Hear ye! Hear ye!

Listen Up!

Now that I've got to know the kids a little better and we have started our year off with being "Bucket Fillers", our next lesson focused on the students using their listening ears! We talked about the importance of hearing vs. listening and REALLY paying attention to detail and following instructions.

 

Listening Activities:

I always like to start the lesson off with some type of "attention grabber"; therefore, I used a ball to help me with this task. During my first lesson of the year when I was getting to know each class, the students had to show me their good listening ears by closing their eyes and listening for the number of times I bounced the ball. Therefore, the students were familiar with the bouncy ball I brought to class previously; however, this time, the question was different and I explained to the kids that their job was to pay close attention, watch and listen. Before I bounced the ball, I coughed really loud... (I mean REALLY, obnoxiously loud)!!! As the kids watched and listened, most of them were counting or focusing on the number of bounces. When I finished bouncing the ball, most of them immediately raised their hand (thinking they already knew the answer); however, when I asked the students, "What did I do right before I bounced the ball?", some of their hands went down. Usually there is one student in the crowd that picked up on what I did before bouncing the ball, and then that opens up the floor for us to discuss paying close attention when listening to others so that we don't miss any important details.

 Lego Listening Game:

This is a listening game I've read about in a professional learning book and I've also seen it on one of my personal favorites... PINTEREST! :) For more information about this listening game, please see my previous post by clicking here.

I read, "The Worst Day of My Life Ever!" to my 1st-4th graders, and I read the book "Listen Buddy" with my PreK and Kindergarten students to go along with my lesson on listening. Both books discuss the importance of listening and following directions.  

Follow Up Listening Activities:

So... today I went to a workshop and the presenter TOTALY fooled me with this game! He first asked the crowd if we had ever heard of the game "Simon says", and of course everyone nodded in agreement. Next he tells us, "We are going to play a quick game of Simon Says... I need everyone to stand up." Of course, ALMOST EVERYONE falls for it and stands up. There were only two people that got it and didn't stand up... because SIMON DIDN'T SAY TO STAND UP! Ugh... how dumb did I feel?!? I am SO going to do this quick/fun little activity with my lesson come Monday as an extra activity!

End of the lesson Game:

This is a listening activity that I bought from The Sublime Speech Website and used last year; however, I changed it up a bit this year using technology and the latest QR craze!

 I always separate the class in to two teams. Each member of the team selects a card from the bucket that has directions on it. The student that pulls the card has to follow the directions exactly as they are given to receive a point for their team. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game is declared the winner.

Students had the opportunity to choose QR cards I made instead of the red cards. These were considered the harder ones because the computer reads them instead of me and sometimes she reads the directions fast! This was my way of using a great idea that the Sublime Speech Website had to fit my own personal needs and to incorporate technology. This also gave me a chance to change things up a bit from last year. If you'd like a copy of the QR (following direction) cards I made to go along with this lesson, please click here.

Following Directions

Following Directions Activity

Before starting the game, collect two bags of Legos. Each bag needs to be filled with the same size and shape Legos for this activity.

One child builds something with their Legos, and then he/she has to explain to their partner how to build the same structure by giving clear directions. (Their partner is not allowed to look at the structure until all the directions have been given. At that point, the two can compare how well they did communicating with one another.) This activity can be done with paper and stickers, as well.

 

Whole Group Instruction: I have also used this activity as a whole group lesson. After drawing a simple picture on to a piece of paper, I select a random student from the class and give him/her detailed instructions of what he/she needs to draw on to the Promethium so that their final picture will look like the one I had drawn. The outcome is always interesting, and I have learned a lot about communicating what I want/need from my students just by simply giving better instructions.

A Fun Lesson in Following Directions

"Do you hear what I hear?"

The purpose of this lesson was to teach children the importance of listening and following directions. I started the lesson with a listening activity that required the students to use their ears only, without seeing the final product. The results of each student's work sample gave them instant feedback about their listening skills.



Each student was given an index card and three stickers. Next, I instructed the students on what to do with each sticker. The following instructions were given:

1. Take the green sticker and put it in the top left corner.
2. Take the orange sticker and put it in the bottom right corner.
3. Take the pink sticker and put it in the center of the card.
4. Get your pencil out and put a smiley face in the pink sticker. The smiley face should have two eyes and a mouth.

This is what the final product should have looked like if the students used their good listening ears.

To incorporate technology in to the lesson plan, the class and I "Face Timed" the other counselor at our school with my iPad. I had given Mrs. Waggoner (our other school counselor) an index card and three stickers before my lesson with the students began so that she would be prepared for our Face Time call. One of the students in the class was selected to give her the same instructions I had given to the class previously. The student that was selected was successful in communicating the directions to Mrs. Waggoner because the final product that Mrs. Waggoner showed to the class over Face Time was exactly the same picture we were trying to get her to create. It was a lot of fun, and Mrs. Waggoner was able to say "Hello" to all the students in the class while sitting at her desk in her office. Technology is an awesome thing!

 



Next, I read a cute and somewhat humorous story about a little bunny who didn't listen very well, which could have resulted in a tragic ending had he not escaped the big grizzly bear. The name of the story I chose to implement with this lesson is, "Listen Buddy", by Helen  Lester.

 

 

After reading, "Listen Buddy", and discussing the book with the students, we played a listening game that I bought from The Sublime Speech Webpage.

I divided the class in to two groups. Each group took turns pulling a card out of the jar. The card had multiple directions for the students to follow. For example one of the cards said, "Say my name. Hop on one foot. Clap your hands." If the student completed the instructions in order and did not receive any help from his/her teammates, the team received a point. Who ever had the most points at the end of the game won. The kids had great time and enjoyed this listening activity!