Class Story Soundboard (Storytime Sensors)

Written By Tom Fox

Stage: Year 5-6 / Upper KS2 (Ages 9-11) Time: 1.5-2 hours (across two sessions) Subjects: Literacy, Design & Technology, Music, Science (Sensors & Materials) Board: SPOKE (full board)

Learning Objectives

  • Plan and write a short story with clear sound cues

  • Search for, record, and assign sounds to touch sensors using the SPOKE Storytime tool

  • Design and build simple craft sensors from everyday conductive materials

  • Perform a story live using their own sensors and sound effects

Overview

Using the SPOKE Storytime page, pupils are guided step by step through the whole process: connecting the board, finding or recording sounds, building physical touch sensors from craft materials, and performing their story live. Groups design a sensor for each key sound in their story — a foil lightning bolt for thunder, pencil-drawn footprints for footsteps, a leaf for wind — and wire it to the board with a crocodile clip.

Materials Needed

  • SPOKE board and USB cable

  • Computer with a web browser (and a microphone, for recording voices)

  • SPOKE Storytime page: tom-vulpes.github.io/SpokeWebMidi/Storytime.html

  • Crocodile clips

  • Craft materials: tin foil, soft 6B pencils, paper clips, fruit or veg, card and paper, conductive tape, leaves or flowers

  • Paper for story planning

Instructions

  1. In groups of 3-4, plan a short story with 6-10 moments that need a sound effect

  2. Open the SPOKE Storytime page and follow Step 1: Connect — plug in the SPOKE board via USB and press "Connect MIDI"

  3. Step 2: Add Sounds — search the sound library for effects matching the story, or record voice lines and sound effects directly on the page

  4. Tap a pin on the on-screen SPOKE diagram to assign each sound to it

  5. Step 3: Make Sensors — design a physical sensor for each sound using craft materials (see sensor ideas below)

  6. Connect each craft sensor to its pin with a crocodile clip, then press the reset button on the board and wait for the rainbow calibration animation to finish before touching any sensors

  7. Step 4: Perform — write out the story with the pin number marked next to each sound cue, then rehearse with one narrator and one "sound operator"

  8. Perform the finished story for another group or the class

  9. Use the "Download all as ZIP" option to save the sound pack so the group can reload it next session

Teacher Tips

  • The Storytime page walks pupils through each step on-screen, so groups can work fairly independently once you've modelled the process once

  • Sensor ideas from the tool: foil lightning bolt → thunder, pencil footprints → footsteps, a real leaf → wind, a cup of water → splash, foil sword → sword clash, holding hands → a friend-triggered sound

  • Remind pupils not to touch sensors during the rainbow calibration animation after pressing reset

  • Saving the sound pack as a ZIP lets a group pause and pick up again in a second session

Extension Ideas

  • Combine with the Interactive Touch Map project for a story set in a real or imagined place

  • Swap sound packs between groups so pupils perform each other's stories using their own sensors

  • Invite the audience to touch a sensor during the performance for an interactive finale

This lesson uses the SPOKE Storytime tool at tom-vulpes.github.io/SpokeWebMidi/Storytime.html, which guides pupils through connecting the board, sourcing sounds, and building craft sensors step by step.

Tom Fox
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