The Creative Counselor: Engage Children to Be Mon"STAR" Students with Active Listening & Following Directions

Monstrous Listening Skills Unleashed: Engaging Firsties in a Memorable Lesson

Last week, I had an absolute blast teaching my first graders about the incredible power of using their entire bodies to listen. With so many distractions in their lives, it's no easy feat for these little monsters to stay focused. We kicked off our lesson with a discussion on the telltale signs of active listening. "How can the speaker/teacher tell you are listening?", but it turned into a funny moment when one student thought I was referring to a microphone speaker instead of a speaker!

To hook the kids from the start, we watched a Sesame Street video called "The Biscotti Kid," featuring none other than the Cookie Monster. We giggled and learned as we explored how the Cookie Monster earned his prestigious cookie belt, which naturally led us to discuss each body part's role in helping us stay attentive. To make it even more memorable, I created a delightful monster-themed slideshow, complete with adorable illustrations.

A Howling Delight: The Kids' Love for Interactive Learning

As we discussed each body part, we reinforced our learning with engaging hand movements that added a touch of fun and helped cement the concepts in their minds. We had goggle eyes for keen observation, a finger in front of our mouths for quiet listening, hands cupping our open ears to enhance focus, hands calmly resting by our sides, bodies facing forward, feet firmly planted on the floor, a gentle pat on our brains to remind us to think, and finally, we even made a heart shape with our hands to symbolize empathy. We repeated our hand movements each time adding a different body part to our chant!

Building our Mon"star" Listener: Rhyming Riddles for Understanding

To assess their understanding, I posed a series of rhyming riddles that gradually revealed the components of our Mon"star" listener. Here are a few examples that had their imaginations running wild:

"I keep this part facing front, it's not time to do a stunt. Nor do I practice my karate, I stay calm with my ________."

Answer: BODY.

"I keep these on the person in sight, when listening, I know this is right. It shows that I am very wise to always listen with my ________."

Answer: EYES.

Unleashing Creativity: Drawing Your Own Mon"star" Student

To conclude our monstrous journey, I invited the students to unleash their creativity by drawing their very own Mon"star" student. This allowed them to showcase their understanding of active listening while tapping into their artistic talents!

By bringing together the magic of monsters and the power of active body engagement, we transformed the act of listening into an exciting and memorable experience. Stay tuned to discover more monstrously engaging adventures in our learning journey!