Show and Tell {A Speaking and Listening Program}

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🙂

It’s not THAT kind of Show and Tell, where the kids bring in their half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, or the lint from the dryer or, even worse, some kind of dead rat or lizard or whatever.

I know.

I’ve seen those kid-type movies on TV.  I’ve read those kid books.  I know.

This is Show and Tell WITH A PURPOSE.

This is Show and Tell that is MEANINGFUL.

This is Show and Tell that meets the Common Core State Standards.

To say that I believe in Show and Tell is pretty much an understatement.

I’ve included it in my classroom for at least fifteen years and I don’t see myself ever stopping!  FOR REAL.

After mentioning it in one of my Five for Fraturday posts, I got a lot of comments and messages about it, and so I finally took the time to put all of the pieces together in one place.

Allow me to break it down for you.

FIRST.

You can’t have one-big-long Show and Tell Day or you might go insane.  No joke.  Especially if you have over 20 kids in your room like I do.  You can’t listen to them for that long and they can’t listen to each for that long so no.  Just no.  You can’t do this on just one day a week. Or even one day a month.  You will not make it out alive!

So FIRST, you make a SCHEDULE!  You assign five or six kids to each day of the week and YOU DO NOT DEVIATE (unless one of the days during the week is a holiday and then you just make-do).  Five or six kids a day sharing for about one minute means this takes ten minutes or less in your day.  I highly recommend that you find ten minutes a day!!!

SECOND, you provide Show and Tell TOPICS.  ACTUAL TOPICS.  Topics that the kids have to stick to and focus on and that give them an actual idea of what to bring.

This alleviates the whole Today I brought my brother’s old gym sock which smells really really really bad.  It smells so bad, my dog passes out from it.  Who wants to smell it? type of Show and Tell.

This pack has three options:  Topics for a 12 week program (perfect for implementing the program at the end of the year), 20 weeks, or 30 weeks.  The topics are generic, meaning that they work for any time of the year.  But there are editable templates in case you want to make them more specific (such as Something Pink or Red for Valentine’s Day week or A Collection of 100 Things for the 1o0th Day, etc.).

THIRD, you (the teacher) MODEL MODEL MODEL how to organize and prepare a presentation (and by presentation, I mean a one-minute-or-so kid type of speech).  I ALWAYS share first at the beginning of the week.  I provide sentence frames a lot in the beginning of the year!  This resource has anchor charts to help students understand and organize their presentation!

FOURTH, you have Question Cards, Comment Cards, and Compliment Cards AT THE READY so that when the assigned person has finished sharing their item, the rest of the class has something RELATED to say.  Something about the item in particular and NOT the ole one time, at my aunt’s house, I saw a frog on a tree and it was green, and then we went swimming.

LAST, you need a RUBRIC!  An actual RUBRIC so that you can take notes and provide positive feedback, as well as constructive criticism, AND you can get a grade if you need it.  I happen to need a grade because Oral Language is an actual line-item on our report card.

Yep.

It’s a STANDARD.

My kids make SO MUCH GROWTH in Speaking and Listening because of our Show and Tell time!  I can’t even tell you!  I’m trying, but it’s not enough!  I wish you could SEE and HEAR my kids during this special time of our day.

Do you know how many kids say to me Today is my Show and Tell day!  I love my Show and Tell day!  It’s my favorite day!”

A LOT.

Do you know how many times parents have emailed or called me to tell me that their child is ill, BUT  HE/SHE WANTS TO COME TO SCHOOL ANYWAY BECAUSE IT IS THEIR SHOW AND TELL DAY?

All the time!!!! (By the way, I keep Fridays open for “make-up” days).

Do you know how many parents have thanked me for making this a part of our day?  Who have said they wished they had this when they were in school because they are TERRIFIED of speaking in public?  Who have said their child will now speak to adults?

Do you know how many times I’ve sat in IEP meetings for students receiving Speech services and the parents AND the Speech Teacher tell me that Show and Tell is helping them improve (whether in articulation, processing, language, etc)?

I KNOW!!!!

It is seriously amazing!

By the way, you do not need to buy this resource to start this up in your own classroom.  You just need a schedule, some topics, and some sort of rubric/feedback/comment sheet.  REALLY!  You can do this!  You can start NOW!  It doesn’t have to be the beginning of the year.  You can make it a goal to do this for the last trimester of the school year.

Your kids will LOVE it!  And so will their parents!  And most likely – even your administration!!

But if you need some help or guidance . . . here’s a peek into the resource:

 

 

 

 

I usually get these questions from teachers who are thinking about starting it . . .

Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at ateenytinyteacher@yahoo.com if you have any more questions!  I’m happy to help!  🙂

I hope I’ve changed your thinking about Show and Tell . . . and I hope you’ll think about adding it into your schedule!  🙂

PS All of the exclamation marks throughout this post are because I’m excited and passionate about Show and Tell.

Not because I’m yelling at you.  🙂

!!!!!!

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