Speaking and Listening Session

1a) Children may differ in the methods they find most useful during listening.

b) To ensure activities are fun so that children feel relaxed and are engaged.

c) It is important that the whole group mixes with different people so that they are all included and will then hopefully feel more comfortable and confident with one another.

d) Active tasks are very useful in motivating children; they should work harder if they have the responsibility of the ‘part’ they are playing.

e) Drama is very useful in building confidence and learning (World War One scene).


2) When listening to the Alice in Wonderland extract I was instructed to make notes as I saw fit; the ambiguous nature of the task threw me a bit. I found that I was so busy making notes that I wasn’t really enjoying listening to the story or engaging with it; I wasn’t sure that I was selecting the appropriate information, which was a bit worrying.
The active tasks in the middle of the room were really fun; it was good to get to talk to everyone and be a bit silly. Rob and I were really annoying each other with the tasks of saying everything twice and asking each other questions whilst reading; it made me think how difficult it must be for teachers to concentrate if the children are asking a lot of questions.
At first the mime activities were really daunting and I felt a bit uncomfortable, as I am most definitely not an actress, however after a while I relaxed and quite enjoyed it.
I worked with Amanda on the, ‘Lend me £50’ activity and I thought I was quite persuasive in my argument but she wasn’t having any of it! The robot task was really fun, Pratiksha responded well to my frantic directions.
The street party task was probably my favourite; I am interested in World War One so I liked it that we had a discussion on the topic as well as taking on the roles of different characters.

3) I learnt that group work is very effective in enabling people to make a contribution and actively participate; it builds relationships and confidence.

4b)

Speaking Year Six – We used oral techniques to present persuasive arguments in the ‘Lend me £50’ task.

Listening and Reading Year One – We listened with sustained concentration during the Alice in Wonderland extract.

Listening and Reading Year Six – We took notes and discussed appropriate methods during Alice in Wonderland.

Group Discussion and Interaction – The Street Party task covered these criteria.

Drama Year One – The ‘What are you doing?’ task and The Street Party task explored the use of improvisation and role-play.

Drama Year Six – The Street Party task enabled us to explore themes such as hopes, fears and desires.

4c) Speaking – Children could be instructed to research a topic and be given a perspective each to argue in a class debate.

Listening and Responding – Children could watch a recording of a speech by a politician and analyse how effective they are in making points.

Drama – Children could devise their own radio or glove puppet performances relating to a specific theme and audience.