Teaching Strategy #1

Group 1
Jessica Rupersburg
Amelia Jackson
Jenna Belloli
Adrianne Bronikowski
Kyera McClinic
Topic: Discriminative Listening-- Non-Verbal Communication
Grade Level: 5th Grade
Brief description: Reading body language is a strategy that students need to learn to understand
that listening goes beyond just hearing words or sounds. This instructional strategy will help
students develop their discriminative listening skills by interpreting body language and tone.
Students will use a story to help them decide how an embarrassed person may look or how a
bully might appear.
Objectives:
Students will be able to explain that listening involves nonverbal communication.
Students will be able to examine how others communicate in different ways.
Core Curriculum State Standards:
CCSS.ELA.RL.5.1 Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly
and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS.ELA.SL.5.6. Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, using formal English when
appropriate to task and situation.
Time Needed: This lesson will take about 45 minutes
Materials:
Hooway for Wodney Wat book by Helen Lester
Pencils
Paper for drawing a picture and writing sentences
Crayons

Mentor Text: Lester, H. (1999). Hooway for Wodney Wat. New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company. This is an excellent mentor text because it offers the students an opportunity to
practice discriminative listening in a humorous context. Sometimes when we are listening, we
need to consider who is speaking. This is emphasized within the mentor text because when
Camilla Capybara doesnt consider that Wodney cant pronounce his rs she misinterprets his
requests. The book also brings out issues of kindness and friendship, which are important for
second graders to consider.
Procedures:
To:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Have students gather on the carpet for story time.

Ask students if they have ever used body language to talk to somebody.
Talk to students about what discriminative listening is.
Demonstrate various emotions and movements, and then tell the students what each is after you
make the movements. Describing that their response to somebody that is sad, is a type of
discriminative listening.
5. Ask the students if they have ever read Hooway for Wodney Wat.
6. Read the book one time through, asking students if they can relate to the story at any point.
7. As the teacher, make faces and use your tone of voice to convey the messages of the story, and to
set-up for the next part of the lesson.
With:
1. Read the book through a second time. Have students express an emotion that matches each one
portrayed in the book. Stop after every page or so, so that the students have an opportunity to
give a movement to various parts of the story.
2. Once the story is over, discuss as a class, if they have ever felt bullied or embarassed.
3. Let the students discuss their emotions they had throughout the story.
4. Ask them what they learned about kindness and friendship from this book.
By:
1. Group the children into groups of two.
2. Assign each group a page to act out.
3. Allow students to work with their partner for a few minutes so they know what emotions they
need to convey. Students will interpret the text so that body language matches.
4. Each character will listen for their part and act it out in front of the class.

Assessment:

1. Have students write three paragraphs about a time when they felt like they were bullied or
embarrassed. Have students draw a picture to match their story and present it to the class.
Alternate Assessments:
1. Have students create a storyboard of what happened in the story by drawing pictures. Students
would get a paper with six boxes on it. Box one will get a picture to illustrate the beginning of
the story, the second box will be for the middle of the story and the last box will be for the end of
a story.
2. As a group have students brainstorm what actions they would have taken if they were in
Wodneys situation, and present it to the class.
3. Assign four to five students per group to perform a transformational mime. Before each group
presents to the class, the groups will get a chance to discuss among themselves about portraying
their scenes. Depending upon the assigned scenes given, the class and I should be able to
interpret the phases within the scene.
(Transformational mime- a technique used to model a phase(s) of a scene in a standstill or
frozen positions.)