Lesson One: Introducing students to the art of speaking and listening
On Thursday I began my Field Study about using scaffolding activities for storytelling. The children in my class are young and I already knew that I would have to introduce each step slowly and carefully. I decided to use the game “Virginia Reel” to practice listening and speaking. To a partner, the students would share 3 things: their name, age and something that they liked to do. Before the game, we practiced speaking these sentences “in our heads” first. This gave the students an opportunity to quietly think through the process. A few students came to the front of the class and shared their stories for all of us as examples. Then, in 2 lines, face to face, the students told their stories to a partner. Some were loud and animated. Others shy and reserved. There were active – and not so active – listeners. I quickly grabbed my camera and got a shot of these interactions.
Instead of reviewing the behaviours of being an active listener and a clear speaker on a t-chart like I have done in the past, I put the picture under the doc. camera and we debriefed it as a class. I saw a number of things happen. First, my role became that of a facilitator not the imparter of knowledge. I let the picture speak and teach. Students noticed, shared and made connections. They pointed out good and bad behaviours. They listened to each other. Secondly, in making observations, my students encouraged and affirmed each other. We saw some active listening and some great storytelling. One shy student in particular, used emotion and gesture when speaking. I saw students being built up by their classmates – naturally and honestly. Thirdly, the next day, when reviewing the Virginia Reel picture, my students remembered details and gave examples of the picture with little difficulty. The fact that most of them were in the picture gave importance to the event and allowed them to make personal connections. They could easily recall good and bad storytelling behaviours.
Scaffolding used: providing students with a framework for speaking, quiet thinking, student modelling, teaching (learning to stand in a line, facing a partner) and playing the game “Virginia Reel”, debriefing by discussing and sharing behaviours seen on the picture.