How to Teach Active Listening Skills

Listening is a valuable communication skill and a key part of the learning process. When children actively listen, they do more than just pay attention. They focus on the teacher and absorb and analyze the information they hear. Although teaching children to actively listen might seem difficult, it can be easily incorporated into the classroom with fun and interactive games and activities.

Instructions

1. Teach basic listening skills. If students lack the basic skills, they will struggle to listen actively. When you address the class, ensure that students are facing you (or whoever might be the speaker), are focused and do not interrupt. Encourage them to ask questions if they do not understand. Practice this skill regularly.

2. Try a transformational response. In this activity, students demonstrate their active listening by transforming what they have just heard, such as class instructions or a story, into something else. Because rhythm can boost long-term memory, ask students to transform the material into a rap, using their own words. Alternatively, they can transform it into a song, short story or drama.

3. Engage the students in the listen for lies game. Start by dividing the class into two groups: team A and team B. Ask a student to read a short story or newspaper article to the class. Then add three sentences (the lie) to the narrative and ask the student to read the new version. When the teams hear the a new sentences (the lie), they must all stand up. The first team to stand up gets a point and the team with the most points wins.

4. Play Chinese whispers. Decide on a topic for the Chinese whisper. This might be a definition of a keyword recently learned in class or a stanza of poetry. Gather the students in a circle. Whisper the topic to the student next to you. That student passes it on until everyone has heard it. If the topic is unchanged by the time the last person hears it, congratulate students on displaying excellent active listening skills. If the topic has changed, try again with a new topic.

5. Try a two-minute summary. Check students' understanding of a lesson with this plenary activity. Have students form groups of four. Each group has five minutes to produce a two-minute summary of a lesson they have just been taught. The groups then take turns presenting their summaries. The group that recalls the most information wins the game.

Tips & Warnings

• Practice active listening skills regularly.

• Reward students for demonstrating active listening.

References

• Kingston Upon Hull Education Action Zone: Active Listening
• Alan Peat: Practical Strategies for Developing Active Listening
• British Council: Active Listening Activities

Resources

• Elmhurst College: Suggestions for Active Listening
• HREA: Skills for Active Listening