Steps for Learning - Activity Two: Exploring Little Amadeus’ Place & Space
The purpose of this activity is to encourage students to explore the geographical context of Wunderkind Little Amadeus.
1. Watch the episode entitled “The Stolen Watch” with your students.
Give the students a copy of the “Geography Detective” handout. Tell them to answer the questions on the handout as they view the episode.
When the students finish viewing the program, as a class, complete the Comprehension Checker to ensure that students have understood the events in “The Stolen Watch.”
2. Ask the students to share their “Geography Detective Journal” handouts with the entire class. Lead a class discussion using the following prompts as a guide:
- Describe the places that were part of Mozart’s daily life.
- What were the sounds in Mozart’s life?
- What kinds of businesses did you observe?
- What activities were people engaged in?
- What did Mozart do during his day?
- What did he hear when he was eating?
- What did he hear when he was playing with his friends?
- As there were no televisions, radios or iPods at that time, how did people share music?
- What kinds of sounds do you imagine Mozart might have included in his musical compositions?
3. Listen to Mozart’s aria “Ein Maedchen oder Weibchen“ from the opera “The Magic Flute“ KV 620 a second time. Ask the students if they hear different sounds in the music after their “observations” of Austria in the episode.
