Common Core Standards
Speaking & Listening, Kindergarten
Public speaking may be everyone's worst nightmare, according to all those surveys taken by people who have obviously never been involuntarily up close and personal with a spider. But it doesn't need to be a scary thing in the kindergarten classroom. The goal of these standards is to help students feel comfortable using their words when they're speaking to their teachers, peers, or groups.
The kindergarten Common Core Standards for Speaking & Listening cover everything from following the rules of a conversation, to maintaining a conversation, to providing additional detail or using visual aides to help get a point across. And talking might seem harder than not talking. But understanding when it's your turn and knowing when to ask for clarification are two skills neglected by an embarrassingly large population of adults. So, listen up, kids.
And the key here isn't to mark our little orators and listeners right or wrong for each word or pause that's out of place. These standards are just a holistic approach to teach them the ground rules on verbally interacting with others.