Working Out With Listening (2002). By Vicki Lord Larson, Angela Sterling-Orth, & Sarah A. Thurs. Thinking Publications, 424 Galloway St., Eau Claire, WI 54703. $24. Reviewed by Amy Mathews-Perez, Corpus Christi, TX.

This is an all-in-one tool. The spiral-bound book includes the directions, rationale, development information, a reproducible record form, item analysis, and 50 listening “workouts.” Intended for grades K–4, it could be utilized with anyone who is at any of those developmental levels. This material could be used in any setting not only by speech-language pathologists, but also by para-professionals, classroom teachers, special education teachers, reading specialists, and parents! The purpose of these workouts is to facilitate improvement in listening skills. Although it does include a record form, it is intended for informal assessment only. Each workout is very brief, but does address listening skills in three areas: recalling information, following directions, and listening for details and main ideas. The exercises are organized from easiest to hardest, and if an exercise requires any materials (only nine out of 50 do) such as pencil and paper, it lets you know ahead of time. The last item of each exercise is titled “Think About Challenge,” which requires inference skills, flexible thinking, and application of listening.

I found the best thing about this item is the ease with which it can be utilized. It is a small, lightweight book that can be taken anywhere. The exercises are short enough to be used as an introductory task, a closure activity, or can be done in multiples to be used as a main activity. The exercises are very clearly written, easy to follow, easy to expand upon, and great springboards for conversation and other listening activities.

The authors provide very thorough instructions, definitions, suggestions, and even offer “mediation” so that the adult can make the most of a child’s responses and facilitate focused listening during the exercises. This product is extremely easy to use with very little preparation being needed. The record form is reproducible and simple enough to be modified if needed. The cost of the product is $24, which is reasonable.

Overall, I found this product to be simple, easy to use, and a good thing to have in your SLP bag to use in a pinch or as a transition task. Since the exercises do not build upon each other specifically, there is some flexibility in using them and it is easy to “skip around” between them if the student’s skill level allows that. I would recommend this item as a basic tool because it is well organized, gives some good listening tasks, and is useful. However, it would best serve as a springboard for more in-depth tasks and ideas.