Is the 'Call and Response' teaching strategy a waste of time?

I used the 'Call and Response' teaching strategy in my own classes to see if it worked.

Today's blog is about using the 'Call and Response' strategy and whether or not it is a waste of time.

Teachers are innovative. They develop a series of activities that not only build up their students' content knowledge, but also their life skills. These types of skills are things like listening, cooperating, collaborating, managing themselves, thinking, creating, and being respectful of others. All these skills are necessary for human development and contributing to society.

So, is the well-known 'Call and Response' strategy a waste of time or is it all that it is cracked up to be? Read on to find out!

teacher using teaching strategies in New Zealand — The 'Call and Response' teaching strategy can be used anywhere to gain the attention of children.

Children love to play games and I think it is important to give them the chance to do so, while also teaching them. Games and learning can entwine, and it is a common fact that when children are having fun while learning, they are more than likely to remember the experience and the knowledge provided to them - because it gave them joy!

What is the 'Call and Response' teaching strategy?

The teacher will provide the students with a call of some form. It can be words or an action. It is the students' goal to either copy that word or action, or respond with a rehearsed response e.g. If a teacher called "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!" Then the return response from the students could be "oi, oi, oi!"

What are the benefits of using the 'Call and Response' teaching strategy?

There are great benefits to using 'Call and Response' teaching strategies in the classroom. The reasons are because:

you can monitor who is listening and who is distracted.
you can determine who is listening and who is actively listening.
you can improve the students' listening skills by continuing to use this teaching strategy.
you can receive the attention quickly based on the students noticing the other students participating in the game.
students find this activity fun to do and may laugh if you are creative and entertaining in what kind of response you choose.

What are some 'Call and Response' teaching strategy examples?

CALL	RESPONSE
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie	Oi, Oi, Oi
Spongebob	Squarepants
Tahi Rua	Toru Wha
Show me 5 fingers	Lifts hands and shows 5 fingers
Clap clap / clap, clap, clap	Repeat sequence
Clap, click, clap, click	Repeat sequence
Hey! Hey!	Ho!

If you are not a patient person then you may find the 'Call and Response' teaching strategy a waste of time, however, in my own opinion and through experience using this teaching strategy, it is a really great resource and skill to have hanging on your teaching toolbelt.

Try using the 'Call and Response' teaching strategy in your classroom. It works for all ages and can be quite fun for all participants.