Language Arts
8th Grade
50 Minutes
Ethical Responsibilities of a Listener
Objectives
 The students will be able to identify what listening is and how become an ethical
listener
 Students will be able to use strategies of good note taking to prepare themselves
to critique their peers
 Students will be able to critique their peers
 The students will be able to identify and define certain words; Hearing,
Listening. Including the Types of Listening: Critical Listening, Appreciative
Listening, Empathic Listening, Comprehensive Listening, Discriminative
Listening
Minnesota Standard
 The student will demonstrate understanding and communicate effectively
through listening and speaking
 Follow a speaker’s presentation and represent it in notes
Minnesota Administrative Rules
 Rule 8710.4250 – B. 4.
 Ethical Responsibilities of a Listener
Introduction
 Tie into last lesson: “Yesterday we talked about what it means to be an ethical
speaker. With appropriate dress attire, volume of your voice, the enthusiasm
you have in your speech. Can anyone else give me anymore responsibilities of a
speaker when giving a speech? …What about being prepared? Which means
practicing and having the materials needed when it is your day to go.”
 Attention Getter: “Today we are going to learn about what the responsibilities of
an ethical listener are. We all know what the responsibilities are when you are
up here, but today we are going to learn how to be a good audience. Also, we are
going to learn how to effectively critique a speaker. I know we have talked about
this a little bit, but I am going to show you how to take notes while listening to a
speech.”
 For an audience member LISTENING is more than just simply HEARING. You
may hear the speech, but you have to pay attention to actually listen to the
speech.

 This is so because Hearing is a PHYSIOLOGICAL process, or a
BIOLOGICAL function of our bodies.
 But Listening is a PSYCHOLOGICAL process of RECEIVING, and
constructing meaning from, and RESPONDING to the verbal and
nonverbal messages. (Can anyone tell me what verbal and nonverbal
messages are?)
Class Preview:
 Types of Listening
 Discriminative Listening
 Comprehensive Listening
 Appreciative Listening
 Empathic Listening
 Critical Listening
 Teachers Rules for Being a Good Listener
 Listening Tips: 1. Expand energy
2. Take Notes
 The SIER Model
3. Prepare yourself
4. Hear the speaker out
5. Find value in every speech
6. Listen analytically
 Quiz: They can use the in-class worksheet ONLY
 Homework: Communication Apprehension Assignment
Body


Types of Listening:
o Discriminative Listening is “listening between the lines”
o Comprehensive Listening is listening for understanding
o Appreciative Listening is listening for enjoyment
o Empathic Listening is listening to support, help, and empathize with the
speaker.
o Critical Listening is the process of hearing, Understanding, evaluating, and
assigning worth to a message.
 Transition:
Teachers Rules For Being a Good Listener:
1. No Cell Phones: Leave them in your lockers or I will take them
2. No Talking or Passing Notes
3. Be Respectful
 Transition: “Besides my rules, there are also Tips for being a good
listener. Things that you, as a listener can do to stay alert and not slip
into just hearing the speech.”

Listening Tips: 1. Expand energy
o Sitting up straight, leaning forward, maintaining eye contact
o Do not slouch, lean back, or close your eyes
2. Take Notes
o Good way to avoid fake listening
o Helps you to remember information from the speech when you
go to fill out the peer evaluations
o The SIER Model
 S: Sense: Can you hear the speaker clearly?
 I: Interpret: What is the speech about?
 E: Evaluate: Judge the speakers and speeches
strengths and weaknesses
 R: Respond: Assign worth to the speech
3. Prepare yourself
o Physically: get plenty of rest, and eat a healthy meal
 This way you are not thinking about being hungry or
tired during the speech
o Mentally: Clear your mind. You may even want to mediate
 “Tomorrow we will be going over ways to relax your
mind and body before a speech and you could use those
ways before listening as well, but we’ll learn more about
that tomorrow.”
4. Hear the speaker out
o Do Not prejudge the speaker
o Listen with an open mind
o Do not evaluate the speakers strengths and weaknesses until
the speaker has finished their speech
5. Find value in every speech
o Always try to find the positive things in the speech and try not
to jump to conclusions too fast if you disagree with something.
o If you find yourself stuck on a comment you may disagree with
make a note of it and move on
6. Listen analytically
o Analyze the speech as you listen
o Focus on the main points and general ideas
o What are the supporting details to these?
Overview:





Types of Listening
 Discriminative Listening
 Comprehensive Listening
 Appreciative Listening
 Empathic Listening
 Critical Listening
Teachers Rules for Being a Good Listener
Listening Tips: 1. Expand energy
2. Take Notes
 The SIER Model (Sense, Interpret, Evaluate, Respond)
3. Prepare yourself
4. Hear the speaker out
5. Find value in every speech
Are there any questions about what we went over today?
We are going to take a Quiz to see how well you listened today. You can use your
in-class worksheet ONLY, clear everything else off your desk.
 Put “Rules during a Quiz/Test” sheet up on the board so the class can
read it.
Conclusion
 Explain: You, as students, will use good listening skills throughout your career as
students. Also, good note taking is something you will definitely use in your
higher high school classes and college when you get there, so it is essential that
you learn today to be better tomorrow.
 Tomorrow we are going to cover Communication Apprehension, which is the
fear that you feel while delivering a speech in front of the class. I’ll show you
some steps and tips that you can take to overcome your fear of giving a speech,
along with some activities.
 Homework: The Communication Apprehension Worksheet
 If there is extra time have the students practice their speeches with a partner in
the class, but they are to remain in their seats
Bibliography
Sellnow, Deanna D. "A Process Approach" Public Speaking. Media ed. Belmont:
Thomson Learning, Inc., 2003.