xxx Lesson 13

Listen Actively
Overview: This lesson will provide the student with a clear definition of
each communication skill, the elements of that skill and how the skills are
linked.

Educational Goal: The goal of this lesson is for each learner to compre-
hend the communication skill—Listen Actively.

Objectives:
Cognitive: — Define Listen Actively Time: 2 Hours
— Identify appropriate strategies to use with each standard to
increase communication Teacher Materials:
Affective: — Contribute to classroom discussion — EFF Standard, Listen Actively
— Receive the information and apply it in their daily lives — “How to Improve Your Listen-
ing Skills,” Scriptographic
Skills Standard Connection: This lesson links to past lessons on the Booklet by Channing L. Bete
communication process and prepares learners for future lessons by giving Co. Inc., South Deerfield, MA
them a good foundation in communication skills. This lesson has con- 01373
nections to the Tennessee KSA – Listen for Understanding and the EFF (www.channing-bete/com)
Standard – Listen Actively. — Strategy Chart

Teaching Strategy: This lesson will focus the learners’ attention on the Student Materials:
communication skill—Listen Actively. Point out to learners that this skill — “How to Improve Your
happens simultaneously as people communicate with one another. The Listening Skills”
teacher will define the skill using the EFF Skill Standard, Strategy Chart, — Copy of EFF Standard,
and the Talking Heads visual. Learners will be given a copy of “How to Listen Actively
Improve Your Listening Skills” as the reading material for this lesson. — Learner Note Taker
Methods of instruction will include: lecture, question-and-answer, and — Strategy Chart Handout
group discussion.

Lesson Plan
Introduction
Attention: To be effective parents, workers, citizens, or students we must
be effective communicators. We are going to begin today to use our lis-
tening skills to help us understand the message that other people are
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Listen Actively Lesson 13

sending to us. We learned when we studied the Communication Loop

that communication is the process of sharing ideas, feelings, and
thoughts with other people and having those ideas, feelings, and thoughts
understood. Today we will look more in depth at a communication skill
and identify strategies to help us improve our ability to communicate
effectively.

Motivation:
Question: What would happen to your family if you were unable to
communicate with them?

You can see that being unable to communicate can cause many problems.
Yet even with the ability to communicate sometimes misunderstandings
occur, feelings are hurt, and things go wrong all because people did not
communicate effectively with us or we were unable to effectively commu-
nicate with them. Today we will learn that when we communicate there is
a constant flow of information and that by using communication strate-
gies we can obtain the information we need, solve problems, and be con-
fident in our ability to communicate with others.

Overview: This lesson will build on the

basic concepts of communication that
Activity: Do the following time you tell the story, empha-
activity with your learners. You size Jerry’s name. Some of you have already learned and help you
will need to have distracters them will usually get the story become aware of strategies that you can
such as a penny, nickel, and after the third time. use to improve your communication
dime. Using the distracters, The answer is Jerry. skills. You will use the booklet, “How to
hold each one up as you say Improve Your Listening Skills” and the
a name in the following story. After this activity say to
EFF Skill Standard to develop a new
the class: Listening is more
Say: Jerry’s mom and dad had difficult than you may have
understanding of listening and observ-
three kids. The first child’s thought. You were focusing ing. So let’s begin by looking at an essen-
name was Abraham (hold up on the coins, which were a tial communication skill—Listen Actively.
penny). The next child’s name distracter and not useful to
was George (hold up the nick- the meaning of the information.
el). What was the third child’s The distracter changed your
name (hold up dime)? Wait for focus. This can happen at any
learner responses. Usually you point in the communication
will have to repeat the story. process. Remember the
They will ask you to tell them communication process? Point
the story again. Most of the to the process in the room and
time learners will say a presi- specifically to the barriers.
dent’s name because they are Barriers are those things that
focusing on the coins instead interrupt the message.
of what is being said. Every

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Listen Actively Lesson 13

Body of Lesson
Main Point 1. Why Do People Listen?
People listen in order to:
• Increase knowledge or to learn
• To gain understanding
• For general reasons
—To respond appropriately to what we hear
—To gain information about work or school—it gives us details
about what to do, how to do it, when and where to do it.
Example: When is the first break? How do you know?
• To gather data to make decisions
• To be more effective in our interpersonal relationships: When children
return home from school and it has been a “bad” day or when your
spouse had a “hard day” at work.
Teaching Tip
Turn to page 2 in your “How to Improve Your Listening Skills” book. Let’s Give learners time to
read pages 2 and 3 to find the definition of listening and why it is impor- read these two pages,
tant. Turn to page 5 in the book and take the listening inventory. When
and then ask for a volunteer to
you finish, score your paper. You can use this inventory later to determine
define listening. Write student
what skills you need to work on.
comments on the board. Ask
students why it is important to
Main Point 2. Importance of Listening listen. Record their responses.
Listening well is critical to our ability to become an effective communica-
tor. Listening is one of the most used communication skills and one of the
most neglected communication skills. How many of you have ever had a
course in how to listen? Listening is not as easy as it sounds. When you are
listening actively, you are focusing on what the other person is saying in
order to understand what they mean. This requires energy and effort.

Main Point 3. Effective Listening Means Hearing,

Comprehending, and Remembering
It takes all three elements to be an effective communicator. Let’s look at
each element.
A. Hearing—hearing is not the same as listening. Have you ever heard
your spouse or child tell you something but you misunderstood their
message? To really hear the message takes energy. It means paying
attention physically, asking open-ended questions, maintaining eye
contact, and focusing on what the speaker is saying.

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Listen Actively Lesson 13

B. Comprehending is understanding the message. It means being able to

interpret what the speaker is saying. It also means being aware when you
are not understanding the message and adjusting your listening strate-
gies so you can comprehend the message. Some ways you might do this
are to ask the person questions, paraphrase what the person said, try to
understand the other person’s point of view, or watch the person’s body
language. Turn to page 4 and let’s ready pages 4, 6 and 7.
C. Remembering—once you have heard the message you will need to
remember it.

Main Point 4: Tips for Effective Listening and Ways

to Improve Your Listening Skills
Before Listening
• Take responsibility for comprehension. Your teacher can make sure that
you hear but only you can be sure that you understand.
• Get ready to listen; focus your attention on the speaker.
— Physically
1. Try to tune out physical distractions such as noise, hunger, being
hot or cold.
2. Try to remove things that may distract you as you listen in class.
Example: pagers, cell phones, materials on desk, etc.
— Mentally
1. Resist mental distractions; actively focus on the speaker.
2. Review what you already know about the subject.
3. Review your notes.
4. Try to find an area of interest within the subject.

During Listening
• Listen for the main ideas.
• Listen to understand rather than to argue or find mistakes.
— Hear the person out before you respond. You are listening to gain
information, not necessarily to agree with it.
— Don’t be critical. Don’t tune out on the information because you
don’t see the value in it.
• Keep an open mind.
— Control your emotions. If your emotions take control then you have
created a barrier. Try to maintain balance.
— Judge content, not delivery.
• Be mentally agile. Most people speak at about 200 words a minute, but
the mind processes words at around 400-500 words per minute. During
the mind’s spare time it can easily wander. Be alert.

126 L E A R N I N G S K I L L S
Listen Actively Lesson 13

• Feedback/paraphrase to check understanding—ask ques-

STANDAR D
tions and put the information into your own words.
Listen Actively
• Take notes—you can always reread but you can never re-
• Attend to oral information.
listen. • Clarify purpose for listening and

S
use listening strategies appropriate

V
S

O
to that purpose.

IC
C
AC
• Monitor comprehension, adjusting

E
Ways to Improve listening strategies to overcome
barriers to comprehension.
• Work at listening—active listening is understanding. It • Integrate information from listening
takes energy to concentrate on what the speaker is saying Family
with prior knowledge to address
listening purpose.
Worker

and not what you want to say next. You will need to be

RE
aware of the verbals and the nonverbals. When you are

IND

TU
communicating with others you must become a people

EP

FU
EN
watcher. Look at their nonverbal communication. What

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are their facial expressions? What is their stance? Are their

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T

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A T
C E
T G
arms folded? Do they ask you questions? Are they playing IO
N Citizen
BR
I D

with their hair, jewelry, or clothing?

• Practice effective listening—put yourself in situations that
require effective listening. While you are in class take notes and ask
questions when you do not understand what is being said. (Give stu-
dents a copy of the EFF Standard—Listen Actively. Read the Standard
with the students.)

After reading the Standard ask the following question:

Question: What does the Standard Listening Actively say we must do in
order to communicate effectively?

• Stop talking—“I never learned anything while I was talking” (unknown

sage). You can’t hear if you are talking. Don’t interrupt; let the speaker
finish. A good listener will maintain eye contact with the speaker, not be Teaching Tip
doing other things, and not talking when the speaker is talking.
Have learners give
specific examples of

Main Point 5: Monitor the Effectiveness what “attend to oral information

of Your Communication and visual information” means.
In order to be an effective communicator you must monitor the effective- Check to see if they can identify
ness of your communication at all times and adjust your strategies to
listening and observing strate-
increase understanding, overcome barriers, and respond in the right way.
gies. If they cannot identify
Give students the Skill Standards & Strategies Chart (in Appendix I). Ask
the students to look at each skill standard and the strategies to use with strategies, tell them that they will
that skill. Ask students to give an example of a time when they would use get a handout that will help them
that strategy. identify these strategies.

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Listen Actively Lesson 13

Conclusion
Summary: This lesson builds on the basic concept of the communica-
tion skill that you have been using in daily life. You learned that poor
communication skills can cause conflict and that effective communica-
tion can eliminate many problems at home, school, or on the job. You
also learned that listening and observing work together.

Re-Motivation: Becoming an effective communicator will help you to

achieve many of the goals you have set. You can improve your communi-
cation skills by assessing yourself on a daily basis. You can also ask teach-
ers and friends or family members to give you feedback on how you are
doing. Practicing your skills daily will make them become habits. At the
Teaching Tip beginning of this lesson you took a listening inventory—use that to help
you decide which skills you will work on.
Sometimes students
will ask for another Close: Activity: Tell the students the following story. Ask them to listen
story. At that point you can tell closely and answer your question.
the slop story. Ask everyone as a You are driving a bus. At the first stop five people get on the bus. At
group to spell out the word slop the next stop three people get off the bus and two people get on.
(Usually at this point students will begin to try to solve a math equa-
and then say it three times in a
tion. Let them do it.) At the next stop ten people get on the bus and
row. Then ask, what do you do six people got off. What was the bus driver’s shoe size?
when you come to a green light?
Most students will say stop. Usually students will say, “How am I supposed to know?” or give you a
(The answer is go!) math problem. At this point ask the students to listen closely while you
retell the story. Sometimes one or two students will get the answer after
hearing the story three times. This story seems to be more difficult than the
Jerry story. (The answer is: You are the bus driver. What is your shoe size?)
Homework

Homework Assignment: Listen Actively. Assign students to listen to the

radio or television, take notes on what they saw and heard, and report
back to the class.

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xxx TABE Review

Homework Review: Listen Actively Teaching Tip

Begin each day with a
review of the previous
Thought for the Day
day’s homework. Give
“What may be done at any time will be done at no time.”
15-20 minutes to review the
— Scottish proverb
homework.
Things do not get done when we continue to put them off. Prioritize
what you need to do. Prioritizing means, first things first. Don’t let others Then begin the “Thought for the
or yourself stop you from doing what should be done. Accomplishing and Day.” Give students time to
finishing the challenging things is half the battle answer the four questions. Then
discuss the “Thought for the
Day.”

ACTIVITY: Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) Review

Objective
The objective of this activity is for the student to (1) review his or her performance on the
TABE Test, comprehend what is known and what needs further improvement, (2) identify
specific test taking strategies, (3) respond to the value of diagnostic assessments, and (4) set a
short-term goal using the Plan-Do-Study-Act model. This final activity connects to the stu-
dent taking responsibility for their learning using available resources, independent study, and
teacher assistance.

The students have completed the TABE Test complete battery and are ready to see how they
have done. The review process is a simple one. It depends upon the program having enough
versions of the TABE test.

Procedure
TABE provides various versions of a test so a diagnostic review could be accomplished with-
out test compromise. The time between tests and various versions should negate any possible
test item recall. Plus the easiest and best way for a student to master any items is to simply
learn how to do it.

1. Provide each student with the results of his or her tests. Be sure to re-emphasize that this
pre-test was conducted with no preparation or support through in-class instructions. It is just
an indicator of where the student is starting his or her educational journey. So, it’s okay the
results are only a baseline to improve upon with hard work. The teacher should use appropri-
ate words of encouragement, a positive attitude about improvement, and a realistic view of the
effort it will take to be successful. The important part of having this knowledge is that the stu-
dent sets some goals and develops a plan to achieve them. Reassure the student that at the end
of the review there will be an opportunity to set goals and develop a plan to achieve them
using the Shewhart cycle and the EFF planning standard.

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xxx TABE Review

Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) Review, continued

2. Each student reviews test items he or she missed or had a question about. The teacher
should allow the student to discover his or her own mistakes by having the student try the
problem again. Observe closely how they do the problem to understand where the student is
making the mistake. Once the pressure of the “clock” is off the student, they can figure out
the problem. If that is the case ask the following questions: “What happened, why, and how
can you fix it next time?” These questions will help the student to reflect, evaluate, and learn
from the process. Have the student write down the strategy or principle they learned on his
or her test-taking worksheet. Again, they should focus on the technique and strategy used not
the specific content of a question. Continue this throughout the complete battery. You will be
surprised at the outcome of the techniques and strategies the students come up with. Re-
enforce the learning through positive motivation and encouragement. Also use the student’s
learning insights to show if they hadn’t made certain test-taking mistakes they would have
had a better score.

3. However, if the student continues to make the same mistake, the teacher has to decide if
it is a quick fix or detailed in-class instruction is needed. Also, there are some numerical
operations or concepts the student has not been taught yet, this will require classroom
instruction.

4. The bottom line is—the student needs to understand what can be attributed to faulty
test taking strategies or gaps in his or her knowledge. They need to know that they can do it
with effort, motivation, and discipline.

In Learning Skills we have found faulty test taking strategies as a primary culprit for student’s
missing numerous test items at appropriate testing levels. Numerous teachers have confirmed
this conclusion. When the student is not under the proverbial “clock” they relax and perform
better. Once they understand that they know the information, they can then employ certain
strategies to become better at taking a test. End the review session on a positive note, refer-
ring to the knowledge and insights gained through taking the TABE tests.

Summary
To conclude this activity, the teacher should ask the following general questions of the student.
1. What have you learned about yourself and testing?
2. Why is that knowledge important?
3. How can you use it to guide your learning?
The teacher should guide the student’s discussion towards reaching the activity objectives.

Another option for test item review is taking generic subject (grade appropriate) standard-
ized tests. Several publishers print grade-level subject tests that can be obtained at local
school supply stores. The fact is practice test items can be an effective learning tool for pro-

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Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) Review, continued

viding understanding, practice, and building student confidence. Throughout the process the
teacher should control any guided review.

Homework Homework

Given what the student has learned about their test-taking skills and areas for
improvement, these insights should be turned into a short-term goal-setting activity.
Homework Activity with Independent Study in workbooks helps to support this.

An alternative TABE Review is found following Lesson 19.

L E A R N I N G S K I L L S 131