The Art of Listening (Learning Plan)

UNDERSTANDING

Decoding of a message and constructing appropriate feedback despite the presence of barriers to listening may be influenced by the degree and process of listening employed by the receiver. When one is able to repeat, paraphrase, or reflect, we can say that active listening has been employed.

KNOWLEDGE

  • Listening and it’s importance
  • Barriers to listening
  • Active listening

SKILLS

  • Prerequisite skill: Modeling the process of effective communication
  • Practicing active listening

MOTIVATION

Touch by Touch

You are given ten minutes to do this activity inside or outside the classroom.Touch the thing or color dictated by your teacher. Instructions will be given only once. Those who will make mistakes are out of the game. The last person left wins.

Answer these questions.

  1. Did you enjoy the activity?
  2. Were you able to touch the things or colors as instructed?
  3. Was the instruction heard and understood?
  4. Why were you eliminated? Explain.
  5. Why were you able to win the game? Explain.

ACTIVITY

Q and A

You are given at least fifteen minutes to browse through some books, magazines, newspapers, and other reading materials in the school library. Choose a very short story, article, trivia, news, or feature story. Copy the text on your notebook. After reading the story silently, formulate one question about the selected text starting with any of the following: what, who, when, where, why, or how.

Back in the classroom, choose a partner and decide who speaks first. Ask the question and read the selected text in your pair once. Your partner will then answer. Repeat the process with roles reversed.

Answer the following questions.

  1. Were you able to formulate one question about your selected text?
  2. Did you read your selected text loud and clear enough for your partner to hear?
  3. Did you answer the question correctly? Why or why not?

Quiz Bowl

Form a group of five members. Your teacher will give you a selection to read. Each of you should prepare one question about the selection. Write each question on a piece of paper, roll the paper, and place it in a container provided.

Each member of the group has to read this election once while the other members take down notes.  Decide the order of oral reading. After each one of you has read the selection, take turns drawing a question. The first one to answer correctly gets one point. If you authored a question, validate the answer.

Answer and discuss each question below.

  1. Did you enjoy the activity? Why? Why not?
  2. Did quiz bowl encourage you to listen attentively?
  3. Were you able to answer the questions correctly? Why? Why not?

Points to Remember

Listening is an integral part of the process of communication and is a process in itself. It is not simple or passive, but it is complex and active.

COLLABORATE!

Sit, Stand, and Jump

Your teacher will divide you into groups. He/she will give instructions and you are to listen carefully. Remain seated when you hear the name of the place; stand when you hear a color; and jump when you hear an action word. Your group wins if you have the least number of mistakes.

Answer the following questions.

  1. Did you have fun doing the activity?
  2. Were you forced to listen attentively the words dictated?
  3. Did you follow the directions correctly? Why or why not?
  4. How did you feel when a group member committed mistakes?
  5. How did you feel when you committed mistakes? Why?

Paint me a Picture

Using art materials, draw a picture or make a mosaic, collage, or a painting of your favorite landscape. Be creative and colorful. You are given at least ten minutes to do this activity. Make sure no one sees it.

Bring your artwork, find a partner, and face one another. Decide who will go first. Your partner has to do an artwork based on the description of your own artwork. After 15 minutes, show your version of the artwork. Then, exchange roles.

Answer the following questions.

  1. Was the activity fun? Why or why not?
  2. Was your artwork creative and colorful?
  3. Was it easy describing it to your partner? Why do you say so?
  4. Compare your artwork and the one made by your partner as you described it. are they similar? Why or why not?
  5. What made it easy or difficult to follow the instruction or description of your partner?

Puzzled

Form a group of ten members. Your teacher will blindfold five of you and give them two puzzle pieces each. The other five members, as soon as the signal is given, will instruct the blindfolded members to post the puzzle pieces they’re holding on the board to complete the puzzle. Your group earns 2 points for every correct piece placed on the board. Finish first and win the game.

Answer the following questions.

  1. Did you enjoy the activity? Why or why not?
  2. Was your group able to complete the puzzle?
  3. What helped you accomplished activity?
  4. What hindered you from completing the activity?
  5. For the blindfolded members, were you able to listen to the instruction? did you comprehend the instructions clearly? Why? Why not?
  6. For the other members, were you able to give clear instructions? Why or why not?
  7. Tell us how you planned to complete the activity. Were you able to achieve the intended result? Why?
  8. Are you happy with the result of the activity? Why or why not?

Points to Remember

Barriers to listening include internal and external noise, which affect the transmission of the message.

ACQUIRE

Follow Me

Your teacher will give you instructions. Follow everything you are instructed to do. If your group has the least number of mistakes, you win the game. Are you excited? Ready, set, go!

Answer The following questions.

  1. Did you have fun doing the activity?
  2. Were you forced to listen attentively to the instructions?
  3. Were you able to do as instructed? Why or why not?
  4. How did you feel when a group member committed mistakes?
  5. How did you feel when you committed mistakes? Why?

Look and Listen

View a number of news video clips twice jot down notes. Deliver your version of the news story to the class. Your presentation will be graded according to the following rubric.

Answer the following questions.

  1. Did you watch and listen attentively? Why do you say so?
  2. Were you able to report the news story correctly? Why or why not?
  3. What helped you report the news story?
  4. What hindered you from reporting the news story correctly?
  5. Are you happy to accomplish this task? Why or why not?

Hear Me

For two minutes, record your answer to the following questions: What news story caught your Interest and why? How did it affect you? Find a spot where no one else can hear you. Listen to your own recording.

Back in the classroom, find a partner. Exchange voice recordings and listen to them twice.

Answer the following questions.

  1. Did you listen attentively to the recording?
  2. Did you get the gist or summary of what was said? Why or why not?
  3. Was there any local pause or filler such as ahmm, ahhh, hmmm, you know, etc. heard?
  4. What do these vocal pauses or fillers imply?
  5. Did these vocal pauses or fillers affect your listening in any way? How?

Who Said What?

Share about your partner’s recording. You will be graded according to the following rubric.

Answer the following questions.

  1. Did your partner correctly relay your recorded message?
  2. Did you accurately share about your partner’s recording?
  3. Are you happy with your output? Why? Why not?
  4. What helped you accomplish the task successfully?
  5. What barriers did you meet in doing the task?

Chew On

Based on the previous activities, what is the importance of listening? Cite concrete situations highlighting its importance. You have one minute to share your thoughts on the matter. Wait for the signals to begin and end your sharing.

Answer the following questions.

  1. In summary, what is the importance of listening? In what particular situation is listening very important?
  2. Did activity help you appreciate listening more? How?

Points to Remember

Active listening is evident when one remembers, repeats, paraphrases, reflects, or responds accurately and appropriately.

Ear Me

Draw an ear, Representing how much of a listener you are. The bigger the ear, the more active listener you are.

From Theory to Practice

You are applying to be an intern for a big company. one of the skills assessment tasks you have to pass is taking down notes.

Work as a pair and assigned applicant and interviewer roles. As the applicant, you take down notes, while the interviewer dictates correspondence, repeating a word or phrase twice only. Read your notes and submit them to the interviewer. As the interviewer, ask the applicant to tell you what the correspondence is all about.

Repeat the process with the roles reversed. Then, ask each other questions according to their roles played.

You will be graded based on the following rubric.

Summary Notes

Listening is an integral part that communication and is a process in itself. It is not simple or passive; it is complex and active. One understands, remembers, repeats, paraphrases, reflects, or responds based on how active listening is. In other words, decoding the message depends on listening. Usually, the more active listening is used, the more accurate the decoding of the message becomes. However, just like the rest of the communication process, barriers to listening include internal and external noise, which affects the transmission of the message.

Since the ultimate goals of communication are to understand and to be understood, more responsibility falls under the receiver or decoder or listener rather than on the source or sender. No matter how good or eloquent the source or sender is when the receiver or decoder or listener does not actively listen, then communication may eventually fail. Good communication entails good listening.