Listen Right!

During a 5th and 6th grade reading comprehension group, we have been using the Kagan structure called Listen Right! while reading part of a chapter from the book The Clue at the Bottom of the Lake by Kristiana Gregory. This structure allows students to work on their listening comprehension and note taking skills with small sections of a text.

To begin Listen Right!, the students listened while I read a short section of the text aloud. Next, the students wrote down in their notebooks key ideas they heard about in the first section of the text.

After the students wrote down their notes, they partnered up and shared their ideas. At this time, the students could add to or change their notes if needed. After the students shared their ideas about the section with a partner, we talked about the first section of the text together. We created a list of notes together as a group about the first section of the text. When we reread our notes, we had a brief summary of what the first section of the text was about. We continued this process with the remaining sections of the text.

Listen Right! is an engaging way for students to listen to a text, take notes, share their notes with a partner, and then have a whole group discussion about a text.