Listening Strategies: Listen for Key Words
Strategy practice. The student hears a passage with the words hidden and picks the key words that answer a question, so they learn which words carry the meaning.
This device has no voice — read the passage aloud to the student.
After recess we will paint pumpkins in the art room.
Which words tell you when?
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Teach the strategy before you play: when we listen we grab the words that matter and let the rest go. Press Listen, then read the question aloud or press its speaker before the student chooses. Ask them to say the key words back in their own voice. Use this board alongside Steps 2 to 4, and then ask the student to name key words before answering questions on those boards too.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPress Listen so the student hears the passage with the words hidden; play it again before giving any other help, and show the words only as a later support. Present the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- PromptAsk 'What's your first step?' or 'What would you say here?'Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two responses and talk through which one fits the situation better.Log as cued
- ModelRole-play it yourself first, then the student tries it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give the student a written script to read from during the role-play.
Drop the script, and play a less helpful partner who asks a follow-up question.
Matching IEP goal
Given a real-life scenario, Student will give a clear, appropriate response in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
A strategy board that sits beside the listening ladder. Instead of answering a question about a sentence, the student picks which words in it carry the answer. They hear sentences like after recess we will paint pumpkins in the art room with the words hidden, then choose the words that tell when, where, who, why or how many. The same sentence comes back with a different question so the student hears that one sentence holds several key words.
What to listen for
Watch for choices that repeat filler such as okay so or everybody, which suggests the student remembers the start of a sentence rather than its meaning. Notice which question words are easiest to match to key words. The real test is carry-over, so listen for whether they start naming key words on their own during other listening tasks.
Carrying it home
At home, say a plan in one sentence, such as after dinner we will walk to the park, and ask which words tell when and where. Let your child pick the key words from the next instruction you give. Praise them for asking you to repeat the important part.
What's in this activity
- Which words tell you when?
- After recess
- We will paint
- In the art room
- Which words tell you where?
- After recess
- In the art room
- Paint pumpkins
- Which words tell you who?
- On Saturday
- The pool
- My cousin Jamal
- Which words tell you what to bring?
- A pencil and a ruler
- Tomorrow morning
- For the math test
- Which words tell you why?
- Inside the gym
- Because the field is wet
- Our game
- Which words tell you how many?
- Chapter two
- By Monday
- Five pages
- Which words are most important to remember?
- Line up by the door
- Okay so
- Everybody
- Which words tell you what changed?
- Today
- Library is closed
- Use the classroom books
- Which words tell you where to go?
- If you feel sick
- Right away
- The front office
- Which words tell you when it ends?
- At three o clock
- The art show
- In the hall
Questions
- Who is this for?
- Students in grades 2 through 5 learning a listening strategy they can use in class: picking out the words that carry the meaning.
- How does the listening part work?
- Each question has a Listen button that reads the passage aloud with the words hidden. The student can listen again, and you can show the words as a support. On a device with no voice the words appear so you can read them aloud yourself.
- Can I change the passages?
- Yes. Open it in the Activity Studio to edit a passage or a question, add your own, or reorder them, and the board keeps the listening button.
- Is it free?
- Yes. It plays free in the browser with no login. An account adds session data, goal scoring and assignment to a student.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.