The Round Robin Response is a listening and speaking activity that involves students taking turns to respond briefly (i.e. in one or two sentences) about an unknown or surprise subject immediately it is made known to them by a previous speaker.

Students form into a circular formation.

One delegated student begins to speak briefly, the group having been told that he or she must end his or her contribution, using the name of an animal or a common thing.

Immediately the first speaker stops talking, the next person has to respond and say something about that animal or thing - but also must end what he or she says by mentioning a different animal or common thing, e.g.

First speaker: “There are many animals that people like to have as pets. At home I have a pet dog.”
Second speaker: “A dog is a very common pet but I like cats”.

Following speaker: “Our cats like to eat meat, fish and mice.”

Next speaker: On my uncle’s farm there are many animals. There are also mice in his old shed.”
Another speaker: “That shed at the back of the school has a broken door.” etc.

The Round Robin Response ends when the first speaker has to make up the final story about the word that the second last person ended with.

The Round Robin Response develops the student’s ability to think quickly on their feet, to use their prior knowledge and their imagination as well as quickly formulate an idea and express it constructively, confidently and competently.

ACTION DOING WORDS

Cards are made depicting “action” words such as e.g. run, walk, cried, sleep, works, cook, swim, etc.
Action sentences are also prepared on cards, on a Power-Point presentation, or written on a whiteboard off lesson sheets, e.g.

The choir _____ my favourite song.
The baby _____during the storm
Anna _____ a cake.
My uncle _____a sailing boat.

Two or three teams are chosen. A panel of three students is selected by the class to act as adjudicators. The teacher says the unfinished sentence and the students compete to choose the Action Word Card that meaningfully completes the sentence. This activity demonstrates that particular action words, called verbs, can explain what someone is doing or has done.

ACTION ADVERBS

(Use when appropriate)
Cards are made depicting “adverbial” words such as: quickly, slowly, loudly, quietly, softly, painfully, carefully, hastily, sweetly, mostly, hotly, coldly, etc.

Action sentences are also prepared on cards, on Power-Point or on a whiteboard,
e.g.

The choir sang _____
The baby slept _____
The storm came _____
The elderly lady spoke _____

Two or three teams are chosen. A panel of three students is selected by the class to act as adjudicators. The teacher says the unfinished sentence and the students compete to choose the Adverbial Card that meaningfully completes the sentence. This activity demonstrates that particular words, called adverbs, can give more meaning to an action sentence. And tell “how” and “when” the action occurred as well as having similar meanings, e.g. “quietly” and “softly”.

Other language-related activities can be found in the 4S Keys To Understanding booklet. These include crosswords and secret codes. While many of the Keys activities are designed for elementary students, they are useful as ideas and models for early childhood education teaching as well.

(The author Keith W. Wright is a former politician, an educator and the director of the Australian International Language Academy. He is currently working with the Active E-Learning Technology Foundation to improve the English literacy skills of the academe, studentry and the Filipino workforce. E-mail questions to youth@mb.com.ph).