Lesson 1: Listening
Essential Question: How do I focus my attention on the speaker?
Lesson Overview
1. Brain Warmup
2. Read Aloud
3. Active Listening Characteristics
4. Active Listening Model
5. Group Activity
6. Brain Cooldown
Purpose:
- Teaching active listening skills will help students focus their attention on the speaker. Active listening skills are beneficial for daily conversations along with post-secondary education and career.
Vocabulary:
- active listening
- speaker
Additional Book
Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to listen by Howard Binkow
Click on book for video of read aloud
Additional Lesson
Activities
SLANT at Home:
- Encourage your students to use SLANT when listening to a parent, guardian, relative, or friend.
Story Time with Principal/Faculty:
- Ask the principal or another school faculty member to visit the classroom to share a story or read aloud. This will allow students to practice active listening.
Additional Resources
- This article features 9 books focusing on active listening.
- This video discusses the importance of active listening and how to be an active listener.
- This article explains 5 activities that promote active listening.
Brain Warmup: Listen and Repeat Game
Purpose: This game will require students to practice active listening skills to complete a specific task asked by the teacher.
Materials: open carpet or floor space
Time: 5 minutes
Procedure:
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Students will sit on the floor or carpet facing the teacher
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Teacher will say a number (example: teacher says “two”)
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Students will listen for the number and clap the specific amount (example: students will clap two times)
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This pattern will repeat (teacher says a number and students clap)
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After the game, ask the students “what skill did you use?”
Brain Warmup Challenges:
The challenges require students to practice active listening skills while also being challenges by various tasks. The following challenges follow the same procedure as 'Listen and Repeat Game' but can replace the initial tasks being described in the game to challenge the students.
Challenge 1: Index cards can be used to challenge the students. Numbers can be recorded on index cards and the students will clap the amount being represented on the index card.
Challenge 2: Index cards can be used to challenge the students. Shapes (circles, squares, triangles) can be drawn on the index cards. Each shape will be associated with a number (example: a circle represents 1). When the students see a specific shape, students will clap the number being associated with the shape (example: students see a circle, the students clap 1 time).
Read Aloud: Why Should I Listen? By Claire Llewellyn
This story will teach the students about the importance
of listening. Following the story, discuss active listening.
The following are discussion questions that can be
used to guide the discussion.
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Why is it important to listen?
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How do you listen?
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Do you listen only at school?
Active Listening Characteristics
After reading ‘Why Should I Listen?’ and discuss active listening, complete a good listener graphic organizer as a class. The graphic organizer will discuss what a good listener ‘has, thinks, listens for, and does not’. The ‘A Good Listener’ graphic organizer can be posted in the room for all to refer to when necessary.
Active Listening Modeling
Model SLANT. First, model SLANT for the students. Demonstrate and explain each letter. Second, practice SLANT together. Lastly, ask the students to model SLANT.
S: sit up straight and close to the speaker
L: listen with your eyes, ears, and heart
A: ask and answer questions
N: nod your head to show you are listening
T: track the speaker with your eyes
NOTE: The SLANT poster can be displayed in the
classroom for all to refer to.
Group Activity: Story Time
Purpose: Students will practice SLANT and active listening skills with a partner
Materials: Sample Story (if necessary)
Time: 10 minutes
Procedure:
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Students will be partnered up
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One student will be student A and the other student will be student B
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Student A will begin telling a story while Student B models SLANT
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Story prompts or scripted stories can be provided for the students
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Allow for Student A to share for 4 to 5 minutes
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Student B will begin telling a story while Student A models SLANT
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Allow for Student B to share for 4 to 5 minutes
Note: Ideas for story prompts are below.
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My favorite animal is ________ because______
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My favorite sport/activity is ________ because______
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My favorite toy is _______ because_____
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Last night, I _______ (ask the students to describe what he or she did last night)
Brain Cooldown: Listen and Repeat Game
Purpose: This game will require students to practice active listening skills to complete a specific task asked by the teacher.
Materials: open carpet or floor space
Time: 5 minutes
Procedure:
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Students will sit on the floor or carpet facing the front of the classroom
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A student will be selected to play the 'teacher role'
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The student will say a number (example: student says “two”)
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The rest of the students will listen for the number and clap the specific amount (example: students will clap two times)
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This pattern will repeat (student says a number and students clap)
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All student will have the opportunity to act as the teacher
