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Guess who is a wonderful game for family night but it also can be introduced to children to build language. Language includes verbal modes of communications such as words and tone. It also includes non-verbal modes of communication such as gestures, gaze, and facial expressions. When children engage in this activity, they start to build their vocabulary as they describe a certain character. MacDonald and Stoika (2007) talks about social play and turn taking which “involves learning to respond back-and-forth to what the other person did and said.” Guess Who requires children to ask questions and respond in return. It gives them the opportunity to respond to non-verbal ways of communication as well. Therefore, this resource allows children to interact with friends using appropriate modes of exchanging meaning and build their language processing skills.

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Living in this new digital age, there are plenty of applications that we can utilize in the classroom to enhance learning experiences for the children. Occupation talks with parents in the classroom is a familiar activity in most centres. With the applications such as Skype or FaceTime, we can partner parents to give us a virtual tour of their work place and giving the children to have interaction with the adult by asking questions. The parent is able to model right speech and give opportunities for the children to respond appropriately through the various modes of communication. Through observations and modelling of language by an adult, children start to acquire language. This is supported by Holdaway as cited by the Ministry of Education in Singapore (2013).

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The Listening Corner offers children a space to develop their listening skills. In it, there can be a variety of listening activities for children to partake in. One such activity could be listening to a CD of sounds and identifying what they could be. These sounds can be familiar sounds found at home such as the alarm clock ringing or the toilet’s flush. In this process of guessing the sounds, children are able to find words that represents and give meaning to them. This relates to the prior knowledge they have at home. This reflects Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development. (Morrow, 2014) He believes that children acquire knowledge by interacting with the world around them.

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Story Book: Whole Body Listening, Larry at School! 

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Story Book: Whole Body Listening, Larry at School! 

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This resource offers to help children to listen with their whole body. There are different modes to listening and responding meaningfully using the other parts of our body. This content in this book works as a strategy for teachers to teach children about active listening. The prints and words of the book taps on their audio and visual aspects of learning where they are able to process the information. This is supported by the Information Processing Theory by Munakata (as cited by Berk, 2013, p.21) It suggests that the human mind decodes and process information through a symbol-manipulated system. Information is actively coded, transform, and organized from the time it is presented to the senses as “input” until it “emerges as a behavioural response at output”

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Learning about Language: Grammar (Developing Early Literacy by Susan Hill. Page 34 and 35)

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Learning about Language: Grammar (Developing Early Literacy by Susan Hill. Page 34 and 35)

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This resource brings awareness to Early Childhood Practitioners about Grammar and helps them gain new knowledge. Grammar is an important component of speaking and writing because it teaches children about the rules of the language and how to speak it. Susan Hill (2012) explains that “the teacher’s knowledge about how language works provides insight into young children’s phenomenal language abilities and growth in the early years of school.” It is important for teachers to gain knowledge to suit the ever-changing needs of the Early Childhood Landscape.

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Developing early literacy : assessment and teaching / Susan Hill - Details

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Focuses on the development of reading, writing, speaking and listening for children from birth to eight years. Language arts (Early childhood); Language acquisition.; Literacy programs - Australia.

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This resource offers parents the knowledge about Active Listening. It explains about the role of Active Listening in the component of Speaking and Listening. Parents who are provided this material will be able to help model Active Listening at home with this newfound knowledge. This is supported by the Social Learning Theory by Bandura. It emphasizes on modelling or observational learning as a “powerful source of development.” (Berk, 2013, p. 18) When parents are able to model Active Listening, children will also imitate such behaviours.

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Listening is an important component of learning. A student's ability to actively listen has a major impact on building the communication skills needed both inside and outside of the classroom.

Active listening is an important "soft skill", like problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork. It's a skill that can be acquired and developed - but it takes time and patience to master!

WHAT IS ACTIVE LISTENING?

Active listening means giving full attention to the speaker and trying to understand the complete message being sent. Active listeners show verbal and nonverbal signs of listening. Positive reinforcement, remembering, and questioning are all verbal signs of active listening. Non verbal signs include smiling, head nods, posture, and avoiding all distractions.

Active listening also involves encouraging positive conversation. This means acknowledging the other person's point of view and being able to repeat back what was said in your own words.

WHY IS ACTIVE LISTENING IMPORTANT?

Having active listening skills has many benefits; besides better comprehension in the classroom, active listeners tend to be better communicators and problem solvers. Being an active listener also shows good character, commitment, and is an essential component of being a leader.
Benefits of being an active listener include:

Fewer misunderstandings

Faster work rate

Improved resourcefulness

More self-reliance

Improved productivity

ACTIVE LISTENING VS PASSIVE LISTENING

So, what happens if you aren't actively listening? You may fall into the trap of passive listening. Passive listening is simply hearing what the speaker is saying without really trying to understand it. When students passively listen, they don't retain information because they are easily distracted.

Active listening requires the listener to understand the point the speaker is trying to communicate, not just hearing the words he or she is saying.

Becoming a better listener is an important skill that students need to actively develop and practice.
How can you help your child improve his or her listening skills?
FIVE STEPS TO ACTIVE LISTENING

Parents and teachers can teach students how to become an active listener by becoming active listeners themselves. Through modelling active listening to your child, he or she is able to see the value and importance of being an active listener. It also gives your child a reference to develop his or her own listening habits.

Improve the active listening skills of both you and your child by following these 5 tips:

1. Maintain eye contact

People who maintain eye contact are seen as reliable, warm, sociable, honest, confident, and active. Focusing your eyes also helps improve concentration. This helps you fully understand what the speaker is saying.

2. Don't interrupt

Let the speaker complete his or her thought before you try to respond. Do not interrupt, finish sentences, or rush him or her. Avoid guessing or assuming where his or her thoughts are going- this can create a negative impact on effective communication.

3. Ask questions

One way to show you are listening (and make sure you hear correctly) is to ask specific questions about what is being said. This provides clarification, ensures understanding, and shows that you are listening.
Try asking these four types of questions:
Open-ended: expand the discussion further
Example: "How was your day at school today?"

Close-ended: prompt for specifics
Example: "Are you finished your homework?"

Leading: prompts the respondent to answer in a particular way
Example: "Do you have too much homework?"

Reflective: expand and extend thinking
Example: "You mentioned math is your favourite subject in school, tell me more about that."

4. Repeat back what the speaker says

Repeat what has been said back to the speaker in your own words. This helps make sure you have understood what he or she is saying. Summarize by repeating the main points of the message. This gives the speaker a chance to correct you, if necessary.

5. Listen for total meaning

Any message has two components: the content of the message and the underlying feeling or attitude. Both parts are important and give the message meaning. Listen for both for content and the underlying emotions. Sometimes the real message is in the emotion rather than the content.

By following these tips, you and your child are developing the skills you both need to be better active listeners. Practicing these steps with your child will continue to help him or her improve his or her listening habits.

ACTIVE LISTENING ACTIVITIES FOR STUDENTS

Showing your child how to be an active listener by example is only the first step. It is also important to practice these skills.

Try these activities to help develop and sharpen your child's listening skills.

Read stories to your child. Ask him or her to predict what will happen next. The prediction requires your child to listen to the details to make a logical guess.

Cook with your child. Read the recipe to him or her, having your child listen to and follow each step to complete the recipe correctly.

Have conversations about things your child is interested in. This gives your child a chance to engage in a real conversation, practicing both speaking and listening.

Play the telephone game. Get together with a group and have one person whisper a sentence to the next person. Each person repeats it to the next until the final person. Have this person say the sentence aloud and see how much the two sentences have changed.

Create a list of questions with your child for him or her to ask you or a sibling. After one person has answered, see how many the other can remember. Switch roles and see how well the other person does.

Play the "spot the change" game. Read your child a short story. Then read it again, making some changes. Each time your child hears a change have him or her clap or raise his or her hand.

Get creative with "follow the directions." Give short, simple instructions and have your child draw according to the directions they hear.

It takes a lot of concentration and determination to be a better listener. Practicing active listening techniques will help students become better communicators and build listening skills they will use for life.

Looking for some extra help? Find out more about Oxford Learning's programs and how we can help students reach their full potential.

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Improve Your Child's Active Listening Skills | Oxford Learning

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Listening is an important component of learning. A student's ability to actively listen has a major impact on building the communication skills needed both inside and outside of the classroom. Active listening is an important "soft skill", like problem-solving, leadership, and teamwork.

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This resource raises awareness of the importance of talk to new parents. It highlights the use of words, sounds, and non-verbal communication to improve a young child’s understanding of the language. This resource is provided by the Ministry of Social and Family Development in Singapore. This resource also encourages parents to talk more with their children to develop their language. Through this, children start to “discover the rules that govern the structures of languages, such as phonology, syntax, and semantics. (Morrow, 2014, p. 109) Morrow (2014, p.105) also explains that children who are surrounded by “rich language begin to use the language they hear.”

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The Heritage Corner is a great catalyst for conversations and it enhances the children’s speaking and listening skills. In this corner, it will include objects from the past juxtaposed with objects from the present. The children can compare the differences and the similarities between each object and learn about how lifestyles evolved over time. It also gives a flavour of culture and tradition to their learning. One way to strengthen conversations is to bring Grandparents into the school to talk to the children about their own experiences using the materials found in the heritage corner. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological theory addresses the direct influence the social agents within the microsystem has on a child (Santrock, 2012). Social agents are described to be the child’s family, school and peers. It also highlights the home-school partnership and collaboration shared in the mesosystem of the ecological theory.

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Living in this new digital age, there are plenty of applications that we can utilize in the classroom to enhance learning experiences for the children. Occupation talks with parents in the classroom is a familiar activity in most centres. With the applications such as Skype or FaceTime, we can partner parents to give us a virtual tour of their work place and giving the children to have interaction with the adult by asking questions. The parent is able to model right speech and give opportunities for the children to respond appropriately through the various modes of communication. Through observations and modelling of language by an adult, children start to acquire language. This is supported by Holdaway as cited by the Ministry of Education in Singapore (2013).

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This resource offers an opportunity for Home – School Partnerships. This is to help children in their speaking and listening at home and in school. It recognizes the parents’ role as the child’s first teachers and it gives them ideas and activities to be engaged in meaningfully. This promotes familial bonds and it gives the parents the opportunity to have an idea of what the child may or may not be competent in. This is supported by Morrow. Morrow (2014) expounds on the term “family literacy” and describes it as how the family members, both internal and external, use language. It reflects ethnic, racial, or cultural heritage of the family. Schools can come alongside these families to align some learning objectives they have for the child by introducing take home kits and family literacy activities. One example of a take home kit can include the CD of sounds mentioned in the Listening Corner. Parent and child can go on a sound hunt at home to match the sounds they hear.

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This research by Harvard equips teachers with knowledge of the value of listening. It supports children in the area of Active Listening and challenges teachers to practice these strategies in the classroom. Children’s learning of the language can be further strengthened when teachers are equipped with the right skills and knowledge. The area of Active Listening is supported by Hill (2012). She states that “the way the teacher and adults communicate with children is vitally important – it’s a two-way process.” When teachers actively listen to their child, they are able to extend the conversations with the children and in turn model right modes of communication and speech.

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This active engagement is understood by students to be a sign of respect not just for their knowledge and insight, but also for their capacity to teach one another. It reinforces the value of coming prepared, thinking independently, listening carefully, and working as a team - as one student picks up where another hits a wall.

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This resource offers social-play opportunities for children to practice, hone and link their active listening and interactive, verbal communication skills with their teachers and peers. This relates to the concept of speaking and listening through the variations of phrases in instructions used, which is supported by the Nurturing Early Learners Curriculum where its learning goals for Language and Literacy similarly targets for children to understand and follow simple one-to-two step verbal instructions (Ministry of Education, 2013).

Sample resource link: http://www.helpmykidlearn.ie/activities/3-4/detail/simon-says

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This resource offers increased home-school partnerships and provides children with informative sharing sessions to communicate, talk about, and get to know of one another’s related experiences and items along with their peers. This relates to the concept of speaking and listening, which is supported by Hill (2012) where she believed in children favouring such sessions and experiences to be able to talk and describe their ‘objects’ as well as the practices to build on their ‘vocabulary as well as self-expression’ (Giles and Tunks, 2008).

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This resource offers as an effective technique to nurture the language and literacy development in children where they would first listen to the reading-aloud process of printed texts and pictures from typically big books, and be taught and reinforced on speaking its vocabulary and language structures respectively. This relates to the concept of listening and speaking, which is supported by the Nurturing Early Learners Curriculum where children would acquire new targeted vocabulary and phonological awareness based on what they were exposed to from each occurrence of a Shared Book Approach (Ministry of Education, 2013).

Sample resource link: https://www.nel.sg/qql/slot/u143/Resources/BigBooks/Eng/Teaching-Steps/Big%20Book%20Teaching%20Steps.pdf

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This resource offers children with opportunities to illustrate and compose stories from their sharing of own experiences and oral-language discussions with teachers and peers respectively. This relates to the concept of scaffolded speaking and listening, which is supported by Vygotsky’s theory of Zone Proximal Development where McLeod (2019) stated how specific and appropriate levels of guidance and support are provided to children to facilitate the discussions and Hill (2012) as well, believing that ideas generated from such dictated stories and sessions that children listen and share together as a class - would help to enhance the overall language experience that they are all engaged in.

Sample resource link: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/english/literacy/readingviewing/Pages/teachingpraclangexp.aspx

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This resource offers and affords children with opportunities to be actively involved in a game that has them listening and responding to respective descriptions that ‘fits them best’. By having each child take turns to be the ‘leader’ to speak and describe details that they know of, this as well relates to the concept of speaking and listening through active involvement, which is supported by Piaget’s (1952) theory of active learning where children could learn better when working ‘on-hand’ together (McLeod, 2009). In such a way, putting into practice and into the activity with the words and descriptions that were spoken and listened for.

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This resource offers children with opportunities to be involved in a ‘telephone messenger’ game by first having children whisper a message of a ‘secret word’ using crafted strings and paper or tin cups that forms the appearance of a ‘telephone’, and also ensuring that the message of the ‘secret word’ is passed on around till the end. This relates to the concept of speaking and listening which is supported by Childhood101 (2019), where such activity has been cited to be effective in having messages travel down successfully through the ‘string’ and with children having accomplished their tasks in speaking and listening to one another on each end of the ‘cup’ telephone respectively.

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This resource offers effectively-proven strategies for children with increased abilities to speak and express themselves when exposed to their preschool sing-a-longs. This relates to the concept of speaking and listening, which is supported by the Early Childhood Education Zone (2019) where the different types of songs and repetitive sing-a-longs that children take part in, allows them to ‘learn and develop vocabulary and communication skills’ - specifically when rhymes are involved in most preschool songs. These songs could range from songs involving ‘body parts’ to ‘movement’ and onto ‘action’. In such a way, these allow children to put into practice their knowledge of the words used from these sing-a-longs, onto real life conversations.

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This resource offers children with a nurturing learning and language environment (in their dramatic learning centre), where they would be exposed to different set-ups of pretend role-play situations, materials and cue cards. This relates to the concept of speaking and listening, which is supported by the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (n.d.) where such opportunities in an environment, based mainly on real or imaginative experiences, are believed to promote children’s active listening and purposeful talking skills, as well as the provision of open-ended opportunities for children to engage and learn in their role-plays with the words and conversations exchanged with one another and in accordance to how they perceive the relevant stimulus available in the dramatic learning centre.

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This resource offers children with experiences to further develop phonological awareness in their spoken language as they learn and practice varying levels of syllables, rhymes and phonemes altogether. This relates to the concept of speaking and listening to the repetitive rhymes and phrases respectively, which is supported by the British Council (n.d.) in believing it as ‘a great way to improve pronunciation’ and ‘structures’ in English, as well as a reach out for children to further understand the ‘sounds in words’ through rhymes and tongue twisters (Hill, 2012).

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This resource offers children to be actively engaged and in close-attentive view to their surroundings as they listen carefully to the descriptive clues of the spoken prompts, gestures, and details of words, features, functions and attributes of their specific surroundings or objects in order to find and match through rightfully. This relates to the concept of speaking and listening, which is supported similarly by the Leicestershire County Council (n.d) where they believed in such activity to be one that could prolong children’s increased motivation and attention span, and a practice that provides children with clues that allows them to relate easier to the objects by remembering the details from what they have heard and learnt from.

Sample resource link:

https://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-I-Spy-Game

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Berk, L. E. (2013). Child development international edition(9th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

British Council. (n.d). Listen and watch. Retrieved from https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/listen-watch

British Council. (n.d). Speak and spell. Retrieved from https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/speak-spell

Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment. (n.d.). Language and Literacy in the Foundation Stage: Talking and Listening. Retrieved from http://ccea.org.uk/sites/default/files/docs/curriculum/area_of_learning/language_and_literacy/fs_LL_TalkListen.pdf

Childhood101. (2019). Literacy Spot #20: Tin Can Telephone. Retrieved from
https://childhood101.com/literacy-spot-20-tin-can-telephone/

Early Childhood Education Zone. (2019). The Importance Learning Through Song. Retrieved from https://www.earlychildhoodeducationzone.com/importance-learning-song/

Giles, R. M. & Tunks, K. W. (2008). Show-and-Tell How To. Retrieved from http://www.earlychildhoodnews.com/earlychildhood/article_home.aspx?ArticleID=749

Hill, S. (2012). Developing early literacy: Assessment and teaching(2nd ed.). South Yarra, VIC: Eleanor Curtain Pub.

Kirksville Primary. (2018, August 20). Whole Body Listening. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0M383eW3ZRw

Leicestershire County Council. (n.d). Listen & Learn. Retrieved from https://www.leicspart.nhs.uk/Library/ECATbookletLeicestershireCC.pdf

MacDonald, J. D., & Stoika, P. (2007). Play to talk: A practical guide to help your late-talking child join the conversation. Madison, WI: Kiddo Publishing.

McLeod, S. (2009). Jean Piaget. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/piaget.html

McLeod, S. (2019). What Is the Zone of Proximal Development? Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Zone-of-Proximal-Development.html

Ministry of Education. (2013). Nurturing early learners: A curriculum for a kindergartens in Singapore: Educators guide. Singapore: Ministry of Education.

Ministry of Education. (2013). Nurturing Early Learners: A Curriculum for Kindergartens in Singapore. Language and Literacy. Retrieved from https://www.nel.sg/qql/slot/u143/Resources/Downloadable/pdf/nel-guide/nel-edu-guide-language-literacy.pdf

Ministry of Social and Family Development. (n.d.). Talking with Babies and Toddlers: Why It's Important. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.babybonus.msf.gov.sg/parentingresources/web/Newborn/NewbornDevelopment/NewbornLanguage_Development/Newborn_Importance_Talking?_adf.ctrl-state=5k4yfikn8_4&_afrLoop=3688173516531326&_afrWindowMode=0&_afrWindowId=null#@?_afrWindowId=null&_afrLoop=3688173516531326&_afrWindowMode=0&_adf.ctrl-state=13xsbmf3g3_4

Morrow, L. M. (2014). Literacy development in the early years: Helping children read and write(7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Pearson Education.

Oxford Learning. (2017, July 27). Improve Your Child's Active Listening Skills. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.oxfordlearning.com/improve-active-listening-skills/

Santrock, J. W. (2012). Child development (13th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Usable Knowledge. (2017, September 7). The Value of Listening. Retrieved August 18, 2019, from https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/17/09/value-listening