Hello and welcome.

Thank you for joining me for today's English lesson.

I'm Mrs. Butterworth, and I cannot wait to get started on today's lesson because this lesson is all about developing active listening skills.

And I think this is such an important thing to think about because we very often think about things like speaking or writing or reading, and actually really thinking about how we can be good listeners is a really important thing.

So let's get started.

So in this lesson, you will use effective active listening skills to be a present and responsive audience member.

Let's look at those all important keywords that we will need for our understanding of today's lesson.

These words are: active listening, body language, engaged, and open question.

Now, active listening, now this is a really important thing we'll be considering in today's lesson.

Now this is all about fully concentrating, understanding and responding thoughtfully to what someone is saying.

So we're gonna really think about what it means to be an active listener.

We're also gonna consider body language.

So we very often think about body language when we are speaking or presenting, but we're also gonna think about how body language, facial expressions, and gestures can really help you be a good active listener.

If you are engaged, you are actively participating and focused.

So you are attentive, you show interest and enthusiasm.

And again, we're gonna think about how we can present that today.

And then an open question is a type of question that allows for a wide range of responses beyond just yes or no.

So we're gonna really think about open questions today and how they can be a really good way to develop discussion and pose questions.

So the outline of our lesson looks like this.

We're going to begin by focusing on how to be an active listener, and then we're going to move on by using those active listening skills and how we can use them to respond.

So let's get started.

So let's use our thinking skills now.

I want you to just think for a moment, we often focus on our speaking skills, but how often do we consider our listening skills? What do you think? Is it often, not very at all? And I would like you to discuss, please, why is listening just as important as other skills? So you may wish to pause the video now to give yourself time to discuss your answer to that question or think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Some really lovely thoughtful answers there as to why listening is so important.

We have our Oak pupils to give us some feedback.

So let's see what they say.

So Sam has said, why is listening just as important as other skills? So Sam has said, "It can be nerve-wracking delivering a presentation, speech, or performance.

Being an active listener creates a supportive and respectful environment." I think that's a really lovely point from Sam because very often we are audiences for other people speaking, that could be our peers when they're delivering a presentation or a speech.

And actually, being an active listener really encourages that supportive and respectful environment.

So we want to be a good audience member.

And Jun has said that, "Listening is an important skill to ensure you receive all the information or content being delivered." Absolutely.

So we have to make sure that we are actively listening, we are engaged and focused so that we don't miss anything.

And then finally, Sofia says that, "Being a good listener makes you better in discussions." That's a great point, Sofia.

She says, "You can respond in a relevant way and then develop or even challenge comments." I think that's a really good point because actually listening in a discussion is just as important as speaking.

So Lucas makes this statement, "I'm always quiet in class and when part of an audience.

I don't need to improve my listening skills." So perhaps there's some of you out there right now who feel this and think this like Lucas.

But actually yes, it is important to be quiet, but you do also need to ensure you are actively listening.

And this goes beyond just being quiet.

Now, active listening means you are completely engaged and focused on what is being delivered.

Your brain is thinking.

So yes, you are quiet and you are still, but your brain is doing the work to make sure that you are engaged and focused.

And there are also ways that you can demonstrate and improve your active listening skills.

So we're gonna think of some really specific ways now that we can improve and develop our listening skills.

But first, a true or false question.

As long as you are quiet, you're being an active listener.

Is that true or false? Okay, everyone got an answer? Great, well done to everyone that said false.

But now you need to justify your answer.

So why is that answer false? Come up with your answer now.

Okay, let's compare.

So I have here that being quiet is important, but being an active listener means being engaged and focused on what is being delivered.

There are specific ways that you can demonstrate this.

So hopefully you had a similar answer about being an active listener and being engaged and focused as well as being quiet.

So one way that we can demonstrate active listening to show that that is what we are doing is to use positive body language.

So obviously, active listening is somewhat an invisible skill, isn't it? Because your brain is having to do lots of work, but we can also use body language to show that we are active listening.

So I want you to think, what do you think this might look like? So how can we use body language to show that we are active listening? What might that look like? So pause the video so you've got time to discuss or think quietly to yourself, or you may even wish to jot down some ideas.

Pause the video now.

Okay, great.

Some excellent suggestions there.

So let's just share some of those.

And I want to give you some really specific ideas to think about.

So one of the ways you can show that you are active listening is to think about lips closed, okay? So this shows that you are quiet, okay? You've got your lips closed.

And also you can nod as well, which is a really positive gesture.

So this really shows that you are active listening, that you are quiet and that nodding occasionally can show that you are listening.

It's a physical way of showing that skill.

And also by doing this, it creates a supportive environment.

So as a speaker, if you can see people with a relaxed face, their lips are closed and they're nodding in agreement can really help to create that supportive environment.

Eyes looking.

Now I think about eyes looking and I'm thinking about eye contact if appropriate.

So one way to do this as an audience member is obviously to track the speaker.

So you are looking at where the speaker moves, what they are pointing to.

So it also helps you to follow what is being delivered.

So if you are actively looking at the speaker and where they are moving, you are tracking them, it can help you to focus on what is being delivered.

And then finally, body still.

If you are an audience member, try to avoid fidgeting because it can be really distracting for the person presenting.

So another good way to show active listening is to also sit up and lean forward, okay? Because this positive body language can also show that you are active listening and it can also help just to keep you focused, okay? So think about those lips closed, eyes looking, and body still.

So, now to pick an answer.

Positive body language can demonstrate active listening.

This can look like, select your answer now.

Okay, well done to everyone that said C, positive body language can look like tracking the speaker.

Now, leaning back in your chair or avoiding eye contact, yes, you may be listening and you may be quiet, but if you are doing these things, it doesn't present a very positive, it doesn't present positively that you are actively listening, okay? So it's all about making sure that you are demonstrating this.

Okay, so your first task now.

I would like you to read the following scenario.

So shall we read that together first? Okay, let's read it together.

Izzy is watching a speech being delivered.

She is enjoying it and is tracking the speaker.

However, it has been a long day and she begins yawning and checking her watch.

Izzy also begins to stare out of the window.

Okay, so we've read the scenario, and what I would like you to do, please, is to discuss what feedback could we give Izzy to help her improve her active listening skills, okay? And I'd like you to please give her a WWW, a what went well, and an even better if, an EBI, okay? So you'll need to pause the video to give yourself time to discuss what feedback you can give Izzy and that what went well and even better if.

Pause the video and off you go.

Great, thank you so much for your suggestions.

So I'm going to give you some ideas that you may have considered.

So you may not have these, you may have something different, but hopefully you will have considered some of these things.

So you may have noticed that what went well, that Izzy is using her eyes really well.

She's tracking the speaker, which is a great way to engage with the speech and create a supportive environment.

So for Izzy, her what went well is her eyes looking, that she is tracking the speaker.

Now you may have picked up on the following.

So it would be even better if that Izzy used positive body language to demonstrate active listening.

So she could try keeping her lips closed and her body still.

So notice that in Izzy, she started to yawn and look out of the window.

And although she was enjoying the speech, her body language was suggesting otherwise.

And it is difficult to stay focused sometimes, especially if you're tired or you've had a long day.

But using positive language can really help with this, okay? So for Izzy, it's all about that body language to demonstrate active listening and which is what we were saying earlier, that yes, you may be quiet, you may be taking in the speech, but we also need to demonstrate that through our body language as well.

Okay, so we are moving on to the second part of our lesson.

So we know now what it means to be an active listener and now we're gonna think about how we can use those active listening skills to respond.

So part of being an active listener is being able to respond effectively.

And this includes asking and answering questions, developing and challenging speaker comments, and also paraphrasing and reflecting back.

So when you are being an active listener, you can use these methods to respond effectively.

So we're going to look and focus on asking questions, because asking questions can be a great way to demonstrate your active listening skills.

So I would like you to discuss, please, what do you think effective questioning might look like? So if you're going to ask a question, what do you think an effective way to ask that question might look like? So pause the video so you've got time to discuss or think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Okay, great stuff.

So again, I've got some really specific ways that we can think about this.

So when you are responding, you need to make sure your ears are listening.

So specifically in asking questions, you need to avoid asking questions where the answers have been covered by the speaker.

So if you are listening and you have listened well, you won't be asking questions that have already been asked.

And you also need to listen out for your turn and avoid interrupting.

So ears listening is a really important thing to think about when you are responding.

You need to use your brain, so brain thinking, because creating open questions can develop comments and encourage discussion.

So while you are listening, you also need to be thinking of effective questions to develop discussion.

And then finally, speaking clearly is incredibly important because you need to ask your questions clearly, ensuring that the speaker can hear and understand your questions.

So this is how you ask the question.

So you need to speak clearly, but also don't overcomplicate them and make sure the words that you are using are clear to the speaker.

So, true or false? When asking a speaker a question, you should try and use open questions.

Is that true or false? Well done to everyone that said true.

That is true that when asking a speaker a question, you should try and use open questions, but now I need you to justify your answer.

So why is that answer true? Off you go.

Okay, let's compare what we've come up with.

So why is that true? Because open questions allow the speaker to develop their comments and ideas.

Open questions can also lead to further discussion.

So hopefully you came up with something similar.

So let's look at open questions in a bit more detail.

Now, open questions invite developed responses, okay? And these are questions that go beyond a yes or no answer.

So open questions are all about developing your speaker's ideas or asking your speaker to reflect on some of the things they may have addressed in their speech or presentation.

So these sentence starters can help.

And you'll notice that they're more about the speaker's thinking or the speaker's opinion or the speaker's ideas than they are just a factual or a yes or no question.

So things like, why/what do you think? How might you? What would a look like? So you can see how they are very much focused on developing the speaker's ideas and developing the speaker's thoughts and opinions.

So Andeep poses this question.

So Andeep has asked this question, "Did children work in factories during the 1800s?" Now I'd like you to discuss, please, is it an open or closed question? And how could Andeep improve this question? So is it an open or closed question? And how could Andeep improve this question? Pause the video to give yourself time to discuss or think quietly to yourself.

Off you go.

Okay, great.

So actually that first question, is it an open or closed question, is a closed question in itself, isn't it? And actually, Andeep's question is a closed question as it requires a yes or no answer.

Did children work in factories during the 1800s? Well, that's a yes or a no, isn't it? So Andeep is going to have another go using a sentence stem to help him.

So you'll see here he's used, what do you think the impact was on the children and families who were used for child labour in the 1800s? So there's no way that you could say yes or no to that question because it wouldn't make sense.

So it's all about asking the speaker their opinion, what they think, what ideas they have.

Okay, so we have three Oak pupils here.

We have Aisha, we have Laura, we have Sam.

So which pupil has posed an open question? Let's read their questions through together first, and then you need to decide which one's an open question.

So did Victorian working-class children often work in coal mines? What were the main challenges faced by Victorian working-class children in their daily lives? And were Victorian working-class children required to attend school? So which pupil, A, B, or C, has posed an open question? Decide your answer now.

Okay, so who's feeling confident? The answer is B, it's Laura.

You can see what were the main challenges faced by Victorian working-class children is a lot more open.

So you can see that they've used that sentence starter as well there to encourage that further discussion.

Okay, so it's over to you now for the second practise task.

And what I would like you to do, please, is I would like you to create a success criteria for active listening skills and responding.

So I've done the first one for you.

So for active listening, I put use positive body language, and responding I put avoid asking questions that have been covered by the speaker.

And I would like you to fill in the rest of that grid for the other things that we can consider to make a success criteria for active listening skills and responding.

So make sure you've got everything you need to complete this task.

When you are ready, pause the video and create that success criteria.

Off you go.

Well done, everyone.

Some really excellent success criterias being created there.

Lots of you drawing on everything that we've looked at through the lesson to inform your success criteria.

So I have an example here.

So take this opportunity to check through your own grid.

So you may want to add to it, you may want to change a few ideas.

So really do use this moment just to check through your own grid.

So for active listening, we have use positive body language, lips closed and nodding, track the speaker, sit up and lean forward.

And then for responding, avoid asking questions that have been covered by the speaker, avoid interrupting, pose open questions, and ask questions clearly.

So as I said, just quickly check through your grid and look at how it compares.

If you need to fill in some gaps, now's a good time to do that or change a few of your answers.

Once you have done that, I would like you to discuss, please, what are you going to do to improve your active listening skills? And can you set yourself a target, okay? So in a moment I'd like you to pause the video and discuss those questions.

What are you going to do to improve your active listening skills, and can you set yourself a target? So pause the video and complete those questions.

Thank you, everyone, for your excellent listening skills today, and hopefully you've really thought a lot about what it means to be an effective active listener.

And again, this can be taken forward into many different scenarios.

So whether you are an audience member, whether you are required to take part in a discussion or a debate, these listening skills are really important.

And also as we see here, it helps to create a supportive environment and make you better at responding.

We also know that active listening means you're completely engaged and focused on what is being delivered.

That using positive body language can help demonstrate active listening and keep you focused on the content.

And that part of being an active listener is being able to respond effectively.

And we know in order to respond effectively, that using open questions can really help develop those comments and encourage discussion.

So again, thank you so much for your hard work.

I've really enjoyed today, and it's given me lots to think about too in terms of my own active listening.

I can't wait to see you all again soon for another lesson.

Until then, goodbye.