... . ... Use this site to help your students learn to: Listening ability is an important pre-reading skill. We need to be able to listen and hear the sounds of letters and how they combine to make other sounds. We can build listening skills by: Playing rhyming word games Doing activities which have one-step directions; then two-step directions; finally three-step directions Gather objects that make different sounds; let the child become familiar with their sounds, then have him/her close their eyes while you make a sound with one object. Let them guess which object was sounded Play animal sound lotto Secretly give a bell to one child. Have all pretend to ring a bell. The child who is "it" will guess where the sound came from Play a different kind of music each day at lunch. Have discussions on whether the children like or dislike that kind of music Play "Doggie, doggie, where's your bone?" The child who is sitting in the chair must listen to hear when someone is creeping up to get his bone Occasionally give information in a teeny, tiny voice so everyone has to listen very hard to hear it Take nature walks and listen carefully for sounds you hear. Write them down and the next day try to imitate them in school (helps build memory skills, too) Ask questions before you read a story so children will be listening for the answer Have the listening center ready for use Back to Top ©1998, 2018, Susan Jindrich. All rights reserved.