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Speaking and Listening-YouTube clip - Banana Banana Meatballs***

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Speaking and Listening-YouTube clip - Banana Banana Meatballs***

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Resource:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ9q4U2P3ig

Rationale: listen to voice audio recording

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Speaking and Listening - Once upon a time

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Speaking and Listening - Once upon a time

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Rationale:
This resource offers children the opportunity to get up and speak in front of their peers in a unique way that expands their imagination and gives them a chance to think on their feet.  It may be tricky for some children, and they are able to gain the support of the class and teacher in this instance.  Children pick an item out of the bag and begin to make up a story to tell the class.  They can finish the story or pass this item onto the next person who will continue to add to the story that has already commenced.  The starting sentence will be 'once upon a time....'  This relates to the speaking and listening focus area.  As noted by Griffith, Beach, Ruan, Dunn (2008) "because literacy includes speaking and listening, children's learning of oral language and the conventions of speech are important to their literacy learning."

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Rationale:
This resource provides educators with a youtube clip to view as a learning tool in observing how the syllable game works in a class setting. The teacher is modelling the exercise and then asking children to demonstrate using the tambourine to beat out the number of syllables in their name. This relates to the speaking and listening focus area, and this is supported by Flint, Kitson, Lowe & Shaw (2014) who noted that "young children learn oral language by participating in the linguistic environment around them." This resource provides children with activities where they can participate, and this can be done in an inclusive environment.

Resource:
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/syllable_games

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Drumming Out Syllables: Foundations for Phonemic Awareness

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Rationale:

This resource is a blog post which provides teaches with skills to improve their oral language. A great activity that stands out is the Questions of the Day. This allows on going conversation between teacher and students throughout the day in a informal manner. This relates to the Speaking focus area. Raban (2014) explains that through conversation with adults’ children’s language developments at a fast rate.

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Oral language is one of the most important skills your students can master-both for social and academic success. Learners use this skill throughout the day to process and deliver instructions, make requests, ask questions, receive new information, and interact with peers.

As a teacher, there's a lot you can do during your everyday lessons to support the development of strong oral language skills in your students. Today's post, excerpted and adapted from Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, OWL LD, and Dyscalculia , by Berninger & Wolf, gives you 11 ideas for supporting oral language development in your students who are verbal. These teaching strategies can help students with specific language disabilities (including dyslexia), and they can boost the language skills of your other learners, too. Try these and see which ones work best for your students!

Encourage conversation.

Every social interaction gives students a new opportunity to practice language. Some of your students might need a little guidance from you to engage in conversations, so spark interactions whenever you can. Ask questions, rephrase the student's answers, and give prompts that encourage oral conversations to continue.

Model syntactic structure.

Your students may not use complete oral syntax in informal speech, but encourage them to do so when they're in the classroom. When a student uses fragmented syntax, model complete syntax back to them. This builds oral language skills and gives students practice in a skill necessary for mastering written language.

Engage in eye contact with students during instruction and encourage them to do the same. Maintaining eye contact will help learners gauge their audience's attention and adjust their language, their volume, or the organization of their speech. This will help them be better understood, communicate more clearly, and successfully interpret nonverbal cues about their clarity.

Remind students to speak loudly and articulate clearly.

Ask students to feel the muscles used for speech while they're talking and monitor their volume and articulation. Remind them that clear and loud-enough speech is essential for holding the attention of the group and communicating their information and opinions effectively.

Explain the subtleties of tone.

Your students have probably experienced playground arguments related to tone; misunderstandings are common when students are using loud outdoor voices. Remind your students how tone of voice-which includes pitch, volume, speed, and rhythm-can change the meaning of what a speaker says. Often, it's not what they say, it's how they say it that can lead to misunderstanding of motives and attitudes. Ask your students to be mindful of tone when they're trying to get a message across, and adjust their volume and pitch accordingly.

Attend to listening skills.

Ensure that your students are listening by using consistent cues to get their attention. You might use a phrase like "It's listening time" to give students a reminder. Some students might also benefit from written reminders posted prominently on your wall.

Incorporate a "question of the day."

During each school day's opening activities, ask a question to encourage talk. (You can even write one on the board so your students can read it and start thinking about their answer as soon as they come in.) Start with simple one-part questions like "What is your favorite animal?" If a student doesn't answer in a complete sentence, model a complete sentence and ask the student to repeat your model. Once your students are successfully answering these simple questions in complete sentences, move to two-part questions that require more complex answers: "What is your favorite animal? Why?"

Compile a class booklet of students' phrases.

Give your students a sentence to finish, such as "When my dog got lost I looked..." Have each student contribute a prepositional phrase to complete the sentence (e.g., at the grocery store, in the park, under the bed). Then have your students create a class booklet by writing and illustrating their phrases. When all the phrase pages are assembled into a booklet, students can practice reading the very long sentence with all the places they looked for the dog. Encourage them to come up with a conclusion to the story.

Question to boost comprehension.

Asking questions before and after a reading assignment not only helps sharpen oral language skills, it also helps students think about what they're reading and absorb information from the words. You might try the following strategies to facilitate reading comprehension:

If there's an introduction to the story or passage, ask students to read it and answer purpose-setting questions: "Where does the story begin? "What kind of story or article is this? Why do you think so?"

Ask students to predict outcomes: "What will happen? How do you know?"

After the reading, ask students to reveal whether their predictions were correct and identify where the ending or conclusion begins.

Have students summarize the passage: "Who were the characters?" "What was the plot?" "What was the outcome?" "What was the main idea?" "What were the supporting details?"

Never assume students understood your instructional talk.

You use oral language every day to teach-but some students may not be getting your message. In this chart from Berninger & Wolf's book, Beverly Wolf shares some examples of how students in her classroom misinterpreted sentences delivered orally:

Be aware of the potential disconnect between what you say and what your students hear. Go over your message and present it in multiple ways to be sure all students understand.

Some students may have difficulty with abstract concepts such as before, after, or following, and with sequences such as days of the week or months of the year. To help students learn and retain these concepts, you may need to present and review them many times and in multiple ways. For example:

You might ask students to identify which holiday comes in each month and then review holidays for other months in sequence: "Groundhog Day is in February. What holiday is in March? In April?"

Have students identify the month before or after a given month. "May is before June and after April." "May is between April and June."

Oral language is one of the foundational building blocks of learning. Try these suggestions with your students, and give them the boost they need for future academic and social success.

Get Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, OWL LD, and Dyscalculia , and learn how to provide effective instruction for students with learning disabilities while meeting the needs of all students.

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11 Ways to Improve Your Students' Oral Language Skills

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Oral language is one of the most important skills your students can master-both for social and academic success. Learners use this skill throughout the day to process and deliver instructions, make requests, ask questions, receive new information, and interact with peers.

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Rationale:

This resource offers 10 activities teachers can use but one that stands out is the game Simon says, this help with listening and following instruction. Through the game children can also take turns being Simon. Raban (2014) states that language development as different levels, such as turn taking and ‘actively engaging with social work of language’ (p.6)

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If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times - speaking and listening are skills that teachers can never model enough.

How does this sound... you've finally finished explaining, step by step and painfully explicitly, the instructions for an activity. You ask your students if anyone has any last questions and the inevitable hand rises.

You paste on your most patient smile and call on the child. You're answered with a confused "So...what do we do again?".

Sounds frustrating, doesn't it?

If I had a dollar for every time I had to repeat myself as a teacher, I'd be a billionaire by now and off living the life on my own private island. Alas, all I received for my repetition was a headache and a slightly strange desire to own a dictaphone.

I have no doubt that my feelings are echoed in the hearts of thousands of teachers around the country.

So...what should we do? Should we grin and bear it? Or should we be proactive, making sure to teach our students the skills to listen and speak purposefully and well?

I vote for the latter, and I think you would too!

So, I've taken 10 of our best Teach Starter Speaking and Listening activities to help you do just that.

You may think that listening and speaking are skills you develop naturally, almost through osmosis. Unfortunately, that isn't the case! It's just as important for teachers to teach and model the skills of speaking and listening as it is for them to teach reading and arithmetic!

Speaking and Listening skills benefit students speech, language and communication skills and enable them to more proficiently focus on and process information.

Set Some Speaking and Listening Goals

Get your students off on the right track by collaborating with them to set some Speaking and Listening Goals.

With goals specifically tailored to lower, middle and upper grades, your students will have clear direction on the skills they need to develop on their journey to becoming better listeners and speakers.

Active Listening Skills for Kids

If a mime were to imitate the act of listening, you would no doubt see their hand held up to an ear - this is universally recognised, and why shouldn't it be? Listening occurs in your ears, doesn't it?

Despite this common belief, most teachers will tell you that listening does not JUST happen in your ears - it's a whole body experience!

Whole body listening engages the listener to give their complete attention to what is being said. Not only this, it shows the speaker that their audience is attentive and respectful.

Get the fundamentals of listening down pat and teach your students how a good listener behaves with our Whole Body Listening Posters.

Listening Games for Students

Games that require students to listen, wait and then react, or listen and make a decision are particularly good at targeting not only listening but processing skills, too.

These games can easily be incorporated into your morning routine!

Hurrah-Boo!

Ask your students to listen intently to statements you're about to make.

If it's a nice statement, they say hurrah! If it's not so nice, they say boo.

"Everyone gets an ice cream!" - "HURRAH!"
"Lunchtime is cancelled." - "BOO!"

I Say - Go!

Similar to Simon Says, ask your students to follow explicit instructions.

The catch is that they have to wait until you say "Go!" before they can carry out the instruction.

To increase the difficulty, leave a longer gap between the instruction and saying go!

The Telephone Game

This timeless classic needs little explanation.

Students sit in a circle and pass around a message by whispering in their neighbours ear.

When the final student is reached, they stand up and repeat the message they heard.

Compare it to the start and see how well the message got relayed from person to person!

I Went to the Shops...

This is a great game to challenge your students' listening and memory skills.

One child starts off the shopping list by saying, "I went to the shops today and bought..." something.

The next child continues by saying the previous item and adding their own item!

Continue around the class, working through the alphabet and adding items to the list.

For older students, why not make the items topic-specific, such as items you'll find only in the rainforest?

Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down

Read out a list of true or false statements. Students have to listen carefully and decide on the validity of the statement.

If it's true, they give a thumbs up! If it's false, a thumbs down.

"My hair is blue." - thumbs down.
"Ms Stuart is the best teacher in the world!" - thumbs up (I can only hope!).

This game can be altered to suit older students - read out true and false statements about a curriculum topic you have been working on.

Mix Visuals With Listening

Play the Is It True? Listening Activity with your students!

Students listen to the teacher read a description while viewing an image. They then decide whether the information is accurate.

This resource provides great exposure to descriptive vocabulary. Adjust the vocabulary to suit your students' abilities!

Drawing on Demand

Listening and art can go hand in hand, too! Having your students complete this drawing on-demand activity can be a great way to produce art for the classroom.

Read the description out to your students several times. They need to listen very carefully as they must draw what they hear.

Use the picture on the second page to see how close your students came to drawing the picture described.

Write a Speech

Sometimes, students have lots of lovely thoughts in their heads, but verbalising them can be tricky.

Have students practise their oratory skills by using our Writing a Speech Poster.

Writing a speech doesn't have to be boring. Encourage students to think outside the box!

How about a speech on their favourite animal or a great movie they've seen?

State Your Opinion

If your students struggle to express their points of view, this effective lesson on investigating points of view will help them do so.

For or Against? is the first lesson in a unit on our Developing Persuasive Writing Skills - Year 3 and Year 4. In it, the class watches a video retelling of the story I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff .

After watching, you will have the opportunity to ask students to share their points of view about everyday issues they can relate to.

Encouraging the students to explain and justify their reasoning to the class is a great way to explore opinions and verbally express points of view.

Speaking in Rhyme

Sometimes the problem isn't the processing of speech, it's the nerves that come along with it.

Use these Nutty Nursery Rhymes Speaking and Listening Activity cards as a fun, open-ended speaking or activity to build confidence. The emphasis is on being playful with language as students explore rhyming words.

The cards are designed for use in small groups! Print and laminate several sets of cards so that each group can work on the same rhyme simultaneously.

Study the following rhymes with these cards:

Humpty Dumpty

Little Miss Muffet

Hickory Dickory Dock

Little Bo Peep

It's Raining, It's Pouring

Twinkle, Twinkle

Five Little Ducks

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.

Dictation Activities

It's the age-old debate - is dictation really necessary in today's classrooms?

Our blog Is Dictation Just an Old-Fashioned Teaching Strategy? outlines the meaning of dictation and considers the ins and outs of using it as a tool in the classroom.

Love it or hate it, when it comes to the skills of speaking and listening, dictation activities are an easily assessable teaching strategy that can double as a tool for assessing literacy.

Colour Me Carefully Collaboration

This Colour Me Carefully game is excellent for bringing the skills of speaking and listening together.

Your students can play this game in pairs, with the players separated by a barrier. There is a speaker and a listener. Prior to beginning the game, the speaker colours their sheet.

During the game, the speaker gives precise instructions to the listener who just listens carefully and colours accordingly!

The goal is for the listener to produce work which is close to being identical to that of the speaker. A good lesson in communication and teamwork!

What if Students Need a Bit of Extra Help?

Sometimes, speaking and listening skills don't come so easily to students due to developmental or processing difficulties.

At times like these, it can be increasingly frustrating for students to be unable to keep up with their classmates, and activities like the ones listed above can be incredibly stressful.

There are a number of strategies that you can use in your classroom to make the environment as accommodating for these students as possible:

Reduce distractions - visual and auditory distractions can be incredibly annoying to students who have trouble listening or expressing themselves.

Position yourself well - if you have a child with auditory processing or hearing impairment, it's best to position yourself directly in front of him or her. This way, they can see your mouth and gestures as you speak and hear you clearly.

Capture attention before giving instructions - clapping to capture your students' attention or speaking a child's name out loud can help them be alerted that you will be giving them instructions. They can prepare themselves to listen with their whole bodies and give you their full attention.

Provide visual support - sometimes, students with speaking delays or impediments can really benefit from having palm cards, posters or other methods of visual support. Accommodating them in this way can help them concentrate on speaking clearly and loudly without worrying about the content of what they're saying.

Consider the classroom layout - if you have a large classroom, then consider yourself lucky! Make good use of the space, however, by positioning your furniture and teaching zones sensibly. Don't have students desks too far away from the board, and make sure students who have hearing or auditory processing difficulties get a position up the front.

What are your tips and tricks for teaching the skills of Speaking and Listening? Comment below to share!

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10 Activities for Developing the Skills of Speaking and Listening

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Try these 10 activities to improve your students' speaking and listening - essential skills for the development of communication, speech and language.

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Rationale:

These images show ideas of dramatic play, play-spaces educators can recreate, to encourage and scaffold language development; this relates to the Speaking and Listening focus area. Arshad and Chen (2017) support this notion that language development comes from experiences and interactions with others. Therefore, having a dramatic play area provides children with an opportunity to use language they have seen others model, resulting in them expanding their vocabulary. This is supported by Being, Belonging and Becoming (2009) Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners.

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This resource offers children a fun way to use their language skills. This relates to the Speaking and Listening focus area. Through this game children use language to communicate to another person by giving them information of the specific animal or person that is on their card. Which is supported by Halliday (1975, as cited in Hill, 2013)  as he states that children’s language development how they ‘learn to mean’.

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Who Am I? is a guessing game where players use yes or no questions to guess the identity of a famous person. Questions are based upon the traits and characteristics of a person everyone will be able to identify. This game works well with any size group, however the larger the group, the more fun the game becomes.

Who Am I? makes an excellent ice-breaker, as the game can take as little as ten to fifteen minutes. If players take turns, the game lasts longer. We have provided a list of Who Am I? game questions and Who Am I? Names for your playing convenience. Playing a guess who I am game makes any party or get-together more fun.

How to Play "Who Am I?"

There are several ways to prepare to play this game.

To use very few materials and almost no time for preparation, simply write the names of famous people on sticky notes.

You can prepare in advance with pictures of famous people cut from magazines or names written on notecards. Use masking tape to adhere to the players' foreheads or backs.

You can purchase a card deck of famous people designed specifically for playing "Who Am I?"

Additionally, depending on the group size and the amount of time you wish to take for the game, you can choose one of the following methods.

1. Everyone receives a sticky note or note card with the name of a famous person. The name is placed on either the person's forehead or upper back with a piece of masking tape. Players circulate and ask yes or no questions until everyone has identified the name on their own sticky note or card.

2. Each player takes a turn with the other players asking yes or no questions, until the player with the sticky note or card guesses the identity of the famous person.

A specific amount of time or number of questions is given to the players. Ten to twenty questions are usually enough, depending on how difficult the category, as well as the age and maturity level of the players. The game should not take more than about twenty minutes - ten for preparation and explanation and ten for play.

Encourage players to move throughout the room, mingling and asking each other questions. Once a player guesses their character's identity correctly, they can continue to play answering the questions other players ask, or you can decide they need to wait in an area away from the other players.

Who Am I? Game Rules

Make sure you explain the game to the group before you begin playing.
Each person tries to figure out which famous person they are by only asking "Yes" or "No" questions to gain clues about the name that is on their back or forehead.

Do not look at the name on your forehead.

Start by asking broad questions.

Get more specific with your questions.

State your guess as to your identity

"Who Am I?" Game Questions

Players may ask any question that can be answered by Yes or No. Play is more fun and proceeds at a steadier pace if the questions are like the following:

Are you a male (female)?

Are you an entertainer?

Are you a singer (dancer, actor)?

Are you a historical figure?

Are you young (old)?

Are you alive now?

Are you considered beautiful (handsome)?

The following is an example of questions you might ask for the category "Disney Characters."

"Who Am I?" Names List

The following list of names will help you get ready for your game of Who Am I?

Snow White

Snoopy

Scooby Doo

John Wayne

Anne Hathaway

Duke Ellington

Madonna

Superman

Batman

Robin

George Washington

Abraham Lincoln

Thomas Edison

Benjamin Franklin

Brittany Spears

Cinderella

Sleeping Beauty

Billy Joel

Albert Einstein

Richard Nixon

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Dora the Explorer

Elmo/Big Bird

Howard Stern

Donald Trump

Rosie O'Donnell

Oprah Winfrey

Helen of Troy

Helen Keller

Cleopatra

Queen Elizabeth

Demi Moore

Angelina Jolie

Bill Clinton

Hillary Clinton

Bill Cosby

George Clooney

Rachael Ray

Martha Stewart

Magic Johnson

Dennis Miller

Michael Jackson

Brad Pitt

John Lennon

Elvis

Tom Sawyer

Napoleon

Cleopatra

Joan of Arc

SpongeBob

Ellen DeGeneres

Simon Cowell

George Bush

Additionally, you can choose to use categories such as Bible characters, sports stars, actors, etc. Base your choices on the composition and age level of your group. For example, classic rock stars work for adults, while Marvel characters would be a better choice for teens, and Disney characters suit children. You may also wish to choose a character category that fits with a party theme, such as names of sports cars for a boy's birthday party where kids are going to a local go-kart track.

Game Variations

Who Am I? Charades

Players take turns acting out the names of famous people.

The same as Who Am I? However, instead of people, names are for things, such as a house, an apple, a tree, etc.

Category "Who Are We?"

For a very large group, select someone to be "It." It leaves the room and the rest of the group forms a circle and decides who they will be. For example, they may decide to be surgeons or flight attendants. It reenters the room and asks Yes or No questions, one for each member of the group. Answers must be true, but can be cleverly stated to confuse It. After each member of the group asks one questions, "It" guesses the mystery category.

The fun of "Who Am I?" increases when the sticky notes or cards are on the foreheads of all the players, as everyone looks rather silly. Use this game as an icebreaker at the beginning of a party, a way to get people to mingle and meet, or to liven things up when a party begins to falter. Fun is guaranteed whenever you play "Who Am I?"

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Who Am I? Game Questions & Ideas - Icebreaker Ideas

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Who Am I? is a guessing game where players use yes or no questions to guess the identity of a famous person. Questions are based upon the traits and characteristics of a person everyone will be able to identify. This game works well with any size group, however the larger the group, the more fun the game becomes.

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Speaking and Listen- Communication and Language Skills

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Speaking and Listen- Communication and Language Skills

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Rationale:

This resource offers an on the go tool that can be easily accessed on a mobile device. The free version allows users to look up key words to communicate with children. In particular, but not limited to how to sign emotions. This relates to Speaking and Listening. While interacting with others children learn and develop language skills (Hill, 2013) which is supported by Vygotsky’s (1978, as cited in Hill, 2013) as he suggests that at first the interactions with adults are mainly to communicate and over time turns into thinking.

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The RIDBC Auslan Tutor is a portable video-based Australian Sign Language (Auslan) teaching resource developed specifically mobile devices. It is available for download on iPhone, iPad, iPod touch on the App Store and Android™ devices via Google Play.

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Speaking and Listening- Language development***  

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Speaking and Listening- Language development***  

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Rationale:

This resource offers hearing impaired and children who use Auslan sign to participate in common Nursery Rhymes this relates to the Speaking and Listening focus area. Ginger Muller (2017) as she discusses that Nursery Rhymes can assist children Language and cognitive development. Nursery Rhymes can be sung to children as soon as they are born providing them with a ‘rich language experience’ (Hill, 2013 p.37) which research shows is essential in developing children’s literacy and vocabulary skills.

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This resource is a book written by Aunty Joy Murphy, titled 'Welcome to Country' and offers children a cultural introduction to our Nations first people. The book can be read by the teacher in class. This relates to the listening focus area, where children can be exposed to culture and vocabulary. As noted by Hill (2006) "teachers who use interesting and varied words help to create a vocabulary-rich environment - a classroom in which children are exposed to and encouraged to use a variety of words."

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Welcome to the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People.
We are part of this land and the land is part of us.
This is where we come from.
Wominjeka Wurundjeri balluk yearmenn koondee bik.
Welcome to Country.
Respected Elder Aunty Joy Murphy welcomes us to Country with a Wurundjeri Wominjeka (welcome) and beautifully, yet simply, explains the concept of welcoming ceremonies and their significance to First Nation communities across Australia.

Warm and vibrant illustrations by First Nations artist Lisa Kennedy, a descendant of the Trawlwoolway People, make this a visually stunning story.

Welcome to Country needs to be heard by every child (and adult!) so that all Australians can understand and respect the cultural importance of a welcome to country.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

Credits

Suitable for

Duration

05:37

Series

Reading Challenges

Awards

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Welcome to the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People. We are part of this land and the land is part of us. This is where we come from. Wominjeka Wurundjeri balluk yearmenn koondee bik. Welcome to Country.

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Rationale:
This resource offers anyone with a tool in which they can look up the sign for various different words with the aid of a video of how to sign that specific word. It has the added benefit of the word being defined. This relates to the Speaking and Listening focus area as it provides people with the ability to communicate with others who use Auslan as well as ‘increasing understanding of language acquisition, language systems and learning processes, which is supported by the Australian Curriculum (2019)

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Search for a sign using an English keyword in the search box or browse keywords starting with any letter. Limit search to a category of signs by selecting from the list of topics.

The dialect setting determines the ordering of signs shown for keyword matches. The preferred dialect will be shown first if there are multiple signs matching a keyword.

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Search for a sign using an English keyword in the search box or browse keywords starting with any letter. Limit search to a category of signs by selecting from the list of topics. The dialect setting determines the ordering of signs shown for keyword matches.

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Rationale:
This resource offers listening techniques that a teacher can use in class as a behavior management tool and a support guide for children that may need the assistance.  I observed this used in a class room at a recent placement and children were stopping to think when the teacher said '5 L's' to the students. This relates to listening which is supported by the Australian Curriculum - English.

Resource: https://www.teachstarter.com/au/teaching-resource/5-ls-of-listening-poster/

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Information on poster includes:

Lap - Place your hands in your lap.

Lips - Keep your mouth closed, zip your lips.

Look - Let the speaker know you are ready to listen by looking at them.

Listen - Get your ears ready to listen to the important messages.

Legs - Sit on the floor with your legs crossed, or sit in a chair with both feet at on the floor.

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Information on poster includes: Lap - Place your hands in your lap. Lips - Keep your mouth closed, zip your lips. Look - Let the speaker know you are ready to listen by looking at them. Listen - Get your ears ready to listen to the important messages.

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Speaking and Listening - Kung Fu Punctuation

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Speaking and Listening - Kung Fu Punctuation

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Rationale:
This resource offers children a fun and interactive way of learning punctuation phonemes in a fun vocabulary. The children can stand up and take part in this YouTube clip whether they are indoors or outdoors and once they have learnt the items in the clip, the practice can be done in any setting.  This relates to the speaking and listening  focus area.  This is supported by Luke and Freebody (1999) stating that " texts and discourses have a way of taking on a life of their own, irrespective of the intents of their authors or the political contexts of their production." When punctuation was originally introduced, it would have been taught in a different manner than the clip below, hence over time this has changed according to our society needs. It is possibly quite different to the way its original inventor introduced punctuation.  The Victoria State Government (2017) notes to "recognise that different types of punctuation, including full stops, question marks and exclamation marks, signal sentences that make statements, ask questions, express emotion or give commands", as part of the Year 1 English curriculum content.

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Rationale:
This resource offers children the opportunity to expand their vocabulary in a supportive environment within the classroom.  Children have the chance to take turns and pick out an item from the storytelling bag and make up a sentence that could happen, using their imagination and the ideas from  their peers in class.  The teacher is controlling the activity and can input and prompt the child to encourage them and expand their vocabulary in the process.  The children listen to each other and speak in front of the class in a supportive environment.  This related to the listening and speaking focus area, which is supported by Griffith, Beach, Ruan, Dunn (2008) stating that language "also includes acquiring conversational turn-taking skills, understanding that the purpose of language is communication, and developing knowledge about how words are put together to form sentences (syntax of language)."

Resource:
https://playlearnteach.co.education/wp/blog/storytelling-bag-for-preschoolers/

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Rationale:
This resource offers educators a number of useful ideas and discussion behind each, in relation to promoting rhyming abilities, promote alliteration, promote blending and segmenting abilities, and listing literacy-enriched play materials.  The activities are inclusive and can be adaptable to children and their specific needs.  There is an appendix that also lists children's literature with multiple rhyme patterns, providing a resource for educators.  This relates to Oral language skills focus area.  As noted by Pullen and Justice (2003) " phonological awareness, print awareness, and oral language development are three areas associated with emergent literacy that play a crucial role in the acquisition of reading."

Resource:

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This resource offers children the opportunity to name and describe images this relates to the Speaking, Therefore building their vocabulary and descriptive language. Saracho (2017) states that children should engage in ‘language development experiences’ (p.300) developmentally appropriate for their age, which will assist them in with their reading skills.

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The early childhood years are so important for developing oral language skills. This is an easy, no-prep activity to help develop oral language skills.

Some sources say that between the ages two and six children learn approximately ten words a day. Often times they learn these new words by only hearing them once of twice, even. It is incredible the capability children have in their early years to learn language.

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Materials for oral language activity

For this activity all you really need is a set of colorful images that are of interest to you child. I have used and recommend the following sets:

I also own a few of the following sets of picture cards, and use it frequently in my preschool class as a supplement to my oral language lesson plans. They a designed specifically for autism education, but I have found the set excellent as it has duplicates of some photos so children can make matches. In addition to that, some of the photo cards are set in small subcategories, so children also get practice in naming and matching like items, such as an Oreo cookie and a sugar cookie.

Using pictures to develop oral language

For this activity I gave each child a picture card from one of the above sets. I allowed sometime for the student to simply enjoy the photo, and if they chose talk as they looked at the photo, that way ok, too. This was a good opportunity for me to work one on one with each student, which was especially important if the child was given a card with a less familiar picture. For example, a picture of a goose might be less easy to recognize than a picture of a duck.

After giving the children some time, I invited each child to share with the preschool class what their picture was. I prompted the children to share the details of their picture. Each child shared details like colors in their picture, textures, and things the picture reminded them of. If the student wanted to share a personal story, I encouraged it.

For more oral language activities

To find this activity and several ways to expand it, as well as 140 other oral language activities, see my complete yearly oral language lesson plans designed specifically for children ages three to five years. It includes everything you need to teach oral language skills for an entire year.

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Using Pictures to Develop Oral Language Skills

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The early childhood years are so important for developing oral language skills. This is an easy, no-prep activity to help develop oral language skills. Some sources say that between the ages two and six children learn approximately ten words a day. Often times they learn these new words by only hearing them once of twice, even.

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Rationale:
This resource offers children a fun and interactive away of understanding and retelling a story. This relates to Speaking as it develops their descriptive skills, understanding of past tense and the ability to use ‘words that tell where, when, with, whom and how’ (Hill, 2013). This allows children to ‘Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning about key events, ideas and information’ (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authoriity [ACARA], 2019)

Reference:
https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/AdDbLHnWuhdzf541bQi-E6rtaUae2yLpgIhIojsl-HaL3sXmnEdKiG0/

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This resource offers children to build on their home language as well as their confidence in speaking aloud this relates to the Speaking focus as they move around the room looking for cards and saying the images or words in their home language. By implementing this activity educators are supporting and assisting the maintenance of a child’s home language; which is providing them with a sense of belonging (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations [DEEWR] ,2009).

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I'm always looking for ways to get students up and moving in the classroom while they are practicing their foreign language speaking and writing skills. This is an activity that I call "Hide and Speak (or write)" that accomplishes this goal and students enjoy it and often ask to play. I'm happy to oblige because they speak (or write) so much during this activity.

Begin by hiding 20-30 prompt cards. These can be index cards with vocabulary words, an image, a question about a reading, or proficiency-based questions aligned with ACTFL standards. The possibilities are endless for prompts based on the material that is being covered in class. Memory Cards or Task Cards work very well for this this activity.

Pairs of students set out to find the prompts and when they do they return to the teacher with the card and perform the task: identify the image in the target language, use the word or verb in a sentence, answer a proficiency-based question or complete a Task Card. Lots of possibilities. This can all be through speaking or writing. When writing I give pairs a small white board and marker.

If the pair responds correctly they can get a point for their team or the teacher can make it a point for the entire class with the goal being to get a certain number of points collectively in a specified amount of time. The teacher keeps the prompt card and the pair sets back out.

Be sure to tell pairs that they need to wait in line to check in with the teacher so that that they don't call crowd in.

Check out these task cards these task cards and memory cards that work well in this activity.

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Hide and Speak (or Write): Foreign Language Activity to Practice Speaking and Writing

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I'm always looking for ways to get students up and moving in the classroom while they are practicing their foreign language speaking and writing skills. This is an activity that I call "Hide and Speak (or write)" that accomplishes this goal and students enjoy it and often ask to play.

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This resource offers children an opportunity to be centered and calm, it assists their focus and requires them to listen to the teacher and the Smiling Mind app played in class.  Children will usually rest their body on the classroom floor and close their eyes and listen to the words of the person talking on the app and follow their instructions to meditate and bring about mindfulness.  This relates to the listening focus area, which is supported by Smiling Mind (2009) who indicate that "mindfulness is a skill that can build the foundations for optimal student concentration and attention."  The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA] (2019) Year 1 level description notes that "they listen to, read, view and interpret spoken, written and multimodal texts designed to entertain and inform.  The Smiling Mind app does this and can also be used as a support tool for families and educators.
Resource:

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Why mindfulness in Education? - Smiling Mind

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Wellbeing is essential to learning, teaching students about their emotions and behaviours.1 With mindfulness students are more focussed and more engaged learners.

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Speaking and Listening - Encouraging language development

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Speaking and Listening - Encouraging language development

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This resource offers children the chance to use literacy and play the game of 'I spy', which involves

1. Choosing a 'letter' that begins with the word of an object you have chosen from around the room or outdoors.  'I spy with my little eye, something beginning with 'e'...........

2. Speaking and listening to the group and allowing people to guess the object you are thinking of.

3. The person who correctly guesses your object / word is the winner and has the next turn in the game, and so on.

This relates to the speaking and listening focus area, which is supported by Victoria State Government (2017) noting that children "engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening, showing interest, and contributing ideas, information and questions, taking turns and recognising the contributions of others." This game is a useful tool and it can be adapted to suit the level of the group of children, making it inclusive. The YouTube clip listed below in the reference is a tool that can be used as an introduction for the game in class. This gives children a visual example of how the game works.

Reference:

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Our Introduction and Understanding of Speaking and Listening

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Our Introduction and Understanding of Speaking and Listening

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My Favourite Resource is Nursery Rhymes, using Auslan Sign
(The resource with the ***)

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My Favourite Resource is the Bananas, Bananas, Meatballs Song and dance
(The resource with the ***)