Lesson Observation Prompt Sheet - Dialogue
Environment
 Is there a display/poster linked to speaking and listening?
 Is it referred to during session?
 Do children use it as a prompt?
 Do children have access to tape recorders/Dictaphones?
To what extent does the teacher:
 use questions and topics that
challenge children?
 establish rules for
group/paired/individual talk?
 expect children to provide
extended answers?
 extend children’s contributions
by the asking further questions?
 provide models of talk and give
examples of how to move talk
on?
 allow adequate think/wait time?
 use talk partners?
 plan opportunities for the
children to work in groups?
 establish/revise group rules?
 make group roles and
responsibilities clear?
 ensure a good balance of
pupil/teacher talk in the shared
session?
 use dialogue in the shared
session to move the learning on?
How?
 ensure that all children have an
opportunity to contribute their
ideas; in pairs, groups or
independently?
 teach appropriate terminology for
discussing S and L?
 help children to review their own
progress against clear criteria?
 monitor/assess talk during
session?
 encourage children to ask
questions?
 expect children to support each
other with talk?
To what extent do pupils:
 use talk to support their
learning? How?
 value talk?
 know how to articulate what it
means to be a good talker?
Strengths
Areas for Development
Progression in Speaking and Listening
Year
Speaking
Listening
1 and 2
Can he/she:
 Convey simple information
showing awareness of what
the listener needs to know?
 Use words to sequence and
sustain talk?
 Speak clearly and audibly to
a large group?
 Vary voice and intonation
with purpose?
Can he/she:
 Listen with sustained
concentration to others in
the class and to an adult
speaker?
 Ask relevant questions,
follow instructions and
remember main points?
 Identify points of interest
when listening to a story
told or broadcast/
 Listen attentively in
discussion by following up
points, agreeing or
disagreeing with other
speakers?
 Use background
knowledge about speakers
to focus their listening
purposefully?
 Identify in broadcasts
some of the presentational
features used in shaping
and organising meanings?
3 and 4
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5 and 6
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Take a long turn
spontaneously?
Give a clear
account/explanation which is
sustained and complete?
Use presentation techniques
such as visual aids,
gestures?
Use formal language
appropriately?
Organise and shape a talk,
making connections between
ideas and drawing on
different points of view?
Use standard English
appropriately?
Use persuasive techniques
deliberately to influence the
listener?
Use spoken language
imaginatively, engaging the
attention and interest of the
listener?
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Identify the importance of
some key differences
between formal and
informal spoken language?
Analyse and evaluate how
effectively speakers use
language to argue and
persuade?
Sustain listening to
different sources, making
their own notes@