Listen, Pause, Summarise

Worked classroom example

Geography

Worked example

“Waves undercut the cliff. The unsupported material falls. Over time, the cliff line retreats.” Each sentence summarises a stage without copying the full talk.

Teaching sequence

1. Prepare a short account of waves, erosion and cliff retreat. Introduce listen, pause, summarise with one clear success criterion: pause after each idea group, state the point in one short sentence and link the summaries in the order the explanation develops.
2. Model one short example from a spoken explanation of coastal change. Think aloud about the language choice and the subject evidence; invite learners to test the example with a partner.
3. Learners apply the move to a new piece of Geography content. Use the prompt “What changed first, and what happened as a result?” to check whether their language matches their evidence.
4. Collect one independent response. Check that the summary preserves the sequence and the causal relationship. Record one next step and adjust the scaffold to what this response shows.

Try it tomorrow

Pause after each idea group, state the point in one short sentence and link the summaries in the order the explanation develops.

Independent check

Check that the summary preserves the sequence and the causal relationship.

Scaffold built into this activity: Some scaffold

Give learners three boxes for stages and allow a quick sketch before the spoken summary.

Teacher language

Ask learners to point to the evidence, wording or feature behind their answer. Give thinking time before inviting a revision.

Adjust the support

More support

Give learners three boxes for stages and allow a quick sketch before the spoken summary.

Greater independence

Remove the stage boxes and ask learners to summarise a longer explanation independently.

Use the response to choose the next step; the scaffold label describes this activity design, not the learner.