Lesson 7. Sound Mapping

Listening, Mapping, and Writing Your Country’s Story

This activity invites you to journey through Country with attentive ears and open hearts, creating poems that carry the living sounds and stories of place.

Listen

Listening is more than hearing — it’s about tuning in with your whole being to the layers of Country’s voices. A Sound Map is a way to ground yourself deeply, noticing how place speaks through many sounds and silences.

• Go for a walk. As you move through a place, listen not just with your ears but with your heart and body.
• Notice how sound changes with location, time, and presence.
• Pay attention to the quiet moments as much as the loud ones — sometimes silence speaks loudest.
• Remember Dadirri — the practice of deep, patient listening that connects you to Country and its stories.

Prompts to guide your listening:

• What sounds surprise you?
• Are there rhythms or patterns in the sounds?
• What sounds seem to come from far away or very close?
• How do the sounds make you feel?

Reflect

Follow these steps to create your Sound Map:

1. Walk & Pause
   Choose a place to walk slowly. Pause often and open your senses.
2. Listen Deeply (Dadirri)
   Practice stillness and deep listening. What layers of sound do you notice? Birds, wind, water, footsteps, voices?
3. Sketch Your Sound Map
   Draw a map of the place, marking where sounds come from and writing down what you hear and notice.
4. Repeat
   Try this in different places or at different times. Notice how the soundscape changes.

Prompts for reflection:

• How does the soundscape change as you move?
• What sounds are constant, and which come and go?
• What stories or memories do the sounds bring to mind?
• How might these sounds connect to the history or spirit of the place?

Create

Turn your Sound Map into poetry:

1. Use your sketches and notes as inspiration.
2. Write a poem that captures the sounds, feelings, and stories of your mapped places.
3. Let your poem flow with the rhythm and texture of the sounds you recorded.

Prompts to inspire your poem:

• Can your poem mimic the rhythm of a particular sound?
• What colours or shapes do the sounds make in your mind?
• How does the place speak through its sounds?
• What feelings do the sounds awaken in you?

Share

• Present your Sound Map and poem side by side.
• Create a Listening Circle or display your maps and poems on classroom walls, hallways, or online galleries.
• Share what you learned about Country through listening and mapping.
• Use Cycle Thinking: Share, listen, reflect — then return to your Sound Map and poem to deepen your connection.

Tips for Teachers and Families

• Encourage students to revisit the same places multiple times to notice changes and deepen their listening.
• Support creative freedom — some may write poems, others may choose drawings or sound recordings.
• Foster respectful sharing spaces where all voices and experiences are valued.
• Link the Sound Map activity to Indigenous ways of knowing place and listening deeply (8Ways learning, Dadirri).
• Use Cycle Thinking to encourage ongoing reflection and creative response.