Listening and Speaking
Background Information & Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Remind your children that listening and speaking are skills, just like reading, writing, or drawing. Developing and improving skills take practice. Your children should know the proper ways to convey, exchange, and understand information effectively in order to communicate and interact with classmates, friends, family members, and others.

Review with your children that they use their ears, eyes, bodies, and their brains to listen. Being a good listener requires careful attention. When they listen to someone speak, they should be quiet and respectful. It’s difficult to listen to someone if you’re talking! They should pay attention to the speaker and make eye contact to show that they are listening. They can give nonverbal cues and use body language to show their understanding. They can nod in agreement, shake their head, smile, frown, or laugh in response to the speaker. Together, discuss other nonverbal cues people give to communicate how they feel.

As they listen, your children should visualize what the speaker is saying, especially if they are listening to a story or preparing to follow directions. Listeners can use their imagination to make pictures in their heads as they listen. This will enable them to better understand and remember information. Remind children to pay attention to main ideas and important details and encourage them to take notes as they listen. A speaker might give clues about essential information, and listeners can listen to key phrases such as “Remember that . . . “ or “Don’t forget to . . .” which signal that critical details will be mentioned.

Remind children that when they are talking to people, they must take turns talking. People cannot hear each other when several people speak at a time. How do they feel when they get interrupted? Children should treat people with the same respect as they would like to be treated. This means waiting for the speaker to finish and not cutting in or interrupting. It is crucial for everyone to know that if they do not understand something, they should not be afraid to ask questions. They can ask the speaker to explain something further or repeat themselves. Remember, speakers want to be understood!

It is also important for children to understand that disagreements will occur. If they disagree with someone, they should wait until it is their turn to speak and then explain their reasons for disagreeing. They can start a sentence by saying, “I disagree because. . . .” They should not interrupt a person while they are talking in order to disagree with them. Listeners should listen to everything first before they make a judgment or develop an opinion. Information in the conversation might change the way they think.

Some children may be uncomfortable or nervous about speaking in front of other people. Give them plenty of encouragement and arm them with techniques they can employ to be confident, effective speakers. Speaking clearly is imperative. Remind children that when they communicate, they share information. They want to be sure that listeners understand what they are trying to communicate so they should speak clearly. If they are talking to the whole class or a large group, they should talk loudly enough so that everyone in the room can hear. They should speak slowly enough to enunciate and pronounce all the words clearly. Speakers should make eye contact with members of the audience to connect with listeners. If children are reading a story out loud, encourage them to read with feeling. They may want to talk louder at exciting parts or softer at scary or suspenseful parts. Encourage them to use their bodies and move around a bit while they read. It’s much more exciting to listen to a speaker if they are excited too!

Listening and Speaking Teacher Activities – Click Here!

Listening and Speaking Family Activities – Click Here!

Listening and Speaking Teacher Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Reading Tag

Discuss tips to read out loud together, such as reading clearly and using emotion. Then choose a book together and read it out loud with your students. Read the first few sentences or paragraph and model good reading skills. Then “tag” a student in the class to read the next section. Encourage students to read with feeling and even be exuberant or silly if necessary. After practicing as a class, your students may want to rehearse reading their favorite stories to each other, and then read them to buddies in other classes or younger grades.

Speeches

If possible, show a video of moving speeches to your class, such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Ask students to take notes about the speaker and how he or she delivered the speech. What body language was used? What emotions were communicated? Discuss with the whole class. To take the activity further, students can write their own speeches about a topic they feel strongly about and present it to the class.

Debate

Pick a topic together where students will agree or disagree. For example, what kind of pet should the class get? Where should the class go on their next field trip? Have students state their opinions and back them up with reasons. Then have students who disagree explain their opinions.

Simon Says and Says

It can be difficult for students to remember and follow the multi-step directions in the classroom. Help your students develop listening skills and memory with this game. Start by giving one direction at a time, such as “Simon says touch your knees with your thumbs”. After a few rounds, add in a second direction, such as “Simon says pat your head three times and then jump twice”. You can challenge your students by giving three or four directions in a row.

Listening and Speaking Family Activities

© 1999-2009 BrainPOP. All rights reserved.

Drama

Watch a dramatic play or movie together. If possible, have your child take notes about the actors’ performances. How do they speak? How do they show emotions? Explain that plays and movies are exciting to watch because the actors speak with feeling. If you are watching a movie together, you may want to turn off the sound and discuss how the experience changes.

Body Language

Challenge your child to communicate without speaking! Spend an hour conversing without using words. You may want to do an activity together, such as eating lunch or walking in the park. How can you convey information? As an extension, you can go to the library to learn about sign language and research how deaf and hearing impaired people use their bodies and facial expressions to communicate.