2. Seeing Non-Verbal Cues (Visual Perception)

INTRODUCTION

A large part of education relies on the ability to listen to information presented orally. Listening skills break down when children have difficulties processing verbal material, either the information is presented too quickly or the language content is too complex (Davenport & Hall 2004).

Language as a whole, is a complex process involving listening and understanding speech, collating and storing information, and expressing ideas. There are an array of processes involved in listening and understanding spoken language, some of these include (Davenport & Hall 2004):

1. Hearing the message

2. Seeing non-verbal cues (visual perception)

3. Recognising speech sounds (auditory perception)

The implications of listening and understanding difficulties are varied and profound, these can have significant effects on the success of children’s education for example, students may miss much of the lesson if presented verbally, students may have difficulties following instructions and transitioning between activities (Davenport & Hall 2004).

It has been estimated that around 80% of every schooling day is spent listening however, there is limited emphasis placed on the necessity to teach this vital skill

(Sandall, Schramm & Seibert 2003).

This manual hopes to increase awareness around the importance of listening, by providing ideas that can be used within the classroom, in order to increase students’ skills around listening. The goals of the program have been adapted to fit with the NSW K-6, Talking and Listening Outcomes.

This package comprises a handbook of group activities aimed at Early Stage 1 and Stage 1 however, the activities can be adapted to suit all levels of learning. It is also hoped, that through this handbook awareness regarding the importance of actually teaching listening skills to students at an early stage is increased.

The use of prompt cards are encouraged, to help facilitate discussion within the classroom during news times, after reading a book and in the general context of the classroom. These cards hope to assist children in the ability to use questions, in order to clarify and seek further information within the classroom.

GOALS

The goals of this program are:

· To improve the students’ listening skills, through a series of short activities. These activities hope to strengthen students’ skills in accordance with, the NSW K-6 Talking and Listening Outcomes.

· To encourage students to ask questions and increase discussion within the classroom. This links with the Talking and Listening Outcomes of, asking questions to seek clarification and participating in class discussion.

· To encourage students’ ability to follow short procedures and instructions within the classroom. This links with the NSW K-6 Talking and Listening Outcomes, where it states that children at an early stage 1 to stage 1 should be able to listen to and follow a brief set of instructions. These activities hope to strengthen this ability in the students.

· To encourage students to listen and show respect for the contribution of others in group discussions. This fits with the Talking and Listening Outcome which states, children need to engage in group discussion, this manual hopes to facilitate this outcome.

· To make students aware that as a listener, body language is important. As stated in the NSW K-6 Talking and Listening Outcomes, this skill is important in the development of young children.

· To encourage students to use turn-taking and questioning skills when involved in group work. This skill is stated as an important feature in the NSW K-6 Talking and Listening Outcomes.

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

GOALS:

· Actively listen for specific information (syllabus outcome TS1.2)

· Answer questions related to a given story (syllabus outcome TS1.2)

· Increase ability to retain information

The teacher provides the students with a simple story or recount. Split the class into three groups and get the students to listen to the story. The teacher then asks questions regarding events that occurred throughout the story. The teams must put their hand up to answer the questions. Teams are allocated 2 points for a correct answer and 1 point for partial information. Teachers may wish to deduct 1 point for an incorrect answer.

The teacher may wish to use the students’ reader books.

Example

From the book “Splish, Splash, Splosh” by Rob Morrison. From pages 10 and 11. This book can be found in the maths/science resource room.

Questions may include:

1. What do we do when we are hot?

2. What does water help our stomach and intestines to do?

3. What carries oxygen to every part of the body?

4. Can people live without water?

5. What organ absorbs oxygen from the air?

To make this harder:

· Increase story length and the complexity of the information

· Increase detail, for example names, ages, colours, places

To make this easier:

· Get the class to complete this as a whole. Don’t split them into teams

· Shorter passages with simpler content

I WENT TO MARKET

GOAL:

· Listening and retaining information (syllabus outcomeTS1.1)

The teacher starts with a sentence ‘I went to market and bought a …..’ (choose an item eg apple). The child next in the circle says ‘I went to the market and bought an apple and …’ (adds another item eg socks). This carries on around the group until the list to be remembered is too long, and everyone gives up.

The children must look and listen to each other, in order to give themselves as many clues as possible. Students should be encouraged to visualise all the items as a back-up to auditory memory. Use gesture, or give sound cues to help the children to succeed. Set a target of how many items you think they might remember.

To make this harder:

· Have items which belong to different categories.

· Specify a time limit in which to answer.

To make this easier:

· Use alphabetical order so the students have a prompt.

· Do task in groups of 5 or 10, instead of one large group.

· Allow students to give each other clues to keep the game going.

· Use items in the same categories, for example fruit, colours, animals.

SIMON SAYS

GOAL:

· Listening and following instructions (syllabus outcome TS1.1)

The teacher gives the students an instruction such as, ‘Simon says put your hands on your head. The students must carry out the instruction. If the teacher does not say ‘Simon says’ before giving out the instruction, the students must not obey the instruction given. Students who perform the action when ‘Simon says’ isn’t said, are out.

To make this harder:

· The teacher gives a verbal instruction, while demonstrating a different action.

To make this easier:

· Do the instructions with the students so they have a visual cue, as well as a verbal cue.

DRAWING TO INSTRUCTION

GOALS:

· Following instructions (syllabus outcome TS1.2)

· Listening to information, and appropriately executing the requests (syllabus outcome TS1.1)

· Participate in class discussion around a particular topic (syllabus outcome TS 1.1)

Give the students a piece of paper and a pencil. Ask them to carry out a series of instructions. For example:

· Put a circle on the right hand corner of your paper

· Put a cross in the middle of the page

· Put a square at the bottom left hand corner of the paper

The teacher should carry out the instructions on a piece of paper also, get the class to participate in discussion and compare their pieces of paper at the end.

To make this harder:

· Use specified colours, for example, with your blue pencil draw a square.

· Use obscure shapes, for example a pentagon

· Use multiple instructions, for example “draw a blue line from the circle diagonally to the square”.

To make this easier:

· Use one colour, for example, all drawings in red, blue, green etc.

· One instruction, for example, draw a circle, pause, draw a star next to the circle, pause etc.

LISTENING FOR CATEGORY WORDS

GOALS:

· Identifying items in the same category, for example, colours, fruit, ball sports.

· Listening for specific information (syllabus outcome TS1.1)

Tell the students you are going to list some words, and you want them to stop you each time you give a particular category word.

For example, in the following set of words you may ask them to listen for:

1. Colours: bat, banana, snake, orange, cup, drawing, pin, purple, red, balloon, table

2. Size: hot, far, think, long, wish, single, metre, large, cool, fat

3. Food: cream, fan, button, monkey, lettuce, fork, crab, orange, fish

To make this harder:

· Ask the students to stop the teacher every time a verb/noun/adjective is said. For example, verbs: jacket, house, jump, watch

· The category could be a noun or a verb. For example, happily, warm, read book.

· Make the categories more obscure or more abstract. For example, emotions: run, happy, fun, sad, cold, angry. Or things that are hot: ice, table, fire, radio, sun.

To make this easier:

· Have more words that belong to the category, rather than words that don’t.

WHAT AM I?

GOALS:

· Identify categories based on clues

· Listening for specific information (syllabus outcome TS1.1)

The teacher, or a chosen student selects a category. For example, an animal. Keep this animal unknown to the remainder of the group. The rest of the class then asks yes or no questions regarding identifying features of the animal. For example “does it have a beak?” When enough clues have been revealed, the students can attempt to guess the animal.

The teacher may choose to write key information on the board, as the clues are revealed. This will provide a visual log for the students to refer to.

To make this harder:

· Do not write clues on the board

· Choose a harder topic for example a place, the post office, the bank

· Don’t specify the topic. For example, they have to ask if it is an animal

· Limit the number of questions the student’s are allowed to ask

To make this easier:

· Write the clues on the board, this way the students have a visual cue to refer to

· Broaden the questions from yes/no questions. For example “what colour is it?”

BOO, HOORAY

Goals:

· To listen to sentences and analyse their meaning (syllabus outcome TS1.1)

· Differentiate between the concepts of positive and negative to express feelings (syllabus outcome TES1.1)

The teacher says a sentence with either a positive or negative meaning. The students then must decide whether they believe it is positive or negative. If they think the sentence is positive the students must say “Hooray”. If it’s negative they say “Boo”. For example “Jenny is going on a holiday”, “hooray”.

To make this harder:

· Could differentiate between real life situations or fantasy. For example, a Doctor works in a hospital, or the elephant drove a car to school.

· Add more emotions, for example, surprise “ohhh”, shocked “ahh”, this will make the students remember which action goes with which emotion.

To make this easier:

· Have clear positive or negative emotions attached to the sentences.

· Have visual cues of happy and sad faces to prompt the students to attach these to the sentences.

FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS

GOALS:

· Listen to different levels of instructions (syllabus outcomeTS1.1)

· Follow directions (syllabus outcomeTS1.2)

· Retaining of information

· Able to describe and discuss information with others (syllabus outcome TS1.1)

The teacher gives the students a copy of a map. The teacher then gives specific directions to certain landmarks on the map. For example “go to the park via the church”. When all instructions have been given, students must compare their maps with one another. Allow time for the students to discuss where they ended up, and what the original destination was.

To make this harder:

· Give multiple instructions at once. For example, cross the road and turn right at the end of the street.

· Use specific colours for specific instructions. For example, using a blue pencil, turn left at the round about.

· Could incorporate measurement, for example “move 5 centimetres…”

· Ask students to estimate measurement

To make this easier:

· Use one instruction at a time. For example, cross the road, turn right etc.

PUPPY

GOAL:

· Listen to instructions (syllabus outcomeTS1.1)

· Listen and apply instructions (syllabus outcomeTS1.1)

· Apply knowledge of shapes and direction

· Expresses personal opinions in class discussions (syllabus outcome TES1.1)

Give the students a copy of a line drawing of a puppy. Ask them to pair up and select a spot on the floor, away from other students. Get the students to sit back to back with a box of counters or a pencil. Get the students to give a direction for example “put a red circle around the puppy’s nose” etc. Allow the other student to give a direction and continue this process. Provide opportunity for student’s to compare and discuss their puppies, and see how similar they are.

To make this harder:

· Increase specificity. For example use stripes or spots. Or select a very specific area on the puppy. For example “the middle toe on the back paw”.

· Ask them to use colours and pattern of a real breed of dog. For example use the colours of a Dalmatian.

To make this easier:

· Get the teacher to give all instructions to class as a whole. Don’t pair the students

· Use one colour

· Use broader instructions, for example, “colour the dog’s tail”

ACTION CODES

GOALS:

· Improve short term memory skills (syllabus outcome TS1.1)

· Increase attentive listening (syllabus outcome TES1.2)

The teacher develops a code, for example,

· yellow = clap your hands,

· blue = nod your head, and

· purple = wiggle your fingers.

To practice, hold up cards, one at a time, of each colour in random order to get the students to follow the action. Put the cards away and verbally say a colour, see if children can remember the actions that belongs to the particular colour.

To make this harder:

· Increase number of colours and actions

· Increase rate of speaking

· Don’t use cards as prompts, get the students to remember the actions through verbal instructions.

To make this easier:

· Use the cards as well as verbal instructions throughout the activity

· Keep the pace relatively slow

· Only have three colours

SILENT SOUNDS

GOALS:

· Listen to naturally occurring sounds

· To actively listen to their surrounding environment (syllabus outcome TES1.2)

· Allow students to become aware of steps involved in listening

· Able to describe the sounds heard (syllabus outcome TES2.1)

Get the students to select a spot on the floor, or on the concrete away from other students. Get them to shut their eyes and listen to naturally occurring sounds. The teacher then brings the students back to their desks, they must write down, individually, the different sounds they heard. The teacher then writes a selection of responses from the students on the board. The class then discusses how many students heard specific sounds, where the sounds came from, etc.