For this skill-building activity, the leader reads a short passage from a book or a news story from the newspaper. Ask those in the classroom to listen with their eyes closed. After the passage has been read, those listening write down three key plot points from the book passage or three key elements of the news story. The leader reads the passage again. This time, those listening keep their eyes open. After the passage is complete, the listeners either fine-tune the points they wrote down before, add to them or change them. The leader or teacher goes through the actual points with the class. Discuss what method best helped students listen and what method best kept out distractions.
Record yourself reading or reciting a short, expressive piece of material. Play the recording for those in the class. Have them jot notes about how they felt about what they heard and the meaning of the piece. Read or recite the piece using facial expression and body language. Ask the class to respond, and write about how body language and facial expressions added to their understanding of the material. Ask them to watch a speaker and take notes of how body language and facial expressions added to or detracted from the material.
Ask a speaker to come to class and speak. Ask the students to listen closely and prepare three questions to ask the speaker at the end of the talk. Each question should be on topic and deal with the issue on which the speaker spoke. The questions should ask for more in-depth information or for clarification. Explain that the questions are to be polite and professional, and not used to denigrate the speaker or the topic. During the talk, plan a series of distractions, such as a door slamming, a student whispering, a phone ringing and a book dropped. Discuss reasons the students did or did not stay focused and the impact of the distractions. Ask students to use the questions and their answers in a paragraph to show they understood the theme the speaker tried to convey.
Active listening requires thinking about what was heard, not just being present in the room. Pair up the students in the classroom. In turn, each tells the other about a life incident. At the end of the telling, the listener says, “What you told me was ….” and first paraphrases the story back to the teller, then offers a reflection. If the story was funny, the second student says something like, “You didn’t think this was funny at the time, but now you do.” If it was sad, the reflection could be, “This incident still makes you sad.” Repeat the story but also reflect the emotion behind the story as part of a skill-building active listening activity.