Teaching High and Low Sounds – A Kindergarten Music Assessment
Teaching high and low sounds is fun for kindergarten students and the assessment is naturally integrated into music class activities.
Some of the links on this site are affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
Lessons to teach high and low sounds are some of my favorite early elementary and kindergarten music lessons. However, it’s not as straightforward as it may seem. Kids often confuse high and low with loud and soft. And you need a reliable way to assess learning.
Integrating music assessments into class activities is essential. Assessments should feel like fun learning experiences for students.
Keep reading for creative ways to teach and assess high and low sounds in your early elementary music classes.
What’s in this post? Click to open the Table of Contents
Spatial Relationships to Teach High and Low
I like to introduce high and low sounds using drag-and-drop sorting activities on the classroom whiteboard. It’s important not to assume that early elementary students understand the concept of high and low in terms of spatial relationships. This step helps build a strong foundation. Pair the simple sorting activity with singing the “high” or “low” answer to reinforce the concept.
Don’t have access to a whiteboard? You can use toys or other visual prompts instead. If you can’t find the toys you want in your stash, print pictures of items to classify as high or low.
Animal Sounds to Teach High Low
I use a similar drag-and-drop sorting activity to introduce high and low animal sounds. As students place the animals, I always make the corresponding sound. This provides a reference point for them to imitate and classify the pitch.
Instead of a digital activity, try using stuffed animals or animal pictures as visual cues. An even simpler option is to use sign language for each animal. Have students place their signs high or low while making the corresponding sounds.
Vocalizations – Teaching High and Low with Flashlights
Kids love flashlights, and Halloween is the perfect time to incorporate “ghost voice” vocalizations.
- Dim or turn off the classroom lights.
- Shine a flashlight on a wall where everyone can see.
- Move the light slowly up and down as students use their spooky voices to sing “oo,” following the melodic contour of the light.
Vary your patterns. And, be sure to hold a steady pitch moving straight across the wall too. This helps students focus on following the pitch rather than just bouncing between high and low. You can also create staccato patterns by turning the flashlight on and off.
Add Scarves and Movement
Use scarves and have students mirror your movements as they follow or echo your vocal patterns. This is a fun way to practice vocalizations throughout the year.
Make learning fun!
Use Storybooks to Teach High and Low
There are several great storybooks for teaching high and low sounds. My favorite is Up, Up, Down by Robert Munsch. (While there’s a YouTube video of the author reading it, he doesn’t match the pitch and inflection of his voice to the text so I don’t recommend the video.)
As you read, emphasize the pitches by raising your voice more each time you say “up, up, up, up” and lowering it each time you say “down, down, down.” Use your free hand to trace the high and low contours in the air.
Students should automatically begin to join in on the repetitive sections. If they don’t, prompt them to help tell the story.
I always read this book at least twice. The kids LOVE it and it’s such a fun way to reinforce the concept of high and low pitches.
Drawing Assessment Idea
Have students draw pictures of animals that make high-pitched sounds and those that make low-pitched sounds. Instruct them to fold their paper in half to create a high section and a low section. They should draw high-pitched animals on the top half of the paper and low-pitched animals on the bottom half.
Movement Activities to Assess High-Low
After students have had plenty of practice with high and low sounds, it’s time to assess. Try this engaging movement activity I call “Tortoises and Ballet Dancers.”
Play simple melodic patterns using only the black keys of the piano (pentatonic scale). When you play low notes, students should crawl low like a tortoise. When you play high notes, they should move on their tiptoes with their hands raised above their heads.
The first time you play this game, do it for fun and practice only. I never grade this activity during its initial run. Even when I do record grades, the activity feels the same to students—it remains just a fun game. See the activity in the video below.
These sweet kindergarten students loved learning, and I enjoyed teaching them high-low concepts. Music assessment and learning should always be fun and authentic.
Enjoy these cute Tortoises and Ballet Dancers!
More Early Elementary Favorites
When your early elementary and kindergarten students are ready, these have been some of our favorite rhythm reading activities. I have also used these activities for student-led conferences.
Parents are always impressed to see their children read music using icons and standard notation.
More About Developing Music Skills in the Elementary Grades
- Guided Music Reading in the Early Elementary Grades
- Instruments of the Orchestra and Band – A Virtual Field Trip to the Symphony
- Teaching Improvisation in the Elementary Music Classroom
Meet the Author
Terri Lloyd is an experienced music educator with over 25 years of teaching in elementary music classrooms. She holds a Master’s in Education, an Instructional Technology Certificate in Curriculum Design, and a Bachelor of Music. Her resources are designed to help music teachers develop students’ music literacy and performance skills while enjoying learning.
She presents music education workshops, develops curriculum, and writes for her blog. She is on the music staff at her church and leads a children’s program. She performs as a active community musician with a local Big Band, pit orchestras, and at various events.
Could you list the books that you would recommend to teach high and low?
Hi Claudine,
My favorite book for teaching high/low is “Up, Up, Down” by Robert Munsch.
I also use “Goldibocks and the Three Bears” using a low voice for Papa Bear, a mid-pitched voice for Mama Bear, and a high-pitched voice for Baby Bear. I pair this with visuals using stuffed animals. I hold the bears low/middle/high when each speak. The second time you do this activity, you can ask students to hold the bears and have all of the students say “someone’s been eating my porridge” in the correct voicing.
The storybook “Up, down and Around” By Katherine Ayres is about plants growing in the garden. As you read “_____ grows up” make your voice go up. As you read “_____ grows down” make your voice go down. This is good for melodic direction too.
Another useful book is “Fast-Slow High-Low” by Peter Spier.
Best wishes!
Terri
What was the melody that was being played in the video 🙂 ?
Hi Celia, I was just improvising on the black keys of the piano. It is very easy to do without creating any dissonances I watch the kids and try to mix up the high/low sections. I like this activity because the kids really learn to listen first, then identify the high/low sounds.
A little later in the year we repeat this activity adding mid-range or “middle” pitches. For the mid-range pitches, we walk with hands on their hips.