Engaging Listeners and Valuing Viewpoints

Mastery Evidence

Use strategies to engage listeners during a presentation (e.g., make eye contact, vary tone and pace, ask the audience a question)
Listen to a peer's viewpoint and respond by agreeing, disagreeing, or extending their idea with a reason (e.g., 'I agree with Priya because… but I also think…')
Choose more formal language for a class presentation and more informal language for a group discussion, explaining the difference

Assessment Prompt

“When [child] is talking in a group, do they notice if people are losing interest and adjust how they're speaking — or pick up on what others have said and add to it thoughtfully?”

Curriculum Standards3 alignments

Eng.SL.10The national curriculum in England

Engage listener

Gain, maintain and monitor the interest of the listener(s)

English · Key Stage 1 and 2

Eng.SL.11The national curriculum in England

Consider and evaluate viewpoints

Consider and evaluate different viewpoints, attending to and building on the contributions of others

English · Key Stage 1 and 2

Eng.SL.12The national curriculum in England

Select appropriate registers

Select and use appropriate registers for effective communication

English · Key Stage 1 and 2

Prerequisites4

Teaching It Back
softAges 7—8
Expressing & Justifying Opinions
hardAges 4—6
Group discussions
softAges 4—11
Reciting Poetry
softAges 6—10

Show full prerequisite tree

Teaching It Back soft
Building on others' contributions in discussion requires being able to articulate your own thinking — the self-explanation habit applied in a social context
- Explaining Mathematical Reasoning soft
  The universal self-explanation habit (LtL 7-8) builds on the maths-specific practice of explaining reasoning when prompted (MT 6-7)
  - Showing Your Working hard
    Age 6-7 explaining with diagrams/logic builds on age 5-6 showing and telling with objects
    - Numbers up to 10 into pairs soft
      Explaining part-part-whole decompositions exercises showing and telling
      - Addition as combining or putting together two hard
        Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
    - Number bonds to 9 soft
      Explaining how to find number bonds to 10 exercises showing thinking with objects
      - Numbers up to 10 into pairs hard
        Making 10 is a specific application of decomposing numbers into pairs
        
        Addition as combining or putting together two hard
        Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
    - Listening and responding soft
      Explaining mathematical reasoning orally requires basic listening and responding skills
  - What the equals sign means soft
    Determining whether equations are true/false exercises evaluating and justifying
    - Reading +, −, and = symbols hard
      Deep understanding of = requires already being able to read and write number sentences
      - Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
        Writing number sentences requires reading and writing numerals
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Reading/writing numerals 0–20 requires understanding that numerals represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
        
        Writing digits 0-9 hard
        Writing numerals requires the motor skill of forming digits 0-9 (taught in English handwriting)
        
        Sitting and holding a pencil soft
        Same motor skills for digit formation
      - Addition as combining or putting together two hard
        Reading/writing the + symbol requires understanding what addition means
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
      - Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
        Reading/writing the − symbol requires understanding what subtraction means
        
        How Many in Total? hard
        Understanding subtraction as taking away requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
  - Addition in any order soft
    Justifying why a+b=b+a exercises logical mathematical argument
    - Addition as combining or putting together two hard
      Understanding commutativity of addition requires understanding addition
      - How Many in Total? hard
        Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
        
        One-to-one counting hard
        Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Thinking Before Starting hard
  Explaining in your own words requires connecting new learning to existing knowledge already held in mind
  - Persisting When It's Hard hard
    Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
Expressing & Justifying Opinions hard
Engaging listeners requires ability to articulate opinions
Group discussions soft
Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
- Listening and responding hard
  Listening and responding foundational to conversation
- Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft
  Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
  - Feeling of not understanding soft
    Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register
    - Asking for Help hard
      Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
Reciting Poetry soft
Reciting/presenting skills support engaging an audience
- Describing Aloud hard
  Reciting/presenting builds on Y1 oral description/expression
  - Expressing & Justifying Opinions soft
    Oral expression skills support understanding formality in speech
  - Group discussions soft
    Conversational skills support oral description
    - Listening and responding hard
      Listening and responding foundational to conversation
    - Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft
      Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
      - Feeling of not understanding soft
        Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register
        
        Asking for Help hard
        Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Expressing & Justifying Opinions soft
  Articulating opinions supports presentation skills

Unlocks3

Giving and Receiving Feedback
softAges 9—11
Identifying Reasons Behind a Speaker's Points
hardAges 9—10
Preparing for and Explaining in Discussions
hardAges 8—11