Speaking and listening

Speaking and Listening

1) Five things I will try to remember when in the class room from these sessions:

• Articulation; making sure that all instructions are delivered with explicit clarity.
• The importance of giving children the opportunity to effectively communicate with their peers and the effectiveness of giving them a clear and enjoyable task within which they can exercise this skill.
• The street party task showed way of allowing children to explore empathy and the effective communication of emotions.
• How speaking and listening complements reading and ways of creating an awareness of this in the children.
• Different ways of approaching a subject which can be both fun and intellectually stimulating.

2) How I felt myself doing the speaking and listening

When taking part in the activities I felt completely drawn in and involved. Whilst occupied in an activity I would constantly be registering different teaching methods and how I may present the task in a classroom of key stage two three kids. Therefore although I enjoyed becoming involved in a game or task, I would always approach the situation from very much a teaching mentality. This is where a lot of information acquired from previous sessions in regards to language acquisition and the primary frame work would come to play. I was constantly making connections and mental notes to do with inclusivity and different ways of learning.

When addressing the group during the street party task I found myself constantly referring back to observations I have made during my SSE placement. I was making real conscious efforts to deliver my thoughts effectively and encourage the group to think about there actions and verbalise their own thoughts and opinions.

Overall, both taking part and delivering a task, I found extremely useful in allowing me to analyse my own understandings towards teaching, most of all the knowledge I have gained during the time on the course.

3) What it taught me about others, about group dynamics etc.

During the ‘Street Party’ task I tried to find ways of mixing the group up which would seem un-objective, in order to encourage students to work with others and limit segregation within the class. A good group dynamic is crucial to an effective learning environment. Trust is important and the blindfold task would be an effective introductory task in any group to develop trust between peers.

4b) How these tasks have hit some of the primary strategy objectives:

Unfortunately not being able to attend the first half of the class means that I have missed some of earlier tasks. I can see however that the tasks of which I was present have hit many of the objectives stated in the primary strategy.

When addressing the Overview of Oral Language Developmental Continuum, majority of the major teaching emphasises are met for each phase by the activities I have witnessed during this session.

Some of the criteria hit by the task carried out during the session are as follows:

1. Listening and Responding:
• Listen to and follow instructions accurately
• Analyse and evaluate how speakers present points effectively through use of language and gesture
• Encourage children to tell stories, recount experiences, describe ideas, events and objects, report information and role play characters and situations
• Make notes when listening for a sustained period and note taking (although note taking was note taking and how this may differ depending on the situation, was not discussed)

2. Speaking:
• Retell stories, ordering events using story language
• Use a range of oral techniques to present persuasive arguments and engaging narratives
• Use the techniques of dialogue talk to explore ideas, topics or issues develop and extend childrens’ use of vocabulary in different contexts
• Provide opportunities to retell stories
• Provide opportunities to develop language through small group and large-group interaction
• Help students to present factual information in a clear and logical way

3. Group discussion and interaction:
• Turns to speak, listen to each others suggestions and talk about what they are going to do
• Ask and answer questions, make relevant suggestions and take turns
• Explain their view to others in a small group
• Consider examples of conflict and resolution, explore the language used
4. Drama
• Explore familiar themes and characters through improvisation and role play
• Improvise using a range of drama strategies and conversations to explore themes such as hopes, fears and desires.

There were however aspects of the primary framework which were not addressed in the tasks of which I was part of. A consideration of the overall impact of a live or recorded performance was not discussed. Although the tasks which we did carry out act as a guide for how to approach subjects such as this in the classroom.

Debate could also have been touched on further, although briefly introduced in the ‘Street Party’ role plays.


4c. ‘The Jury Game’ – This game would not only cover many of the aspects of speaking and listening stated in question 4b, but also provide an opportunity to explore debate and note taking in different scenario.

1. Place the class in a circle around a table
2. Each member of the class is the member of court jury. The teacher can make up a case which can or cannot be relevant to a subject covered within the school.
3. An example case could be this; a man is convicted of stealing jewels from the palace. There is conflicting evidence. His fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime but he does also work at the palace as a cleaner. He was seen outside the palace gates on the palace but claims he was meeting and friend and he lives near by.
4. Each pupil picks a card, all of which are labelled:
• Guilty
• Innocent
• Undecided
• Mediator/note taker
5. Using the instructions on their card, each pupil has to argue their view towards the accused. The mediators’ job is to take notes and keep control of the situation, making sure of a diplomatic debate.
6. At the end of the game (of which the duration is decided by the teacher) the mediator reads out his/her notes to he jury and they vote on a decision, disregarding their original cards and going on the notes taken by the mediator.

Once the game is complete the class can discuss how it felt to have the debate. Whether they were persuaded by any argument and why they think they came to their final decision.