Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

My name's Mrs. Riley and I'm here to teach you this lesson.

In our lesson today, we're going to be practising having conversations with one another and in groups of people.

So we must have our loud speaking voices and our listening ears.

I hope you've got both those things and if so, let's start our learning.

The outcome of our lesson today is to have a conversation with one or more people taking turns to listen and talk.

These are our keywords for today's lesson.

So we'll practise saying each one and then I'll tell you what it means.

So the first key word is opinion.

My turn, your turn, opinion.

Opinion.

Well done, thank you for joining in.

An opinion is what a person thinks or believes.

For example, my opinion might be that tigers are the best animals.

That's not a fact, it's just what I think.

It's my opinion.

The next word is conversation.

Conversation.

Well done.

A conversation is when two or more people take turns talking and listening to each other.

It's a conversation.

The next keyword is interrupt.

Interrupt.

If you interrupt, it's when you talk when someone else is talking, making them stop before they have finished.

So if somebody was telling you a story and you interrupted them, you would start speaking before they have finished.

And finally, reply.

Reply.

Well done.

If you reply, you respond to someone when they say something to you or answer when they ask a question.

So if somebody said, "What is your name?" And you said, "I'm called Mrs. Riley," I'm replying, because I'm answering that question, but I can also reply without a question.

For example, if somebody said, "What a lovely day it is," I could reply and say, "Yes, isn't it nice? I've been for a walk already." So you don't have to wait for a question to reply.

You can just respond or reply when somebody says something to you.

And they're all gonna be really important parts of having a conversation.

So in our lesson today, we're gonna first focus on what a conversation is, what does a conversation look like and then in the second learning cycle, we'll think a little bit more about how we can actively engage in a conversation.

And what we mean by that is we can make sure that we're not just listening to a conversation, listening to other people, but we're actually joining in and keeping a conversation going ourselves.

So we'll start off by thinking about what a conversation is.

So I would like you, before I tell you, to discuss with your partner, what do you think a conversation is? Could you pause the video now and have a discussion with your partner? Okay, well done.

Well, a conversation is when two or more people take turns talking and listening to each other, sharing opinions, ideas or stories.

It's good to have conversations with people, because it helps us to share our thoughts, to learn new things, understand each other better and to make friends.

So lots of things can happen when we have conversations with people.

Okay, so let's check your listening.

Is it true or false? We can share our opinions and learn new things when we have conversations with people.

Pause the video and decide if this is true or false.

Well done, it's true.

A conversation only works when we speak clearly and listen carefully.

If our partner can't understand what we're saying or the person we're speaking to can't understand us, then it's really difficult for them to respond or reply.

And equally, if you don't listen to what someone's saying, you won't know how to reply.

So we've got to make sure we're speaking clearly and listening carefully.

So I would like you to discuss now with your partner, how can we show good listening? What should we be doing when we're trying to do good listening? Pause the video and have a chat with your partner.

Okay, well done.

I heard some really good ideas.

So good listeners should keep focused on the person who's speaking.

So not getting distracted and keeping eye contact, keep their bodies still and pay close attention.

So what should we do when we have a conversation with someone? A, listen, but don't speak, B, speak clearly, C, listen carefully.

What should we do when we have a conversation with someone? Pause the video and choose your answer or answers now.

Well done, let's come back together.

So it wouldn't really be a conversation if we just listened and didn't speak, because a conversation is taking turns to speak and listen, but we should speak clearly when it's our turn to share our thoughts or feelings and we should also listen carefully when someone else is speaking.

So let's think now.

We've thought about our listening skills, now let's think about our speaking skills in a conversation.

When we are speaking, our voices should be loud and clear.

We should always try to speak in full sentences when we share our ideas.

So here's an example.

If somebody asked me, "Can you swim?" If I just said, "Nearly," that's not a full sentence, it's just one word.

And it's not going to be very useful to keep our conversation going if people just answer in one word answers.

If you're trying to chat to someone and they say, "Can you swim?" and you just say, "Nearly," then the conversation might end.

But if you answer in a full sentence, you give them more information and then the conversation might continue.

So for example, you might say, "I can do breast stroke, but I'm still learning to do front crawl." So I've answered in a full sentence and given quite a lot of information and then they might say back to me, "Oh yeah, I found front crawl really difficult too, but eventually, I learned to do it," or, "Oh, I can't do breast stroke.

Maybe you could show me how to do it." So by providing more information and answering in full sentences, the conversation's more likely to carry on.

So which of the following are full sentences? A, no, B, I have never seen that before, C, tennis is my favourite sport or D, pasta.

Which of these are full sentences? Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

So B and C are both full sentences.

I have never seen that before and tennis is my favourite sport.

A and D are just both one word, no or pasta.

So somebody says, "Do you like pasta?' You might say, "No." Or what's your favourite food? Pasta.

When you just give those one word answers, it doesn't give very much information and it might stop the conversation.

It's much better to answer in a full sentence.

So speaking in full sentences helps the listener to understand what is being said, gives them more information.

So now I'd like you to discuss with your partner, why is it important to take turns in a conversation? So rather than one person speaking and one person listening the whole time, why is it better to take turns speaking and listening, speaking and listening? Could you pause the video and discuss that now? Okay, well done.

We take turns when we have a conversation so that everyone has a chance to share their ideas.

I'd now like you to discuss how do you feel when someone interrupts you? So if you were telling a story and somebody interrupted you and started speaking over you, how would you feel? Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

It can feel really frustrating when someone interrupts you, because you haven't got to finish what you were saying, but also it might make you feel a little bit sad if someone interrupts you, because it might make you feel that they aren't interested in what you're saying.

So that's why it's always important to let someone finish before you take your turn to speak.

So if you interrupt someone, you A, are not letting them finish what they were saying, you B, are talking over them, you are C, only speaking when they have finished what they were saying.

What is it, what does it mean if you interrupt someone? Is it A, B, or C or there might be more than one answer.

Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

If you interrupt someone, you A, are not letting them finish what they are saying, which can be really frustrating and B, you are talking over them.

They're the two things you're doing if you are interrupting someone, and that's why we try not to do it.

So for your task, I would like you to pick a topic and have a conversation with your partner.

So there's going to be two people in this conversation.

The topics are your favourite sports or your family.

So you can choose together which one you'd like to discuss.

So let's say you choose your family to discuss.

You're going to take turns having a conversation about your family.

So one of you might start off by sharing.

You might say something like, "In my family, I have got my mum and I've got my brother and my brother is older than me and he is called Henry." And then you might ask a question, say, "What about you? Who's in your family?" And they might tell you something.

Really important to remember to take turns to speak.

So there shouldn't just be one person speaking and one person listening.

You must take turns, so you both have a chance to share.

Make sure when you're speaking, you speak loud and clear so that your partner can understand what you're saying.

And make sure you show good listening.

Remember, eye contact, sitting still and paying close attention.

Always wait for your partner to finish speaking before speaking yourself.

That way, you'll make sure you don't interrupt them.

So pick the topic, either your favourite sports or you could discuss your family and take turns now having a conversation with your partner.

Pause the video now.

Well done, I heard some lovely conversations.

I loved seeing you taking turns to speak loud and clear and listen really carefully and I loved hearing you speaking in full sentences and giving lots of information about your family or about your favourite sports.

So here's a checklist.

Did you use a loud, clear voice when you gave your opinion? Did you listen carefully to your partner? Did you take turns to speak and not interrupt one another? And finally, did you enjoy your conversation? I hope you did, I love having conversations with people.

Maybe let's just take a little bit of time.

You could pause the video and just reflect on those questions.

Pause the video now.

Well done.

So maybe you might have, when you were reflecting, said, "Oh actually, I didn't maybe listen carefully enough to my partner, so that's my target for next time." Or maybe your target for next time would be to just speak a bit louder and clearer so your partner could hear you.

And that's okay, we all have different things that we're always trying to work on.

Okay, so we're now going to move to our second learning cycle where we're thinking about actively engaging in a conversation.

So not being passive, not just letting everyone else talk and sitting and listening, but actually being part of the conversation and keeping a conversation going.

So we should always reply to someone in a conversation.

Reply was one of our keywords.

So can you remember what does it mean to reply to someone? Pause the video and discuss that with your partner now.

Okay, well done.

So you reply to someone by responding when they say something to you or answering when they ask you a question.

So here's an example.

If somebody said to you, "Have you eaten lunch yet?" You could reply by saying, "Yes, I ate my lunch ages ago." You've replied, you've responded.

Now that's a question, so you've replied by answering a question, but you don't only reply when someone asks you a question.

For example, if somebody said to you, "Art is my favourite subject," that's not a question, that's a statement.

But you could still reply.

You could for example say, "I like it too, but not as much as PE." So we don't have to just wait to be asked a question to reply.

We can just reply by responding to something that someone tells you.

So we're going to do an activity now where I'm gonna do it first and you're gonna be the teacher and watch and see if I'm doing it correctly and then it will be your turn.

So I will reply to this statement to practise taking part in a conversation.

Okay, so here's the statement.

I'm very tired today.

Okay, so if somebody said that to me, it's not a question, it's just, I'm very tired today.

What could I say back to keep the conversation going.

I'm very tired today.

Oh, maybe I could say, "Poor you, did you not sleep very well last night?" So I've given them some sympathy, poor you, I've addressed what they've said and then I've asked them a question.

I'm asking them, I wonder why they're tired.

Is it because they didn't sleep very well? Okay, it's your turn now.

So you're going to reply to this statement to practise taking part in a conversation.

So are you ready? Here's your statement.

If somebody said to you, "I can't wait to read my book later," what could you reply? Pause the video and have a think of some different ways you could reply to that statement now.

Well done, I heard loads of really good responses.

So if somebody said, "I can't wait to read my book later," you could say something like, "What book are you reading?" You could ask them a bit more about it.

What book are you reading? Or you might say something like, "Oh, I can't wait to read my book too.

I'm reading a really great book called." Or you could say, "Oh, I'm so jealous, because I'm not really enjoying the book I'm reading at the moment.

What book is it that you're reading?" So these are all ways that you can reply and keep a conversation going.

So when you are asked a question, you should always reply and then you could ask a question back to keep the conversation going.

So here is an example.

If somebody was choosing a book in the book corner and they picked one out and they ask you, "Have you read this book before?" You could answer by saying, "Yes and I really liked it.

Would you like me to tell you what it's about?" And that way they could then hear a bit about the book and decide if they wanted to choose it or not.

So we haven't just replied by saying, "Yes." We've said, "Yes and I really liked it." So we've done a full sentence, giving a bit more information, but we haven't finished there.

We've then asked them a question back to keep the conversation going.

So this is how conversations can be.

A really good conversation is when you share your ideas, you answer questions, but you also ask questions back, you take turns speaking.

So to keep a conversation going, you should, what should you do? A, always reply to what someone says to you, B, interrupt as much as possible, or C, ask questions to the person you are talking to.

Which of these should you do to keep a conversation going? Pause the video now.

Okay, well done.

The correct answers are to keep a conversation going, you should always reply to what someone says to you and you should ask questions to the person you're speaking to.

We should not interrupt.

We should always wait until someone's finished speaking before speaking ourselves.

Okay, so it's now time for you to discuss.

What should you do if you couldn't hear what someone said to you in a conversation? So if you're talking and someone's bit mumbly and you can't understand what they're saying, what should you do? And also I'd like you to discuss what should you do if you didn't understand what someone said to you in a conversation? So if they said something, they gave perhaps their opinion, but you didn't really understand it, what should you do? Could you pause the video and discuss both these things with your partner now? Okay, well done, let's come back together.

I heard some really good ideas there, thank you.

So it is difficult for a conversation to continue, which means to keep going, if you are unable to hear someone speaking or if you didn't understand what they said.

So you should always ask them to repeat themselves or explain it to you again to help you to understand.

So is it true or false? If someone says something to you in a conversation that you didn't understand, you should just pretend to understand.

Is that true or false? Pause the video.

Okay, well done, it is false.

If someone says something to you that you don't understand, if you just pretend to understand, then you won't really know how to reply.

So you should always ask them and just say politely, "Sorry, but I didn't quite understand that.

Can you explain it to me in a different way or can you explain it to me again?" And that way, you will know how to reply.

So it's time for your second task.

In this task, you are going to pick a topic and have a conversation.

This time, not in pairs, in groups of three.

So you're going to have to be even more careful now about making sure that you're not interrupting and that everyone has a turn to speak and to listen.

So here are the topics.

One topic is what your dream day would be.

So if you could just imagine any kind of dream day, what would it be, from start to finish? Where would you go, who would you be with? What would you eat? All these things in your dream imagined day.

And the other topic you could discuss, if you prefer, is what would you like to do at break time today? What would you like to do? So remember, you must make sure to take turns to speak.

So everyone should have a chance to share either what their dream day would be or what they'd like to do at break time.

Remember to speak loud and clear when it's your turn to speak.

Remember to listen when the other people are speaking.

Always wait for someone to finish speaking before speaking yourself.

And remember that other thing of maybe once someone's finished speaking, replying to them, maybe ask them a question to keep the conversation going or just respond to what they've said.

So keep the conversation going by replying to questions and asking questions back.

That's really important.

So enjoy your conversations.

These should be two really fun things to discuss.

Remember, you're talking in groups of three.

Pause the video now.

Well done, I loved hearing those conversations.

Oh, it made me really jealous hearing about some of the things you're going to do at break time and also hearing about your dream days.

Gosh, they sounded so fun.

So here's an example of what your conversation might have looked like.

So the first person might have said, "I would like to play stuck-in-the-mud at break time.

Do you like that game?" And I love the way they shared their opinion, what they'd like to do and then they asked a question at the end, do you like that game? So then their partner maybe answered, "Yes, but I find it a bit boring waiting for someone to come and free me.

What would you like to do?" So they've answered and now they're turning to the other person and asking them a question.

And that person's saying, "I want to finish making my bug hotel.

You can both help me if you like." So it's really nice here to see that everyone got a turn to share their opinion of what they wanted to do at break time.

It's nice to see that they were replying or responding to what the other person said, so I know that they were listening and they answered in full sentences, which was also really nice.

So let's summarise what we've learned today.

We have learned that a conversation is when two or more people take turns.

So you could even have a conversation between a really big group of people and that would be a bit more difficult, wouldn't it, 'cause you'd have to all make sure you were listening to everyone and taking turns.

So taking turns talking and listening to each other.

Taking turns and not interrupting anyone while they're speaking are important when having a conversation.

Replying to what someone says will keep the conversation going.

And remember, replying doesn't just mean answering a question, it could be replying to a statement like, what lovely weather it is today.

Oh, isn't it, yes, it is lovely, much nicer than it was yesterday, for example.

And finally, asking and answering questions are important parts of having a conversation.

So well done for all your hard work today.

Perhaps in your next break time or lunchtime or after school today, you could practise having a conversation with a friend or with a group of friends and you could really practise taking turns, speaking loud and clear, listening, asking and answering questions, all these things that we have practised today.

So thank you for all of your concentration and for joining in so nicely and I'll see you hopefully for some more learning another time.