To perform a sound walk, take your class outside and instruct them to follow you double-file. Once the sound walk begins, students should stay quiet and listen to detect different kinds of sounds and different qualities and volumes of sounds. They should attempt to remember the loudest and softest sounds they hear as well as attempt to remember the sources of the different sounds. The point of this exercise is to teach students how to detect patterns of sounds as well as develop proficient memorization skills.
Start by instructing your students to be quiet and listen for the pattern that you tap on the desk with your pencil or hands. Once you finish the pattern, raise your hand to signify that you are finished. At your request, they should then attempt to repeat the pattern you tapped. Make the sequences simple at the beginning, but gradually increase the difficulty as you progress through the exercise.
Instruct students to sit in a circle. Start by exclaiming a word that is part of a group, quality or category of things. For example, you could say a fruit such as "Apple." The student to your left should then find a quality that matches apples and say that. For example, the student could say, "Green." The nest student, going clockwise, should then answer with a thing or object that is green or is associated with the color green. Do not stop until every student in the circle has been able to speak at least once. Encourage students to respond as quickly as possible to teach them how to listen and think in a fast-paced setting.
Instruct each student, one at a time, to stand in front of the class. Have the first student tell the rest of the class five things about herself. She could mention where she is from, her favorite color, what month she was born or even or favorite hobby among other things. When she is finished, instruct the next student to repeat this process. After the second student introduces himself, ask the class to recount the answers to first student's introduction. Repeat this process for the rest of the class.
This exercise is useful for preschoolers and kindergartners. Using prerecorded animal sounds, play an animal's characteristic sound for the students. Then, ask the students to identify the animal associated with that sound. Do this with at least 15 animals. For added difficulty, play more than one animal sound at a time and ask the students to identify which animals are making the sounds.
Instruct your students to stand in a circle. Start by telling a story about anything. At any moment, stop and call on one of your students. He should then fill in what you left out. Of course, he will be able to come up with anything he wants, but he should try to finish your thought with something that would naturally follow. At a random moment during his addition to the story, you should stop him and call on another student to add to the story. Ensure every student gets a turn.