SLANT to Build Listening Skills
September 11, 2025
In Springer classrooms, the SLANT strategy serves as a simple yet powerful tool for teaching students how to listen attentively. It is strategy that students are encouraged to use beginning in the earliest grade levels. As it becomes habit, the SLANT strategy empowers students to actively participate in their own learning journey.
Lower School Director Carol Shumrick explains that the acronym can be tailored to suit different age groups for better understanding. For example, in Lower School the wording differs slightly depending upon grade level:
- Grades 1-3: Sit up, Listen, Ask and Answer questions, Nod your head, and Track the speaker.
- Grades 4-8: Sit up, Lean forward, Activate your thinking, Name key information, and Track the talker.
This flexibility in wording ensures students across developmental stages can grasp and apply the concept effectively.
Teaching and Reinforcing SLANT
Direct instruction is provided at the onset of the year to ensure all students understand the meaning of SLANT and why it is an important listening strategy. (More on direct instruction, here.) Visuals are displayed in classrooms to remind students as well. Throughout the year, reminders are provided by teachers as needed, however those reminders become fewer as the students internalize the strategy.
Building Confidence and Community
Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion, discusses SLANT in this article, in which he points out the and community-building and confidence-building power that the SLANT strategy has for students. He shares his observation of a classroom (Christine’s classroom) where the strategy is taught:
Her students are constantly signaling to one another that they belong. They turn and face each other. They nod, react, and encourage.…in Christine’s classroom, to raise your hand and to begin to formulate a thought is to bask in the warm glow of acceptance and encouragement. The culture in her classroom does not just allow students to take this necessary risk, it lovingly draws them into the light. It is profound and beautiful—a gift to young people, and most of all to the hesitant and reluctant. But what you see in her classroom is not something that will happen naturally, among any group of people, unless the teacher intentionally builds it.
A Respectful Community-Wide Strategy
The fact that the strategy is used school-wide provides consistency for students. A middle school educator explains, "Having this common practice allows us to communicate expectations to students and help them engage with their learning." Lower School Director Carol Shumrick elaborates on its usefulness in grades 1-5, “Once the students understand the SLANT strategy and purpose, it is easily used by all adults within our environment and it can be used without pinpointing specific students.” This is important because redirection given respectfully is a key part of Springer’s culture.
SLANT empowers students to take ownership of their learning.
From the moment teachers introduce and explicitly teach the SLANT strategy, students begin developing habits that support focus and engagement. Throughout the year, regular practice and gentle reminders, such as “SLANT” or “Check your SLANT position,” help reinforce these habits. Over time, these cues become less necessary as students internalize the strategy and use it naturally. By actively engaging—sitting up, leaning in/listening, asking/answering questions, nodding, and tracking the speaker—students enhance their comprehension and contribute to a supportive classroom community.
The benefits extend beyond academic performance. As students master SLANT, they gain confidence in their ability to stay present and contribute. It’s a skill that translates to other areas of life, preparing them for future success.
SLANT, A Starter Strategy for Class Participation™, by Edwin Ellis, Ph.D., published by the University of Kansas Center for Research on Learning, is now in its 2nd Edition released in 2025 which is free to download.
