LIVE TEACHER CUE GUIDE — Sound Detective: Build a Four-Beat Rhythm
Audience status: Free sample · Grades 3–5, with younger-child adaptations
No audio recording is supplied. These are live directions for the teacher, not an MP3 transcript.

Use a comfortable classroom voice. Before each example, count four even beats aloud: “1, 2, 3, 4.” Leave a quiet two-second pause after modeling before inviting the response. Do not ask students to shout or perform solo.

CORE CUES (timestamps follow the lesson sequence; they are teaching-time markers, not audio-file timestamps)
0:00-2:00 | Welcome and listening signal
Teacher: Today we will listen for a pattern, copy it, and make one of our own. We do not need instruments; our voices and hands are enough.
Teacher: When I say "Sound detectives," place your hands still on your knees and look toward the rhythm cards. Let us try it once.
Teacher: Sound detectives. Thank you. Our goal is to make four steady beats that another person can follow.
Student response: Respond to the attention cue. Choose a seated knee tap or a quiet clap for the activity.

2:00-5:00 | Model the three rhythm sounds
Teacher: TA is one sound across one beat. Copy me: TA. Now count four steady beats with me: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Teacher: TI-TI is two even sounds inside one beat. Listen first, then echo: TI-TI. We still count that space as beat 1.
Teacher: REST means one quiet beat. Keep the count moving inside your head while your hands stay still: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Teacher: I will show a card before we perform it. Our sound stays soft enough for everyone to hear the count.
Student response: Echo each cue once. Tap or clap TA and TI-TI; show REST by keeping hands still while silently counting.

5:00-9:00 | Listen, echo, and switch
Teacher: Watch the four cards. I will perform the pattern once. Listen without copying: TA, TA, TI-TI, REST.
Teacher: Now echo it with me. Keep four beats in your count: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Teacher: This time, I will point to each card and you will perform. If you lose your place, rejoin on the next beat.
Teacher: Turn to a partner. One person points to the cards; the other performs. Then switch jobs.
Student response: Echo the model, perform from the visual cards, then take turns pointing and performing with a partner.

9:00-14:00 | Make a four-beat pattern
Teacher: Your group will choose four cards, one for each beat. You may repeat a card. Make sure your pattern has four beats total.
Teacher: First point and count the four spaces. Next, practice the pattern quietly. Then choose who points and who performs.
Teacher: If your pattern uses TI-TI, fit both sounds evenly into that one beat. If you choose REST, keep the beat going silently.
Teacher: Freeze, hands still, eyes up. Check your four spaces. Make one change if your group wants a new sound order.
Student response: Arrange four cards in a row, count the spaces, rehearse, and choose a pointer and performer. A student may do both roles.

14:00-18:00 | Share and listen
Teacher: Performers, point to each beat as you play your pattern. Listeners, keep the count silently and notice one sound choice.
Teacher: Let us count together: 1, 2, 3, 4. Thank you. Listeners, show one finger if you heard a REST.
Teacher: I noticed your group kept the beat moving through the quiet space. That helped the pattern stay together.
Teacher: We will hear one more pattern. Our audience rule is eyes on the pointing hand and quiet hands until the ending.
Student response: Selected groups perform. Listeners silently count four beats and signal whether they heard a REST.

18:00-20:00 | Quick assessment and close
Teacher: On your four-box strip, draw or place four rhythm cards. Point to each box and count 1, 2, 3, 4.
Teacher: Show me your REST with still hands. Tell me how you keep the beat going during the quiet space.
Teacher: Before we finish, name one sound you used and one thing you would change next time.
Student response: Complete a four-box pattern, point and count it, then show or say where the silent beat occurs.

EXTENSIONS
20:00-30:00 | Add a sound level choice (10 min)
Teacher: Keep the same four-beat pattern. Choose soft or a comfortable speaking level; no shouting. First perform it at one level, then change only the sound level. Listeners, keep a quiet four-beat count and name the level you heard. Switch roles and try both levels again.
Student response: Perform the same pattern at two comfortable levels, keep the pulse steady, identify the difference, and switch pointer and listener roles.

30:00-40:00 | Create a contrasting version (10 min)
Teacher: Change one card to make a new version. Point to the changed beat and tell your partner what changed before you perform. Rehearse both versions, keeping the count and every unchanged beat steady. Switch roles so each partner can make or lead a change.
Student response: Revise one card, rehearse and compare the original and new pattern, then switch roles and describe the changed beat.

40:00-50:00 | Perform and reflect (10 min)
Teacher: Perform both versions for a partner or small group. Listeners, identify the changed beat and keep the count through any REST. Composers, tell us how the change affected the pattern and which choice made the contrast easiest to hear.
Student response: Share both versions, listen for the changed beat, and explain one choice that made the contrast easy to hear.