B1. Oral and Non-Verbal Communication
Oral language is crucial for reading and writing as it lays the groundwork for literacy development. Strong oral language skills provide the foundation for understanding written language and composing coherent, well-structured writing.
You can explicitly teach oral language by incorporating structured activities such as vocabulary lessons, purposeful read-alouds, and guided discussions that focus on specific language skills. Additionally, you can provide opportunities for students to build their language skills implicitly through structured, scaffolded opportunities for conversations that encourage students to use and expand their language within a supportive classroom environment.
Purposeful and effective instruction in this area requires thoughtful pre-planning, explicit instruction, consistent structure, and skillful execution – it is not enough to get students to ‘turn and talk’ a few times a day. Dig into the resources linked below, and check out the resource library for more information and ideas.
During Grade 1, the focus was on:
- active listening
- asking relevant questions
- understanding the purpose & audience for speaking
- taking turns, understanding when to speak, and knowing how much to say to communicate clearly
- understanding how expression, gestures, and body language contribute to the meaning of a message
- using appropriate word choice, new vocabulary, grammar, and cohesive phrases and sentences when speaking
New for Grade 2:
- restating what was heard
- expressing interest
- recognizing when a message is difficult to understand when listening
- staying on topic when speaking
- using expression, gestures, and body language to help convey a message
- using cohesive sentences when speaking to support audience comprehension
Note: This is not an exhaustive list of all expectations in this strand. For a more detailed view, please see the official Ontario curriculum.
