As part of our skills for learning unit, we discussed and practiced what it means to focus attention and listen. To start our lesson, we played a game called Sentence Switcheroo, where I would read a sentence two times, sometimes changing the words. In order to be successful, students had to focus on the words I was saying, listen for changes, and remember what I had said each time.
We also examined a photo of a student named Ayako who was in her art class. Ayako was not listening or paying attention while the art teacher gave directions, so she didn't know what to do. We discussed how Ayako may be feeling, if we had ever not known what to do because we weren't listening, and what Ayako could do differently next time to be a better learner. We also practiced focusing our attention and listening by having the students follow my magic wand and watching and listening for the wand to stop moving and making noise.
Finally, we ended the lesson with some skill practice. Students shared with their partners their favorite food along with three reasons why it was their favorite. Their partners had to listen to their words, focus on their partner, and remember what their partner said so they could share their answers. In the next round, the remaining partner did the same activity discussing their favorite season.
