During reading time in the classroom, students may become bored and uninterested in the story. In order to encourage and foster listening skills, ask each student to make a prediction about the story as you read. For example, after reading one page, stop and ask each child what she thinks will happen next. You can also tell students before you read the story that you are going to ask them to make predictions after the story is over.
A great way to help students build listening skills is to assign homework that requires the students to listen to others. For example, create some interview questions for each student to ask his parent after school. Inform each student that he will need to record his parent's responses and discuss them in class the next day. Have students interview their parents about a topic that you are discussing in class for further relevance.
Activities involving multistep directions are interesting for students and encourage them to listen carefully as you give instructions. When giving the instructions to the class, don't write them down on the board; instead, tell your students that you are going to give them the instructions verbally only one time, so they should listen carefully. Encourage students to listen carefully and ask questions if they do not understand a concept you gave them.
Many students love playing games in the classroom and get excited about listening to and following instructions when a game is involved. Consider traditional games like "Simon Says," which encourage careful listening skills. You could also choose to play miming games, where students are encouraged to listen to the body language of their classmates. This teaches students that there is more to active listening than simply hearing someone's words.