Last updated: May 12, 2025
Lesson Plan
Young Sound Seekers Soundwalk
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YSS / NPS NSNSD
- Grade Level:
- Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
- Subject:
- Literacy and Language Arts,Science,Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 30 Minutes
- Common Core Standards:
- 2.SL.1, 2.SL.2, 2.SL.3, 2.SL.4
- Additional Standards:
- Florida Sunshine State
SC.K.N.1.2
SC.K.N.1.5
SC.3.N.1.5
SC.4.N.1.1
SC.6.N.2.3
SC.8.N.1.6
SC.912.N.1.7
SP.PK12.VI.1.2
SP.PK12.VI.2.3
SP.PK12.VI.4.3
SP.PK12.VI.5.5
SP.PK12.VI.5.6
SP.PK12.VI.6.1
SP.PK12.US.22.1
Essential Question
What can we learn about a place by listening carefully? How does the act of listening change or heighten our environmental awareness?
Objective
Attendees experience a contemplative walk for listening awareness. This activity allows listeners to focus and heighten their perception of the sounds in the environment, using their ears as their eyes.
Background
Listening is a skill that requires practice. Soundwalks have a well-earned reputation for helping people practice active listening. There are many types of soundwalks. The most complex use headphones to create audio-guided tours. These can feature narration, sound effects, live performances, or processed recordings. But the simplest way to experience a soundwalk is to explore a location in silence, either alone or with others. Soundwalks can also include stops for reflection or discussion.
During a soundwalk, the group focuses on listening to the soundscape. This includes sounds they make themselves, like footsteps, coughs, or clothing rustling. It is impossible for the group to be completely silent. But the best way to practice the skill of active listening is by not talking. This can be challenging for younger audiences. The leader should model this by staying silent and holding space for the group.
Every soundwalk is unique to its time and location. The sounds change with the time of day, the weather, the season, animal migrations, and human activity. If you take the same group on the same route on a different day, your listeners should notice changes in the soundscape. Each soundwalk is a one-of-a-kind
experience that won’t happen the same way again.
Preparation
Scout your route ahead of time without the group. This will reveal any obstacles or safety concerns along the path (fallen trees, detours, etc.). Once on the soundwalk, the leader should keep their pace slow and relaxed. Allow people to listen at a leisurely pace. Plan for at least 30 minutes, but adjust the time based
on the route.
A natural environment is ideal, but urban environments like a city park can also be an engaging place for a soundwalk. Bring a clock to track the time and a map, especially for wilderness trails.
Soundwalks can also be adapted for accessibility. For those with mobility challenges, you can turn this activity into a “sound sit,” where everyone stays in one spot. This activity also works for those with hearing loss by focusing on visual and tactile cues like the vibration of sounds.
Materials
Lesson Hook/Preview
Fun Fact:
“Listening is never static, cannot be held on to, and in fact needs to be found again and again.” Hildegard Westerkamp
Fun Fact:
The term ‘soundwalk’ was first used widely by Canadian composers R. Murray Schafer and Hildegard Westerkamp. Their aim was to draw attention to the sonic environment by teaching aspiring composers and the public new ways to listen. The World Soundscape Project
Procedure
Step 1. Introduction and Prompt
A soundwalk is an activity to open the senses.Say
“Here we are at [our location]. For the next hour we will be walking and listening to the soundscape. A soundscape is made of all the sounds at this location, including sounds we make while walking. While we are walking, I’d like to request that no one speak so that we can focus on the sounds of our environment. Please silence your phones. Of course, if there is an emergency, let someone know that you need to peel off from the group. And if another hiker outside our group says hello, be polite and briefly respond. We just want to postpone our conversations until after the soundwalk is done.
Again, the purpose of this walk is to listen to the soundscape. The route we will take today is... (explain your route).”
Offer a listening prompt. This is an invitation to explore a theme or point of focus for the group to consider as they walk. Choose your own prompt based on the group learning objectives. Inspiration might come from environmental science, wellness, creativity, history, or culture. You may choose to include a creative activity at the end (before or after Step 3) such as creative writing, painting, or
movement.
Sample Listening Prompts
- Listen for the closest sound. Then, listen for the furthest sound. Find your favorite sound.
- Listen to the changes in one sound.
- Focus on individual sounds. Then, listen for layers of sounds. And finally, listen to all the sounds at once.
- Find sounds that calm you / Find sounds that are stressful to you.
- Find sounds that are made by the Earth (wind, water, stones, etc.).
- Find sounds that are made by animals.
“Before we begin, let’s take three breaths together. Find a comfortable posture, relax your shoulders, and inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale... inhale... exhale.
Continue breathing at your own pace, focusing your mind on your breath.
Now, let’s begin. I’ll lead.”
The group walks quietly behind the leader. Some attendees may wish to stray, so keep an eye on your group. Others may wish to rush forward in front of the leader. Keep your pace slow and deliberate to control the flow. The walk itself is designed by the leader. We recommend you walk your route before you lead a group on this activity. Feel free to plan pauses at certain locations of interest (such as by water features or at an interesting sound). Your body language will communicate when it is time to stop and time to move on.
If the route isn’t a loop, the farthest point is a good spot for Step 3. After the discussion, you can let the group chat during the walk back.
Step 3. Discussion
At the end of the walk, stop at a safe clearing or return to your starting point. Motion to the group to create a circle. Wait for everyone to join the circle.Say
Ask
“I’d like to open our circle for sharing. What are you noticing?”
The questions in this discussion should match your listening prompt from Step 1. Create your questions before the walk, but be open to listeners’ comments. Ask questions based on their feedback from the soundwalk.
Sample discussion questions
- Were you able to stay focused?
- How was this soundwalk different from a normal walk for you?
- What details did you hear?
- Were you able to hear a familiar sound in a new way?
- Did you hear an unexpected sound?
- Did any human-made sounds distract you from enjoying the natural ones?
- Did any memories come to you by listening to a sound?
Vocabulary
Soundscape The sounds heard in a particular location, considered as a whole.
Soundwalk A contemplative walk through an environment for listening awareness.
Additional Resources
Kagge, Erling. “Silence in the Age of Noise.” Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, New York, New York, 2017.
Krause, Bernie. “The Power of Tranquility in a Very Noisy World.” New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2018.
Payor, Eve. “Meditations on a Soundwalk.” Blurb Publishing, San Francisco, California, 2023.
Prochinik, George. “In Pursuit of Silence.” Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, New York, New York, 2010.
Schafer, R. Murray. “Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Turning of the World.”Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont, 1977.
Smolicki, Jacek (editor). “Soundwalking.” Routledge, New York, New York, 2023.
Suarez, Lavender. “Transcendent Waves: How Listening Shapes Our Creative Lives.” Brooklyn, New York, Anthology Editions, 2020.
Williams, Florence. “The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier and Healthier.” New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017.
Westerkamp, Hildegard. “The Disruptive Nature of Listening.” Keynote address at ISEA 2015. https://hildegardwesterkamp.ca/writings/writings-by/?post_id=11&title=the-disruptive-nature-of-listening-(keynote-at-isea2015).
The World Soundscape Project. Accessed October 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/~truax/wsp.html
Related Lessons or Education Materials
Young Sound Seekers complete set of educational activities
Soundwalk
DIP TiPS
Echoes of the Past
Listen, Pair, Share
Masking Mayhem
Good Vibes
Created by Dr. Nathan Wolek at Stetson University, Eve Payor at Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Edith Stein at the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. The Young Sound Seekers program has been supported by the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division of the National Park Service.