Education at University of Helsinki, and Emilia Erfving works as a freelance artist, focusing mainly of photography and illustration.Activity Cards for Keen Ears 1 and 2 are available for download at www.keenears.net. The publications can be distributed and used free-ly for non-commercial educational purposes. Use of the materials for commercial purposes must be agreed separately with the authors. Workshops and training based on the materials can be scheduled with the authors.T E AC H E R ’S S E C T I O NMultiliteracy through activity cardsYou are holding the second part of Activity Cards for Keen Ears. Activity Cards for Keen Ears form a whole in two parts that aims to observe sound from a slightly different angle. The pictures help in the observation, and thus the activity cards work well in, for instance, developing basic skills for multiliteracy.Both works are shared on the Internet in PDF format and they are free to use. The authors hope that people wouldn’t simply print them, but rather choose a moreecological alterna-tive by employing digital technologies. You can save the activity pages as images on your computer, and then use them in various software environments according to the desired purpose: drawing, animating, recording and editing sound, or composing your own music.The activity cards work best when you start applying them collectively and in different ways, moving forward and beyond the ideas in the cards. In case you will be publishing edited cards or works inspired by our cards, we hope you will tag them with #keenears. You can also send us filled-in cards or related inspirational work:Sara Sintonen: sara.sintonen@helsinki.fi Emilia Erfving: emilia.erfving@gmail.comCard-specific tipsCard 1. Let’s start with a fanfare! A fanfare means a short piece of music that is played, for example, at the start of an event. What kind of fanfare would you play? What kinds of events can be made more festive with a fanfare? Can you play a fanfare to celebrate, for in-stance, the start of a new week or the summer?Card 2. The ear is an interesting organ. It helps us hear and observe various sounds. The earlobe helps col-lect sounds and leads them into our auditory canals. The ear is a really sensitive organ, and you should take good care of it. Discuss together if ears can have tasks other than hearing? For example, elephants cool themselves off with their ears.Card 3. Design a new kind of ear yourself. That ear can specialise in, for example, hearing certain types of sounds. What does an ear that’s developed to hear low sounds look like? Can the ear be elsewhere in the body besides the head? And what does an ear of the future look like? Can it listen to music without any equipment, or sounds from the past and the future?Card 4. The creatures in the picture are imaginary be-ings who also make imaginary sounds. Can you make sounds even if your mouth is small? Discuss which things influence sound and the ability to produce dif-ferent sounds. You can also give the creatures names and draw them new friends. What sounds does the creature you invented make?Card 5. The picture shows three different drawings that depict sound. First think about how the draw-ings sound. Then discuss what kind of sound would be opposite to the drawn sounds. Draw the opposite sounds you come up with in the empty squares.Card 6. Look at the space you’re currently in and grab the first object you see. What kinds of sounds can it produce? You can often create sounds and music even with-out instruments, and many different objects can be turned into special instruments. The objects can also be combined. Don’t hesitate to experiment freely and search for tips on the Internet for making your own instruments!Card 7. The picture shows imaginary instruments. If you could really play them, what would they sound like? Card 8. A serenade means music that you can play for someone you especially like. Design your own in-strument that you can use to play a serenade to, for example, your best friend. What could be the name of the instrument you invented? Can it be built for real?If you are inspired by instrument design, discuss what an instrument meant for playing wistful mu-sic could look like? How about an instrument that is designed for fast music?Card 9. By following the recipe, you can make sound soup by imagining. You can also try recording your own idea. Or, you can make a real sound soup in a pot by putting in things that make sounds when you stir them.Card 10. Design your own sound recipe. You can ask your friends to join you in making the sounds in the recipe.Card 11. Look closely at the picture. Someone asks: “Who’s there?” Discuss the voices of the different ques-tioners. And how do you think the speaker is feeling? Also, try to ask the question just like it’s been drawn. You can also continue with the idea by drawing things that are the same but are spoken differently.Card 12. Five rather similar birds are sitting on the branches. If you look very closely, you can hear the different sounds they are making. Choose one of the birds and create the sounds it’s making. Can your friend guess which bird you chose?You can also try an exercise where you act out a situ-ation in which the birds in the picture talk about, for example, how few insects there are, building a nest, or other birds. The idea is to empathise with the bird you chose.Card 13. Because you cannot close your ears, you may sometimes hear something surprising. Has this ever happened to you? Tell about it.Card 14. A lot of things are going on in the picture. How many different sound sources can you find in the picture? You can continue the story by acting and im-provising situations and sounds related to the picture.Card 15. Sometimes animals are named after the sounds they make. For instance, the black-throated loon (a bird) has been named after the mating call it makes. First think about how these imaginary animals sound. Name their species accordingly.Card 16. Come up with a new animal whose species is the screamer. And what would these look like: jaw-clencher, yeller, or croaker?Card 17. As the ear is such a sensitive organ, some sounds can sometimes hurt it. Has this ever happened to you? Discuss and ty to come up with means of eliminating sounds that are harmful to ears.Card 18. Many digital games have worlds of sound that are fun and interesting. Often, the sounds and the music are an important part of the game. What kinds of sounds would you associate with these gaming sit-uations? If you find this interesting, create your own view of a game and invent the sounds that go with it.Card 19. Have you ever noticed that the wind does not always sound the same? Discuss together what all the possible influences are. Use your own words to describe the wind in different situations (whispering wind, whining wind, and so on).Card 21. What are your feelings about the Activity Cards for Keen Ears? What did you especially like and why? You can share your experiences with the whole group or in smaller groups.You can also email your thoughts to us:Sara Sintonen:  sara.sintonen@helsinki.fiEmilia Erfving:  emilia.erfving@gmail.comCard 20. Talk about the things you can hear when it’s completely dark. Also discuss how this feels. Try to come up with places where you cannot see anything but you can hear all sorts of things. What is behind this particular door?

Activity Cards for Keen Ears 2

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