100 Powerful call and response classroom ideas

Published on 15 February 20245 min read

Written byJessica Pastore

Museum Educator

Reviewed byTara Walsh

Content Curation Manager

In this guide

How does call and response work?
Call and response examples for the classroom

Call and response is a fun and easy classroom management technique used to grab your students’ attention.

1) How does call and response work?

Call and response, sometimes referred to as “choral response”, most often looks like the classroom teacher giving a verbal prompt, followed by the students replying back with a pre-established response. Using call and response (C&R) in your classroom not only effectively grabs your student’s attention in a fun and simple way, it also establishes a sense of community in the classroom that is invaluable.

Other benefits of using C&R in your classroom include:

Facilitating easier transitions
Opportunities to practice communication skills
Reducing student anxiety by providing predictable patterns
Giving even the quietest students an opportunity to actively participate and feel included
Effective classroom management without having to raise your voice

Call and response prompts can be almost anything. They can change with the seasons, the trendiest pop culture, or whatever you can think of! Another cool thing about C&R is that its use is not only limited to the classroom – I’ve heard dozens of unique C&R’s working to keep students on track in my time working in museums and facilitating field trips.

Generalised Anxiety: A Teacher’s Guide

How to Teach Communication Skills

2) Call and response examples for the classroom

Everyday

Call: One, two, three, eyes on me!.. Response: One, two, eyes on you!
C: Clap if you can hear me! R: clap
C: Peanut Butter! R: Jelly Time!
C: Class, class? R: Yes, yes?
C: Ready, set? R: You bet!
C: Holy moly! R: Guacamole!
C: Crystal? R: Clear!
C: L I S.. R: T E N!
C: Marco.. R: Polo!
C: All Set? R: You bet!
C: Eeny meeny.. R: Miny mo!
C: Macaroni and cheese! R: Everybody freeze!
C: Hear ye, hear ye R: All hail the Queen!
C. Hands on your head if you can hear me! R: Students place their hands on their head
C: Finger on your nose if you can see me! R: Students place a finger on their nose
C: Ready to rock? R: Ready to roll!
C: Hey hey! R: Ho ho!
C: Abbra R: Kedabra!
C: Chicken! R: Nugget!
C: Uh oh! R: Spaghettio!
C: Knock, knock. R: Who’s there?
C: Show up! R: And shine!
C: Snap, crackle, pop! R: That means stop!
C: Zip it, lock it R: Put it in your pocket!
C: Bubblegum, lollipop R: We’ve been talking, time to stop!
C: Head, shoulders.. R: Knees and toes!
C: WWW dot… R: Zip it dot com!
C: Hot fudge.. R: Sundae!
C: Three, two, one… R: Talking is done
C: Apple R: Sauce
C: Pop R: Corn
C: Butter R: Fly
C: Hot R: Dog
C: Kitty R: Cat
C: Milk R: Shake
C: Flat Tire! R: Shhhh!

Disney

C: Hakuna! R: Matata! (The Lion King)
C: Hakuna Matata! R: It means no worries! (The Lion King)
C: Let it… R: Go! (Frozen)
C: To infinity… R: And beyond! (Toy Story)
C: You’ve got a… R: Friend in me! (Toy Story)
C: Do you want to build.. R: A snowman? (Frozen)
C: May the force.. R: Be with you! (Star Wars)
C: Beauty and the… R: Beast! (Beauty and the Beast)
C: Ho, ho, ho! R: Off to work we go! (Snow White)
C: Shark bait R: Oh ah ah! (Finding Nemo)
C: Mickey Mouse… R: Clubhouse! (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)
C: Lightning.. R: McQueen! (Cars)
C: GEORGE! R: Watch out for that tree! (George of the Jungle)
C: Avengers.. R: Assemble! (Avengers)
C: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah…R: Zip-a-Dee-Ay! (Song of the South)

Pop Culture

C: Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? R: Spongebob Squarepants! (Spongebob)
C: Are you ready, kids? R: Aye, aye, captain! (Spongebob)
C: Stop! R: Hammer time! (MC Hammer)
C: Gangnam! R: Style! (PSY)
C: Tell me what you want.. R: What you really, really want! (Spice Girls)
C: Wax on R: Wax off! (Karate Kid)
C: E.T… R: Phone home! (E.T.)
C: Scooby Dooby Doo R: Where are you? (Scooby Doo)
C: Can I get a… R: Whoop whoop! (Amil, J-Rule, Jay Z)
C: Yakety Yak…R: Don’t talk back! (The Coasters)
C: Here I come to save the day! R: Mighty mouse is on his way! (Mighty Mouse)
C: Goodness gracious! R: Great balls of fire! (Jerry Lee Lewis)
C: Wake me up! R: Before you go, go! (Wham!)
C: We will, we will… R: Rock you! (Queen)
C: Chitty, chitty… R: Bang bang! (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang)
C: Who you gonna call? R: Ghostbusters! (Ghostbusters)
C: Mischief… R: Managed! (Harry Potter)
C: Wingardium… R: Leviosa! (Harry Potter)
C: Lions and Tigers and Bears… R: Oh my! (The Wizard of Oz)
C: ABC R: 123! (The Jackson 5)
C: Mona R: Lisa! (Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa)
C: Romeo! R: Juliet! (Shakespeare)
C: You need to calm down! R: We’re being too loud! (Taylor Swift)
C: Who let the dogs out? R: Who, who, who? (Baha Men)
C: Autobots… R: Roll out! (Transformers)
C: Ba da ba ba ba! R: I’m lovin’ it! (McDonalds)
C: Red Robin! R: Yummmm! (Red Robin)
C: My bologna has a first name… R: It’s O S C A R! (Oscar Meyer)
C: Chicka chicka! R: Boom boom! (Chicka chicka boom boom)
C: Sweet Caroline… R: Ba ba ba! (Neil Diamond)