English Language Arts and Reading.4.1.A

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The student is expected to

listen actively, ask relevant questions to clarify information, and make pertinent comments;

oral language TEKS talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Developing and sustaining foundational language skills: listening, speaking, discussion, and thinking -- oral language. The student develops oral language through listening, speaking, and discussion.

Have students pair with a partner and share details of a dream they want to fulfill or a personal experience. Students should take turns listening actively to each other. Once one student has finished sharing, the second student asks relevant questions and makes pertinent comments regarding details of the story. The teacher can assess students by walking around the classroom and ensuring that each pair group is participating in the activity. 

Notes:

  • Prior to the activity, create a list of possible ideas for a dream or personal experience to share.
  • Consider sentence stems for students to use during conversations.
  • Vocabulary development can be incorporated by encouraging students to use vocabulary learned in previous lessons.

Further Explanation

For this assessment, students should draw upon listening skills such as engaging with a person and topic. Questioning skills should be used and understanding deepens as students make connections and further inquiries about the dream or personal experience. This clarifies information and strengthens knowledge of the content. As students reflect on and consider the topic, they are better able to make pertinent comments directly related to the topic. If a conversation is off topic, this may indicate that a student did not understand or misinterpreted the concepts discussed.

Students listen actively when they ask questions that focus on the topic under discussion and are intended to further understanding. When students ask questions about what they are listening to, they deepen their own understanding by making connections and inquiring about related concepts and ideas. Active listening requires that the listener knows when and how to ask questions.
Active listening requires students to be engaged with both the speaker they are listening to and the topic being discussed. Students who listen actively have a purpose, engage with the speaker by asking questions and making comments, and demonstrate attentive nonverbal behavior such as making eye contact and nodding their heads.
In addition to asking questions, active listeners contribute to the discussion by making relevant comments directly related to the topic being discussed. When students make relevant comments, they are engaged in the discussion and in learning. Pertinent comments are usually the result of a in-depth reflection or careful consideration. For example, students listening actively to a discussion about types of sources might make pertinent comments by identifying examples of primary sources with which the students are familiar.

Research

1. Ahmadi, S. M. (2016). The importance of listening comprehension in language learning. International Journal of Research in English Education. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1101226.pdf

Summary: The study analyzes the importance of listening for learning, identifies six major problems that learners face, and provides 14 suggestions for overcoming listening comprehension challenges.

2. Jalongo, M. R. (1995). Promoting active listening in the classroom. Childhood Education, 72(1), 13+. Retrieved from https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A17704632/PROF?u=tea&sid=PROF&xid=9735f6dd

Summary: This article considers the challenges of building students' ability to listen actively in the classroom, and then examines a variety of listening situations and how teachers can both respond and model good listening skills. The article includes a directed listening-thinking activity that can be easily adapted to various grade levels. The activity focuses on a story, and then includes questions that help students better comprehend the story from their own experience, building upon personal experience to gain insight into the characters and to deepen students' understanding.