Speaking and listening in the primary classroom

341 Words2 Pages
It was evident from my initial visit to the year 4/5 class I am currently working with, just how important speaking and listening (S&L) can be when encouraging children’s literacy. I find that during each comprehension lesson, brainstorming is an extremely effective strategy. It enables me to assess the level at which the children are at, in regards to the narrative text that they are currently reading as a group. When I present a question within the group, this effectively initiates a discussion between them and encourages the children to listen to the thoughts of their peers. This strategy not only encourages the children to write down their ideas, it gives them confidence to talk within a group. Drawing on my recent experiences within the classroom, I find that I am more inclined to prompt children who have difficulty speaking during a group exercise. This has proven to be a worthwhile approach, in slowly encouraging these particular children to get their voices heard amongst their peers. It is true that ‘in order to make learning through speaking and listening more effective, teachers need to give children more time to think before expecting a response.’(Grugeon et al, 2001:67) I do agree with this approach and this reflects the findings from the National Oracy Project of 1990, when it was argued that it is better for the teacher to ‘be involved fully with one group than to try to spend a few minutes with each’(National Oracy Project, 1990) I am not wholly convinced that this would work in reality, since there are the other groups in the classroom to consider, but according to research, ‘the other groups are responsible for their own success’ (National Oracy Project, 1990). I believe that if the lesson is planned correctly, the teacher would have devised questions, whereby the children are encouraged to ask more questions as well as imparting their
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