22_Active Listening

The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them. —Ralph G. NicholsBig Ideas For This Lesson Active or Whole Body Listening At Home Resources Level: Lower Elementary (K-2) Concepts: • Active Listening • Communication Skills • Conflict Resolution • Whole Body ListeningActive Listening (or ‘Whole Body Listening’) is about seeking to understand, and to be understood.Just like mindfulness and learning to pay attention, listening is actually a skill that can be learned andtaught. As adults, we know from experience that no person is capable of listening to every instruction100% of the time. Attention, and the willpower to direct our attention, is a limited resource. Constantlistening and attention is an impossible task, but listening can be improved with practice. To invitecompassion and patience, take a moment to reflect on how listening is modeled in your home. Whatlessons has your child learned about listening just from watching other family members? What mightyou keep or change about how listening is modeled in your home? Active listening goes beyond whatwe notice with our sense of hearing and can be referred to as both hearing and receiving a message.Receiving messages requires us to pay attention. Essential VocabularyActive Listening: The choice to engage fully with the speaker and their message. Hearing and receiving a speaker’smessage, spoken or unspoken. A specific set of skills and techniques for engaging with others through conversation.Examples of skills include: reflections, paraphrasing, minimal encouragers, body language, clarifying questions/state-ments, and summarizing.Body Language: Non-verbal forms of communication including posture, physical gestures, facial expressions, and eyecontact.Clarifying Questions: Open-ended questions that invite further explanation from the speaker and demonstrateattention to detail. For example, “What did you mean by...?” or “Can you explain that more?”Hearing vs. Receiving: Hearing: Sounds or words we hear (may or may not involve an understanding of meaning).Receiving: Understanding the message of what was shared (spoken or unspoken); requires paying attention, pro-cessing, and understanding meaning. One can hear a message without receiving it, but one must hear and receive amessage to understand it.Whole Body Listening: Another term for describing active listening. Whole body listening typically involves:• Eyes on the Speaker • Ears Listening for Important Parts• Mouth Quiet • Body Still (or Feet on the Ground/ Criss-Cross, Hands in Lap)• Curious Mind Thinking Carefully About What You’re Hearing© 2018 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 1 of 2 All rights reserved.

ACTIVE OR WHOLE BODY LISTENING | GRADES K-2 PracticeAsk your student to demonstrate whole-body listening and teach a parent or family member how to activelylisten. Then, practice whole body listening during a read aloud of one of their favorite books or during a conver-sation.Bonus: Use the Guided Audio Meditations on Mindful Hearing to practice further listening skills:http://annakaharris.com/mindfulness-for-children/ Student Resources • Dear Whiskers (Picture Book) by Ann Whitehead• My Name is Maria Isabel (Picture Book) by Alma Flor Ada• Gooney Bird Greene (Picture Book) by Lois Lowry• Hello! Hello! (Picture Book) by Mathew Cordell• Horton Hears a Who (Picture Book) by Dr. Seuss• The Worst Day of My Life Ever! (Picture Book) by Julia Cook• Whole Body Listening (Video 1:36) Adult Resources• Is Your Child Really Listening?: One Minute Games to Help Kids Focus (Book) by Rhea Farbman• Julian Treasure: 5 Ways to Listen Better (TED Talk Video 7:43)• Say What? 5 Ways to Get Students to Listen (Edutopia Blog Post)© 2017 Empowering Education, Inc. PAGE 2 of 2 All rights reserved.