Language Arts · Grade 6 · Oral Communication · Term 3

Foundations of Active Listening

Learn how to listen actively to understand, remember, and respond thoughtfully to what others are saying. This involves focusing your attention, asking questions, and providing feedback.

TL;DR:This topic helps students transform from passive hearers into active listeners, a crucial skill for becoming more effective learners, collaborators, and friends.

• Ontario Curriculum Expectations
• Ontario Language Curriculum, Grade 6: Oral Communication - Listening to Understand

About This Topic

This topic introduces Grade 6 students to the foundational principles of active listening, a critical component of the oral communication and literacy strands within Canadian provincial curricula. Moving beyond the passive biological process of hearing, active listening is framed as a dynamic and essential skill for comprehension, collaboration, and critical thinking. In a diverse Canadian context, developing these skills is paramount for fostering inclusive classroom environments, appreciating different perspectives, and engaging in meaningful dialogue, including conversations related to reconciliation and cultural understanding. The lessons focus on concrete strategies such as paraphrasing, asking clarifying questions, and providing constructive feedback, which are not only academic skills but also vital life skills for building relationships, resolving conflict, and participating thoughtfully in a community.

The activities are designed to be interactive and practical, encouraging students to apply listening strategies in authentic contexts like peer discussions, group projects, and presentations. By explicitly teaching and practising these skills, students will build the confidence to engage more deeply in classroom learning, better understand the viewpoints of their peers, and develop the metacognitive awareness to monitor their own comprehension. This foundation supports more complex tasks in later grades, such as analyzing media, participating in debates, and collaborating on inquiry-based projects, aligning with cross-curricular competencies that emphasize communication and collaboration.

Key Questions

1. Explain the difference between hearing and active listening.
2. Identify three strategies you can use to improve your listening comprehension during a class discussion.
3. Evaluate how paraphrasing what a speaker says can improve communication and prevent misunderstandings.

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate between the passive act of hearing and the active process of listening.
• Apply at least three active listening strategies, such as paraphrasing and asking clarifying questions, in a group discussion.
• Demonstrate non-verbal cues that indicate active listening, such as maintaining eye contact and appropriate body language.
• Explain how active listening improves communication and helps prevent misunderstandings.
• Summarize the main points of a spoken message accurately.

Key Vocabulary

Active Listening	The process of fully concentrating on what is being said to understand, respond, and remember the message.
Paraphrasing	Restating a speaker's message in your own words to confirm that you have understood it correctly.
Clarifying Question	A question asked to get more information or to remove confusion about what a speaker has said.
Non-verbal Cues	Body language, facial expressions, and gestures that communicate attention and understanding without using words.
Feedback	A verbal or non-verbal response to a speaker that shows you are listening and how you are interpreting their message.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

Listening just means being quiet while someone else is talking.

What to Teach Instead

Being quiet is only the first step. Active listening is a mental process that involves focusing, understanding the message, thinking about it, and often responding to show you've understood.

Common Misconception

Hearing and listening are the same thing.

What to Teach Instead

Hearing is a physical sense, the ability for your ears to detect sound. Listening is a skill you learn; it's the ability to pay attention to and make sense of what you hear.

Common Misconception

If I am a good listener, I have to agree with everything the speaker says.

What to Teach Instead

Active listening is about understanding the speaker's perspective, not necessarily agreeing with it. You can fully understand someone's point of view while still having a different opinion.

Active Learning Ideas

Fishbowl Discussion

Listen and Paraphrase Pairs

In pairs, one student speaks for one minute on a simple topic (e.g., their favourite season). The other student listens without interrupting and then paraphrases the main points back to the speaker to check for understanding.

15 min·Pairs

Fishbowl Discussion

Story Circle with a Talking Object

The class sits in a circle and passes a 'talking object'. Only the person holding the object can speak, while all others practise active listening. This activity, inspired by some Indigenous traditions, encourages respectful turn-taking and focused attention.

20 min·Whole Class

Fishbowl Discussion

Barrier Game

Students work in pairs with a barrier between them. One student (the 'director') describes a simple drawing or block structure, and the other (the 'builder') must recreate it based only on the verbal instructions, asking clarifying questions as needed.

25 min·Pairs

Real-World Connections

• Following multi-step instructions from a coach to learn a new play in sports.
• Resolving a disagreement with a friend by listening to understand their feelings before responding.
• Learning about family history by listening carefully to stories told by parents, grandparents, or Elders.
• Working effectively on a group project for school by ensuring all team members' ideas are heard and understood.
• Staying safe by listening to and remembering important instructions from a lifeguard or ski patrol.

Assessment Ideas

Discussion Prompt

Use an observation checklist during a class discussion or pair activity to track students' use of specific listening strategies, such as paraphrasing, asking questions, and using non-verbal cues.

Quick Check

Students participate in a structured role-playing scenario (e.g., planning an event, solving a problem) where they are assessed with a rubric on their ability to apply active listening skills to achieve a shared goal.

Quick Check

Students complete a reflection log after a group activity, identifying one thing they did well as a listener and one goal for improvement in their next conversation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if my mind starts to wander when someone is talking?

It's normal to get distracted sometimes. When you notice it happening, gently bring your focus back to the speaker. Making eye contact, nodding, and trying to predict what they'll say next are all tricks to keep your brain engaged.

Isn't it rude to ask questions while someone is talking?

Interrupting to change the subject can be rude, but asking a clarifying question at the right moment shows you are paying close attention. It's best to wait for a natural pause to ask something like, 'Could you explain what you mean by that?'

How can I get better at remembering what people say?

Practise! Try to silently paraphrase the speaker's points in your head as they talk. You can also try to connect what they're saying to something you already know, which helps your brain store the information.