I came up with the idea and the character Sinister years ago and have yet to meet a child who doesn't love talking about this bad listener. Kids love imaging the trouble sinister gets himself into because he doesn’t listen. Many can relate to all of Sinister's excuses for not listening. Listening is hard work. Listening fatigue is real. This activity allows them to laugh, relate, and share what they have thought about but never dared to say out loud.
I created a new resource for my Listen With Lynn store about Sinister and am eager to share it with many more children. It is not grade specific but I have found it successful for first graders through middle-schoolers.
Meet Sinister Sinister has two ears, wears great hearing devices and has been in listening and language therapy since he was a toddler. But, it doesn’t matter. Sinister is a BAD listener! He doesn’t try and makes up excuses for not listening. Sinister gets in a whole lot of trouble because he doesn’t listen.
The therapist, teacher or parent leads a discussion using the game deck of Sinister’s poor excuses for not listening. It is designed to be presented through hearing first to emphasize learning spoken language through listening. The activity has a Listen slide followed by the passage. The adult reads aloud each of the 12 passages one by one that contains Sinister’s excuses for not listening. Read the passage while viewing the Listen slide. This provides ear contact before eye contact, which is critical to building auditory and listening skills.
https://auditoryverbaltherapy.net/2015/06/01/the-auditory-feedback-loop/
The child listens and retells or paraphrases the excuse in their own words. This uses the child’s Auditory Feedback Loop (Hear It → Think it → Say it) and builds auditory memory and comprehension skills.
Then show the slide with Sinister's excuse. Talk with the child and reflect on Sinister’s excuses for not listening at school. Brainstorm suggestions about what Sinister could do to become a great listener and the boss of his hearing loss.
Tips for Communication Success -Boss of Your Hearing Loss can guide the discussion. It is always amazing to ask the asking the child what they learned and their takeaways from talking about Sinister after this activity.
This activity is an easy, no-prep way to encourage the child to be Boss of Your Hearing Loss. It can be used by parents at home, teachers and therapists both face to face and during tele-practice.
