Teaching
elementary students literacy strategies that enable them to engage with
increasingly complex texts is not easy, especially when it comes to discussing
ideas with teachers and peers. As such, it is important to teach students to
both listen and speak effectively during the early stages of their education.
Speaking and listening benchmarks
Many
states’ learning standards for speaking and listening require that students
be able to:
·
Present information, findings, and supporting
evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, and the
organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and
audience.
·
Make strategic use of digital media and
visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of
presentations.
·
Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and
communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or
appropriate.
In
order to achieve these goals, students must have opportunities to hone speaking
and listening skills during classroom discussions, in small groups or with
partners. They must be able to follow conversations and take part in
discussions through adding relevant information, making accurate and just
comparisons, and develop their points using evidence. To achieve this end,
teachers can use a few strategies to get students to better engage as both
listeners and speakers.
Five ways elementary teachers can help
students improve listening and speaking skills
These
activities might include key vocabulary terms, an outline of what will be
taught, study guides and objectives. This information makes it possible for
students to know where and how to focus their listening and then develop
stronger oral responses that are more focused.
2. Stop repeating
instructions
This
advice may go against what teachers typically do, which is to repeat directions
or steps multiple times to ensure student comprehension. However, giving
instructions multiple times trains students that they do not have to listen the
first time, and that the information will be readily available if they choose
not to listen.
3. Model good listening
and speaking behavior for students
Students
learn by how teachers listen and speak, which means it is important for
educators to model the behaviors they wish students to emulate. This means that
teachers need to practice good listening skills (focusing their full attention
on the speaker without interrupting) and good speaking skills — paraphrasing
the other person’s ideas before responding, clearly articulating ideas and
using correct grammar and structure.
4. Provide structured activities for
students to do during or after the listening activity
If
students are watching a documentary or educational film, the teacher might
pause periodically to have students write down questions. Alternatively, if
students are participating in a group discussion, tell them to take turns as
the speaker and provide specific instructions for those who are listening. This
might involve taking notes on what the speaker is saying and reporting or
paraphrasing their contributions. This strategies allows students to focus
their points or ideas before participating in discussions.
5. Create ways for introverted students to
participate and contribute to conversations
Quiet
or introverted students often get left out of large group discussions. In order
to make participation easier for them, allow students to show their agreement
or disagreement with an idea by holding up two fingers for “yes” or three
fingers for “no.” This allows all students to participate and indicate they
have been listening as well as respond in a way that best suits their needs.
There are a number of ways elementary
teachers can help students develop strong speaking and listening skills
regardless of the curriculum they’re teaching. These practices will enable
students to understand what is expected of them and how to perform well in
their lives down the road.
10 Ways to Use Technology to
Build Vocabulary
Teaching and learning vocabulary
The first five eVoc strategies focus
on explicit teaching of vocabulary and helping students become independent word
learners.
eVoc strategy 1: Learn from visual
displays of word relationships within text
Wordle is a free Web application that allows you to create
a word cloud based on the frequency of words in a particular text. It can be
used to stimulate students' thinking about the meaning, importance, and
relationship of words as they analyze, create, and publish Wordles. To create a
word cloud, you paste text into the applet and then manipulate the visual
display by selecting the color scheme, layout, and font. Word clouds can be
used to highlight keywords and themes to prepare students for reading, as well
as prompt discussion after reading.
eVoc strategy 2: Take a digital vocabulary
field tripTeachers can create a digital version of a vocabulary field trip using a free online program called TrackStar (trackstar.4teachers.org). Like the popular WebQuest (Dodge, 1995), TrackStar allows you to collect a series of websites and annotate them so that students follow the online journey.
eVoc strategy 3: Connect fun and learning with online vocabulary games
We recommend two sites that offer a variety of activities to engage students in playing with words and word meanings: Vocabulary Games and Vocabulary. Games include crossword puzzles, picture-word matches, word scrambles, and 8 Letters in Search of a Word (a game that can draw you in unexpectedly as you race to create as many words as possible from eight letters within the time limit). The games are supplemented with themed word lists, test preparation items, and activities on prefixes and suffixes. These sites can be bookmarked for students' independent practice and can provide a basis for whole-group instruction.
eVoc strategy 4: Have students use media to express vocabulary knowledge
The previous eVoc strategies all require student interaction, from manipulating a visual word map to taking an online vocabulary field trip. This strategy focuses on students' vocabulary representations in multiple modes-writing, audio, graphic, video, and animation (Nikolova, 2002; Xin & Rieth, 2001). The first set of examples draws on promising research with universally designed digital text (Dalton & Proctor, 2007), suggesting the benefit of having students develop word meaning as they read a definition, view graphics, listen to the word, write or audiotape a personal connection to the word, create a caption for a graphic, and complete an interactive word map (Proctor et al., 2007; Proctor, Uccelli, Dalton, & Snow, 2009).
This kind of collaborative publication and engagement with an external audience is characteristic of successful multimedia learning (Fadel & Lemke, 2008). There really is no end to the creative possibilities when students use media to develop and celebrate the wonder of words.
eVoc strategy 5: Take advantage of online word reference tools that are also teaching tools
Many online word reference tools are also excellent teaching resources. For example, the Visual Thesaurus website complements its fee-based content with free information such as the Behind the Dictionary and Teachers at Work columns and teacher-created themed word lists. Many use multiple distribution platforms to reach learners wherever they are. For example, the Back in School webpage of Dictionary.com
Develop strategic digital readers with "on-demand" vocabulary help
This section highlights two online tools that provide just-in-time support while reading. Students can develop their strategic learning repertoire as they customize their own collection of supports.
eVoc strategy 6: Support reading and word learning with just-in-time vocabulary reference support
Whether avid or reluctant reader, we all encounter unfamiliar words in our reading and need strategies for what to do when this occurs. Rather than using print dictionaries or asking the teacher, students can learn to use online dictionaries and thesauri.
Two popular free online dictionaries/thesauri are Reference.com and Merriam-Webster. Tools expressly designed for students include Word Central from Merriam-Webster , Back in School from Dictionary.com, and Yahoo Kids! American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.
A strength of digital text is its capacity to communicate in multiple modes, enhancing understanding by providing two channels of input, visual/spatial and linguistic (Mayer, 2001). Merriam-Webster offers an online visual dictionary (visual.merriam-webster .com/index.php), and Enchanted Learning provides a picture dictionary for young children. Be on the alert for educational sites that offer specialized picture glossaries, such as NASA's online space picture dictionary. These sites can be added to your browser favorites. And, finally, it is important to teach students to notice and strategically use the vocabulary help that is offered on various sites, such as the word wizard that pops up when students are reading Scholastic News Online.
eVoc strategy 7: Use language translators to provide just-in-time help for ELLs
The value of a translator is that it supports learning words as they occur naturally in authentic text and allows students to view bilingual versions of a text side by side so that they can use their first-language knowledge to develop their English vocabulary. You can paste text into the translator field, select the input and output languages, and view the translation (see Babelfish, Google translator, and Bing Translator).
Expand wide reading and incidental word learning with digital text
Reading widely and deeply is important for vocabulary development and reading comprehension. These two strategies help increase students' volume of reading and, indirectly, their incidental word learning (Cunningham & Stanovich, 2001; Nagy & Herman, 1985).
eVoc strategy 8: Increase reading volume by reading digital text
Class libraries, read-alouds, book clubs, and independent reading time during the school day can increase the amount and variety of student reading. However, it is challenging to find the resources and time required to provide up-to-date material, to be responsive to students' interests, and to accommodate readers at different reading levels.
Many educational publishers and organizations provide free online content, including articles and media about current events, some of which are generated by students themselves. A few of our favorites include the following:
Weekly Reader
National Geographic Kids' blogs
eVoc strategy 9: Increase reading volume by listening to digital text with a text-to-speech tool and audio books
A common concern among educators is the
readability of websites and Internet content. One powerful strategy is to allow
students to listen to text with a text-to-speech (TTS) tool or, when available,
listen to audio narration. This provides students with access to
age-appropriate content and grade-level curriculum, a right mandated by the
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004. For struggling
readers, TTS increases their reading speed, reduces stress, and for some, but
not all, improves comprehension (Elkind & Elkind, 2007).
Fortunately, there are free TTS tools
that can be mounted on the browser toolbar for easy access while reading, such
as Click, Speak for Firefox (click speak.clcworld.net), or downloaded to your
desktop, such as the NaturalReader free TTS utility. Balabolka is a
PC-based TTS application that can run off a thumb drive. Some e-book readers
such as Microsoft Reader are free to download and can be used with public
domain content that is part of their e-book library.
eVoc strategy 10: Combine vocabulary
learning and social service
This final eVoc strategy is a free
online vocabulary game, Free Rice
that has attracted millions of users, young and old. We believe it offers an
opportunity to promote students' engagement with words while contributing to
the social good.
Free Rice presents a word and four
answer choices on the screen. For each correct answer, the United Nations World
Food Programme donates 10 grains of rice to countries in need. The game adjusts
its difficulty level based on the response, filling a bowl with rice as the
player adds to his or her score. As a class activity, the teacher could project
the website on screen and guide students in playing the game for 5 minutes
daily, discussing choices (e.g., "I think it must be 'x' because
'y'") and strategies (e.g., "Any words we can eliminate? Does the
root word give us a clue we can use?"). Students can play individually or
with a partner, reporting back to class on their rice earnings and sharing
intriguing new words.
