Children Listening To Each Other

Creative classroom activities train students to listen to one another. Show and tell, and other ideas.

Children Listening To Each Other

(Published in Directory : Language Arts : Listening Skills)

These activities are strongly recommended so children will learn to listen to each other. Build knowledge from each others experiences and opinions. It is important to take turns and for the listener to look at the speaker.

1. Guess the person who speaks. The children sit in a circle with their eyes closed. The teacher taps on one child. He/she makes a sound, the rest have to guess who it was.

2. Show and tell. The child brings a favorite object to school and tells the others about it. The other children can describe it and its use and ask questions about it.

3. Sharing with the group. Children sit in a circle and share a conversation with the others and the teacher. They also share journals, diaries, stories, math and science experiences.

4. Pair with a neighbor and share. At the end of the day children share with a partner something special about that day. Eg. Something they did, something they discovered, something that made them feel good, etc.

5. Assemble a funnel, or use an empty box; children talk into it. The class has to repeat what the child says.

6. Listen to music. First let the children move their bodies freely to the rhythm of the music. Then let the children tell how it felt and together collect vocabulary pertaining to this activity, and the feelings it awoke.