document resume chase, cheryl m. listening skills ... · bd 103 899. author title. institution. pub...

BD 103 899

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DOCUMENT RESUME

CS 201 959

Chase, Cheryl M.Listening Skills: Activity Ideas for Grades 1, 2, and3.Northern Colorado Educational Board of CooperativeServices, Boulder.7430p.; See related documents CS201955-58NCEBOCS, 830 Lincoln, Longmont, Colorado 80501($3.50)

MF-$0.76 BC Not Available from EDRS..PLUS POSTAGEAttitudes; *Class Activities; Elementary Education;Language Patterns; Language Rhythm; *LearningActivities; *Listening Skills

ABSTRACTThis booklet is one of a series developed by the

Northern Colorado Educational Board of Cooperative Services to makeavailable to teachers ideas designed and tested by other teachers.Many of the ideas are from educational journals as well as from theEducational Resources Information Center (EPIC). The booklet isdivided into seven sections: Introductioa to Listening, Identifyingand Discriminating Between Sounds, neveluping an Awareness of theSpeaker's Attitude, Recognizing Rhythm and Rhythmic Patterns,Listening for Specific Information, Listening for the Main Idea, andbibliography. Each section, except for the bibliography, containsfrom two to eight activities, with the purposes of the activitiesexplained. (TS)

S DEPARTMENT °. HEALTH.EDUCATION WELFARENATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

EDUCATIONTHIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODuCED ExACTL AS RECEIVED FROMTHs PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING COIN TS OF VIEW OR OPINIONSSTATEC NOt NECESSARILY REPRESENT OF or ICIAL NATIONAL INSTITUTE OFEDUCATION POSITION ON POLICY

LISTENING SKILLS:

Activity Ideasfor Grades 1, 2 and 3

Prepared byCheryl M. chase

Coordinator of Product Development

ForNorthern Colorado Educational Board of

Cooperative Services

Dr. Walter G. TurnerExecutive Director

PERMISSION TO RE PRODurE THISCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL BY MICROPtCNE.ONLY HAcSAF_EN GRANTED BYNorthern olorado

Educational Board ofTO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPE RAT!NG UNDER AGQEEMEN'S WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE .); EDUCATIONFURTHER REPRODJ(T.PiN OUTSIDETHE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES FERMISSON OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER

PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THISCOPYRIGHTED MATERIAL BY MICRO.FctlE ONLY HAS BEEN GRANTEE) BYcooperative Services

TO ERIC AND ORGANIZATIONS OPERATLNG UNDER AGREEMENTS WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EOUCATIONFURTHER REPRODUCTION OUTSIDETHE ERIC SYSTEM REQUIRES PERM'SSIGN OF THE COPYRIGHT OWNER

1974, Northern Colorado Educational Board of Cooperative Services

2

TO THE TEACHER:

It's not easy to be a teacher, to make each day alive and

stimulating. We it NCEBOCS want to make your job a little

easier. We've talked with teachers and learned that youespecially need good ideas for activities, activities thatstudents will enjoy while they learn the skills they need.

Listening Skills: Activity Ideas for Grades 1, 2 and 3

is one of a series of booklets developiTETNCEBOCS to makeavailable to teachers ideas designed and tested by otherteachers. We gather these ideas from educational journalsas well as from the Educational Resources Information

Center (ERIC), a nationwide system of educational information

supported by the National institute of Education (NIE).

The purpose of this idea book is to present you with activity

ideas designed to improve students listening skills. Research

has shown that listemtng can be taught, and that specific

instruction in this frequently neglected area results in

improved reading and language usage.

Children need to know why they are to listen, what they are

to listen for, and how they are to listen.

The activities in this book are designed to enrich and

supplement your existing curriculum program. We hope you

will modify some, create extensions for others, and jot

down your own. As the booklet changes and grows, so will

its utility and effectiveness for you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction to Listening 1

Identifying and Discriminating between Sounds 9

Developing an Awareness of the Speakers Attitude 17

Recognizing Rhythm and Rhythmic Patterns. 23

Listening for Specific Information 27

Listening for the Main Idea 31

Bibliography 35

4

INTRODUCTION TO LISTENING

PURPOSE: To understand the importance of listening.

ACTIVITY: Without giving any instructions for listening,take the children for a walk. When they havereturned to the classroom, have them identifythe various sounds they heard during the walkand list them on the chalkboard. Then discussthe nature and sources of the sounds aroundthem. Does identification of the sourceof the sound have a significance?

Repeat the activity, preferably visiting variousareas, so that the children will becomeincreasingly aware of what they are listeningto and will be able to identify certain areasby the sounds peculiar to the area. e.g.,factory whistle, truck sounds, expressway traffic.

Enable the children to appreciate the importanceof sounds to blind people who use their auralenvironment as a means of determining conditionsand locations in order to move about safelywithout a companion.

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PURPOSE: To understand the importance of giving fullattention to the sneaker.

ACTIVITY: Tell the students they are to be part of anexperiment. Give each student a paper andask them to make a list of as many animals asthey can. While they are doing this, speakto them on some other subject. After a fewminutes discuss the importance of giving fullattention to the speaker.

PURPOSE: To understand that different people heardifferent things when they listen to a speaker.

ACTIVITY: Ask two children to leave the room for a fewminutes. While they arE absent, relate astory, an incident, a tall tale, or a joketo the rest of the class. Ask one of thechildren to return, and have a volunteer tellhim the story in the full view and hearing ofthe class. Then ask the second child tore-enter the room, and have the first childtell him the story he just heard. Is the thirdrendition of the tale the same as the first?If not, how does it differ, and why? Whatdoes the activity tell about listening? Dideveryone listen to the story? Does the speakerhave anything to do with the listener? Repeatthe activity from time to time in an effort toredu-e the disparity. To sustain interest,limit each session to one story and increase itslength and complexity as the children becomeskilled in the activity.

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PURPOSE: To understand the importance of listening attentively.

ACTIVITY: Using toy telephones or a teletrainer which maybe obtained from the telephone company, havethe children conduct telephone conversations.Help them to understand that the telephone isan important instrument of communication whichmust be used responsibly. Help them also tounderstand that the listener in a telephoneconversation, as in any other form ofcommunication, must be tentive and respondcourteously when respc is expected.

PURPOSE: To understand the difference between hearingand listening.

ACTIVITY: Play a game called "Simon Says." The childrenstand in a circle, and the teacher or a class-mate acts as the leader and gives directionsto the group. The childrei follow all of thedirections which are prefaced by the phrase"Simon Says," but are "out" if they followdirections which are not so prefaced. Thelast one to remain standing is the winner ofthe game, the champion listener for the day.Children should understand that whereas allheard the commands, only the attentive werelistening.

PURPOSE: To identify standards for effective listening.

ACTIVITY: Early in the semester have the children compilea list of standards for good listening. Afterall of the standards have been discussed, makethem the subject of a bulletin board display.

The list might include such items as:

1. Sit quietly and look at the speaker.2. Listen to what he is saying.3. Think about what he is saying.4. Respond courteously when response is

appropriate.

Include in the discussion, but not necessarilyon the list, such related items as discussinga lesson or a program as an aid to memory, andthe importance of practicing listening skillswhenever possible in day-to-day behavior.

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PURPOSE: To understand the importance of listeningwith a purpose.

ACTIVITY: Read to the children a list of numbers and.then ask them to select a particular oneand respond orally.

Examples:

7-1-4-9-5 What was the third number?11-8-3-7-10 Which number was the largest?8-5-2-6-9 Which number is closest to the

sum of two plus two?

Lead the children to understand that theymust listen purposefully and selectively. Givethe directions only once, and only after theseries of numbers has been given. Items otherthan numbers can be used in this activity. For

example, the children might be given a list ora sentence and asked to listen for the action

words, or the names of countries or of cities,or the words which begin with a certain letter.Give only enough exercises for the child tosee that it is difficult to select the correctanswer when he doesn't know what he is to listen

for. Then, repeat the activity, this timetelling the children what they are to dobefore they hear the series or the sentence.Give enough exercises for the child to see thathe is now able.to select the correct answernearly every time. Discuss with the childrenthe reasons why they were more successful duringthe second part of the activity than they wereduring the first, eliciting from them theconclusion that when one knows in advance whathe is to listen for, he usually listens moreeffectively.

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PURPOSE: To understand the importance of listening witha purpose. dirg

AUIVITY: Invite to class (or to a small assembly program)a community helper, such as a fireman, a policeman,a merchant, or the local postmaster. Before theprogram, discuss with the children the kindsof information they might secure from theirguest's presentation. Following the program,invite the children to share verbally withthe class the elements and techniques whichhelped them to remember what was said. Givespecial recognition to any recollections notanticipated and identified by the class priorto the guest speaker's talk.

PURPOSE: To identify and discriminate between sounds.

ACTIVITY: Ask pupils to close their eyes and listen,raising a hand when they hear a sound for whichthey can recognize a source. One pupil mayreport that the first grade is playing on theschool grounds. Ask him how he guessed it

was the first grade. Is the teacher there?Are there other children? What are theyplaying? Are all first graders playingtogether? Ask another pupil simply to describethe noise he heard. He might attempt todescribe the sound of a truck pulling up ahill from a stop at the service station. If

descriptive terms are difficult to find, theclass should help him. Other sounds can bedescribed and inferences drawn: footsteps

in the hall recognized as the custodian bythe sound of his cart accompanying thefootsteps; the telephone ringing down thehall--the only bell of the sort in thebuilding; the sound of a hammer some distanceaway.


ACTIVITY: Take the class on a field trip to a farm orzoo or briny animals such as kittens, puppies,chickens, parakeets, or crickets into theclassroom, and direct the chileen to listento the sounds they make. Then play a recordor a tape recording of animal and bird soundsand have the children identify them. Largepictures of the various animals and birdsshould accompany the tape or record.


ACTIVITY: Read a story to the class and choose particularchildren to produce appropriate sound effects(sirens, automobile horns, train and boatwhistles) to underscore the story line. Thisactivity may be repeated from time to time untilall the children have participated.


ACTIVITY: Play "Sound Detectives." Choose one child tobe leader and another who is blindfolded tobe the "sound detective." The leader pointsto a member of the class who asks in a normalvoice, "What is my name?". If the blind-folded child makes the proper identification,the person identified becomes the new"sound detective."


ACTIVITY: In conjunction with a music lesson, play recordsor tapes of musical selections involvingdifferent instruments. Ask children todifferentiate between sounds of the individual

instruments. If possible, instruments ofthe various sections of the orchestra maybe brought into the classroom and demonstrated.


ACTIVITY: Listen to the names of children in the room.Which begin alike? Pronounce the initialsound of each child's name and have the childstand and complete his own name and the nameof another child which begins in the same way.


ACTIVITY: Construct games which involve practice in theuse pf consonants such as "I am thinking ofa word that begins with (p), and is the nameof a flower." (peony, petunia).

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ACTIVITY: Divide the class into two sections and tellstory or say aloud a series of words

containing phonemes which they are to'differentiate, such as the following:

/p/ - /b//t/ - /d//f/ - /v/

/k/ /g//s/ /z/

/0/ /j//th/ as in thin/TH/ as in then

Have one side listen for one of the twoPhonemes and the other side listen for theother. Each side gains or loses a pointwhen it identifies or fails to identifya word which the other side has missed.

pit - bitpace - basepie - buy

tot - dottip - diptense - dense

fat - vatfine - vinefew - view

thin - thistheme - themthesis - these

kate - gatekill - gill(k) came - game

sip - zipsing - zingsue - zoo

char - jarcheer - jeerchoke - joke

DEVELOPING AN AWARENESS

OF THE SPEAKERS ATTITUDE

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PURPOSE: To develop an awareness of the speaker's attitude.

ACTIVITY: Recite the same word or sentence in a seriesof different ways so that the children areable to see that one can sometimes interpretthe attitude of a speaker by listening notonly to what he says, but also to how he saysit. For example, say the word "Mary" gentlybut sternly, anqrily, laughingly, excitedly,with disappointment or with exasperation; orrecite the sentence, "Johnny has a pet monkey."as a statement of fact with happy excitement,with disbelief, with disgust or annoyance,or in a malicious, tattle-tale manner. Helpthe children to listen carefully during theday for words or sentences which impress thempleasantly or unpleasantly because of whatwas said or how it was said. At the end ofthe day, have the children report what theyheard, what effect it had on them, and whyit had that effect.

PURPOSE: To practice communicating different attitudes.

ACTIVITY: Have the pupils read aloud sentences andindicate various emotions through changes invoice inflection.

For example: ''Who are you?" to show puzzlement,fear, anger, indifference.

Discuss with them the vocal changes which conveythis feeling.

For example: "Anger is usually indicated by afast rate, loud voice, and medium or flat inflection."

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PURPOSE: To develop an awareness of the speakers attitude.

ACTIVITY: Have one of the children describe his favoritepossession or his most interesting experience,or what he would like most to have or to do.If he prefers to do so, allow the child todescribe an object he dislikes or an experiencehe would like to avoid. Then discuss with thechildren the speaker's attitudes as herevealed them in his description. Try toelicit from them the means through which theyrecognize that attitude by asking such questionsas:

What did Johnny like (or dislike) aboutWhat were some of the words he used to describe itwhich showed that he liked (or disliked) it?How did he sound when he was describing it? Didhe sound happy, excited, embarassed or angry?How do you know?

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RECOGNIZING RHYTHMS AND

RHYTHMIC PATTERNS

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PURPOSE: To recognize rhythm and rhythmic patterns.

ACTIVITY: Ask the children to respond to rhythm in music.They may tap their feet, tap the desk withtheir fingers, or clap their hands. Then tapa rhythmic pattern on a band instrument or ona desk and ask the children to repeat it.Maintaining a game-like atmosphere, vary thepattern and increase its complexity.

PURPOSE: To recognize rhythm and rhythmic patterns.

ACTIVITY: Introduce the children to rhythm in non-musicalareas: clocks ticking, the swinging ofa pendulum, the sound when walking, the soundof a shade flapping in the breeze. Throughdiscussion of these examples, lead them tounderstand that regularity of occurrence ina given time span determines rhythm. Letthem find examples of rhythmical and non - rhythmicaloccurrences in the classroom.

LISTENING FOR

SPECIFIC INFORMATION

PURPOSE: To listen for specific information.

ACTIVITY: Read the description of a scene to pupils.Encourage them to draw pictures from whatthey have heard.


ACTIVITY: Dramatize the action suggested by a paragraph.Read a short paragraph aloud. Read the followingand direct children to listen carefully andthen pretend to be the animal described:A lion paced slowly back and forth in its cage.Suddenly he stopped stock-still and listened.Then he sniffed the air. Then he gave a lowgrowl and lay down on the floor of his cage.


P.C1IVITY Ask one child to describe something which heholds in his hand or which he sees in the roomas the other children close their eyes andlisten for details in an effort to guess whatit is. In the evert that no one can identifythe object after the speaker has exhaustedhis verbal descriptions, invite the listenersto ask questions which can be answered "Yes"or "No". The child who first correctlyidentifies the concealed object wins theopportunity to replace the speaker.


ACTIVITY: Give the class simple directions for activitieswhich involve three things to do. For example:Clap your hands twice, hop twice, and jump twice.While one child is performing, have the otherscheck his performance against the given directions.Repeat the activity, having some of the moresuccessful children execute the directions inreverse.

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"...,..,..

a

PURPOSE: To listen for the main idea.

ACTIVITY: Pliy a record or a tape which tells a story.After the children have listened to theentire story, allow time for discussion andthen ask them to tell in as few words aspossible what the story was about. Leadthem to state the main idea of the story.


ACTIVITY: Invite a community helper, or the schoolsecretary or custodian, into the class totell the children about his or her job.In the discussion that follows the visit,help the children to determine what thisperson's job is. Have them draw a Pictureof this person at work and make up titlesfor the pictures.

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ACTIVITY: Read to the class some short poems, thenencourage the children to suggest titlesfor each selection that are appropriateto the main idea of the poem. List thesuggestions on the board as they are given.Evalua%e each title as it is suggested.If there is a difference of opinion amongthe children, ask the children to supporttheir choice by citing references to thecontent of the poem. Allow the class tomake a decision. When only the mostappropriate titles remain and a decisionhas been made, reveal the real title ofthe poem to the class and compare it tothe one they chose.


ACTIVITY: Read aloud a paragraph in which there is onesentence which is unrelated to the others.Have the children discover the unrelatedsentence and have them give reasons for theirchoice and/or substitute a sentence whichis related to the main idea.

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4

Bibliography of ERIC Documents

ED014487.

ED026120

ED026366

ED035626

ED036391

ED037790

ED068926

* We would strongly recommend that teachers interestedin listening skills obtain these documents from theERIC system. These were our most valuable sources inthe development of clis idea book.

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