Description: Listening Counts® is a new educational game that teaches six basic listening skills to elementary school students. Players learn skills that will help them be better listeners at home, with friends, and in the classroom. Skills include remembering to make good eye contact, avoiding interrupting, and interpreting body language correctly. Players have fun moving from cloud to cloud, picking cards, answering questions, practicing the six listening skills, and avoiding the rain clouds that could cost them a turn. There are two sets of rules to tailor the game to older and younger students. The six listening skills are: Stop what you are doing and look at the speaker. Wait for your turn to talk. Show you are listening. Listen even if you disagree. Think about what the speaker is saying. Ask questions if you don’t understand. Players pick three kinds of cards. Sharing Cards ask players to tell something about themselves, such as their favorite hobby and why it is their favorite. Other players listen and then earn points by summarizing what the speaker said. Feeling Cards ask players to describe a feeling or act it out. Other players earn points by guessing the feeling. These cards help players learn how to listen for the feeling of the speaker as well as the content. There are two sets of feelings cards, a set of ten feelings for younger students and a set of seventeen feelings for older students. True-False Cards cover various aspects of listening, reinforcing the six listening skills and expanding to more subtle aspects, such as picking up cues from body language and tone of voice. A Teacher's Guide with complete lesson plans for both versions of the game is included. Teachers and counselors are amazed how much players improve their listening skills during the play of the game.

Publisher: Franklin Learning Systems

Year Published: 2003

Format: BOARDGAME