Strategies and Resources for Improving Speaking and Listening Skills in the Classroom

Spend just five minutes in an early years setting or primary classroom and you’ll hear the constant hum of talking. Children might be negotiating roles in the construction area, explaining the latest method in maths, or giving a lively account of last night’s football match. It’s all communication and it is everywhere.

For lots of children, speaking and listening skills take time to develop. Busy classrooms, reduced opportunities for conversation at home, and the ever-growing distraction of screens can make it tricker for children to practise these important, back and forth interactions. The good news is that with the right teaching approaches, an inclusive learning environment, and a few well-chosen resources, we can make a real difference.

In this blog we explore the role of communication in learning, some tips for building confidence in speaking and listening, and advice for creating communication-friendly environments.

The Role of Communication in Learning 

When children can put their thoughts into words, learning opportunities open up. They can ask for help, share ideas, puzzle over problems with friends, and deepen their understanding through talk. Speaking and listening aren’t separate subjects. They thread through every lesson and interaction.  

Children who feel able to talk things through often find it easier to manage friendships, cope with challenges and explain when something is worrying them. 

(c) Image Factory 07889 831959

Benefits of Strong Verbal Communication Skills 

Strong communication skills help children to: 

• Make sense of ideas by talking them through 

• Challenge and build on others’ thinking (including their own) 

• Understand social cues and group dynamics 

• Take turns and hold a conversation 

• Feel ready to learn 

There’s also the emotional side. Children who understand the value of their voice can express their wants and needs more effectively and feel more in control of their world.

Building Confidence in Speaking 

Speaking out loud can feel daunting – even for some adults! Some children will happily talk to anyone, others prefer to hover on the edges, listening carefully before joining in. The aim isn’t to push children into feeling like they’re performing and on show, it’s to give each child a way to contribute that feels safe.

Tips for Building Confidence in Speaking 

One of the most important things we can do is to provide encouragement while removing any unnecessary pressure. Instead of asking children to speak in front of the whole class straight away, give them opportunities to build up gradually. 

Here are some things to consider and try: 

Small Group Talk 

Some children find it easier to share their thoughts in smaller groups of two or three. This can be a good starting point before moving on to speaking in larger groups. 

Props and Objects 

Puppets, small world items, story bags and recordable resources help take the spotlight off the child. Instead, they can speak through a character or object rather than feeling all eyes are on them.

Recordable Resources 

To help children with group discussions, place a few Recordables such as Talking Points or Big Point Recordable Buttons on the table with pre-recorded prompts or stem sentences to get the conversations started. For example “I noticed that…”, “My idea is…”, “Can you explain….?” Children can choose a recordable device, listen, and then talk through their answer with a partner before feeding back to the group. This gives less confident speakers time to prepare and practise their responses first.

Using a Microphone to Support Quieter Speakers 

A simple microphone can work wonders for children who are still finding their voice. Some quieter pupils aren’t reluctant to speak because they don’t have ideas, they’re just not used to projecting their voice or hearing themselves out loud. Giving them the chance to record a thought, listen back, and practise what they want to say helps them become more comfortable with the sound of their own voice. Why not make a microphone available to all, so that everyone is included and can be heard.

Tap into their Interests 

Children open up and are more willing to speak when the subject genuinely matters to them. If a child is obsessed by dinosaurs, trains, a certain TV Programme or football team, weave these interests into your questions and activities wherever possible. Suddenly, speaking isn’t a performance but a chance to share and talk about something they love. You’ll often find that a child who gives one-word answers during whole class sessions will happily talk for longer if the conversation centres around their special interest. This gives them the chance to practise those important communication skills that they can draw upon for classroom learning.

Role Play Activities 

Role play can be a powerful way to build children’s confidence with speaking as it frees them from the fear of getting it wrong. When they step into character, e.g. a family member in the home corner, a puppet telling their version of events in a story or a roving reporter in a literacy lesson, they get to practise speaking in a natural low-pressure way.

Active Listening Techniques and Resources for the Classroom

Listening isn’t automatic, it’s a skill children build and tune over time. It needs modelling, practise, and patience. 

So, what can we do to develop good listening skills? 

Here are a few suggestions: 

• Record a short message on a recordable device, such as a Talking Point. It could be a sentence, a sound, or even something a bit silly. Can the children listen, repeat it and tell a partner what they heard?
• Use Mini Mobile Phones to practise responding thoughtfully. Children must remember what their partner said without any non-verbal cues to keep this conversation going.
• Children can practise active listening skills by participating in a shared story session. Using recordable resources like Clever Tiles, they can then listen to parts from the story and decide where each one belongs. The sequential playback feature lets them check their sequencing independently, helping them to hear whether they’ve placed the tiles in the correct order.

Engaging Storytelling Methods 

A well told story holds the room like nothing else as children listen attentively to find out what happens next. Ever looked around your class as you reach the cliff hanger at the end of a chapter to see the children either wide eyed and still, or begging you to read on? 

Here are some top tips to make storytelling sessions engaging and fun: 

• Create a cosy space for sharing a story 

• Change the pace, volume and add character voices 

• Use pauses to create suspense and wonder aloud – “I wonder what will happen next?” 

• Incorporate sound effects. These can be made by pressing recordable buttons with pre-recorded sounds or by getting the children to make them. 

• Invite children to join in by repeating phrases 

• Use story bags with puppets and props whilst telling the story and leave out after so that the children can have a go independently 

Nonverbal Communication Cues to Look for 

As we know, it is an important reminder that listening isn’t only about ears. We can talk to children about how we use our bodies to show we are listening too. For example, you might notice children: 

• Giving eye contact (or their version of it) 

• Changing their body position and facial expressions e.g. leaning in, nodding, smiling or frowning at different points in the story (a bit like when your mum is smiling at Coronation Street on the TV!) 

Questioning Techniques in the Classroom

From supporting assessment to scaffolding learning, the questions that we use in the classroom can inspire communication in different ways.

How to Use Questions to Assess Understanding 

Questions can give you instant insight into how children are processing and understanding information. Using a closed question can be great for quick assessment of knowledge and help us with identifying next steps for learning. Then, if we want to spark a conversation or encourage children to speak and to understand how they are thinking, open questions become our best tool. A well planned, and well timed mixture of open and closed questions can be really useful for classroom talk. 

Types of Questions that Encourage Conversation 

So, being aware of the type of questions we ask is important as they can shape the responses we get. Some questions close conversations down while others open up a world of thinking. Encourage children by: 

• Asking open questions that require a longer response rather than just a single word answer 

• Encouraging them to build on a peers’ response to a question by using techniques such as support and challenge 

• Promote answering questions by collaboration – this could be in pairs (think, pair, share) or by debating the answer to a question in a bigger group 

Creating an Inclusive Classroom for Communication

Children communicate best when they feel safe, valued and listened to. Strategies and resources for speaking and listening are great but will still fall short if a supportive culture and ethos aren’t in place. Here are a few things to consider: 

• Do the adults model genuine listening – even during busy moments?  

• Who is doing most of the talking during a lesson? Is it the children or the adult? 

• Are children praised for effort and contribution, not just polished answers? 

• Can children express their wants, needs and opinions in different ways? Some children might like to talk, others may prefer to draw, point, gesture, use a visual, or talk into a recordable.  

• Do you regularly mix up pairings and group sizes so quieter children get the opportunity to speak? 

• Are home languages, traditions and stories welcomed and woven into the day? 

• Do children get thinking time before you expect an answer? 

• Are displays interactive and vehicles for discussion? For example, can children press a recordable button to hear a fact or be asked a question to answer or discuss.

Creating an inclusive space for communication isn’t about ticking boxes. It grows and develops from warm interactions, thoughtful planning, and a classroom culture where every child knows their ideas matter and their voice is heard.