Scout Leadership Course Session Activity Notes

Session activity

Speaking and Listening: The Facts

Time to allocate for this activity

15 minutes

Resources required

The facts and questions

Activity Notes

This short activity is designed to encourage Scouts to listen carefully to what they hear. Calling on their ability to listen and recall facts, presented in a fun way, this activity can be run inside or out.

Introduction (2 mins)

How do we hear? What affects our hearing? Talk briefly about this and encourage comments such as age, understanding, interest, attention span, environment, etc. and their affect on hearing.

Why is listening important for a leader? Again, briefly encourage comments from the group which include understanding tasks, listening to others and showing interest.

The task (10 mins)

The presenter will read the passage on The Facts included in the resource kit (or a similar short passage containing many facts). The passage should be read by an adult and occasionally, certain facts should be highlighted by either repeating them, emphasising them or even reading in a different voice or performing a small act to demonstrate the fact.

Next, ask the questions about what has just been read. Have the Scouts answer the questions verbally or give a number of options that require them to move from one area to another to show their answer. Discuss why they do or do not remember the answer. What helped them to recall the answer? Notes on the resource will help with this conversation.

Conclusion (3 minutes)

Invite comments from the course about why they feel listening is an important skill. Conclude with the statement from BP:
"If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk."