Anthony Tyrrell, ESL coordinator at Oklahoma City Community College Adult Learning Center, shares one of his favorite classroom activities. Running Classroom Dictation is a kinesthetic activity that encourages students to engage with each other using English in a fun way.
Running Dictation Activity
Objective: Remember words/phrases/sentences and dictate them
Skills: Reading/Speaking/Listening/Writing/Grammar
Target Students: ESL (all levels – adjusted according to reading difficulty)
Duration: 30-60 minutes
Number of students: 2-40
The Running Dictation tool is widely known, but not widely used, in the ESL world. It provides enhancement to the classroom repertoire of fun and learning, as well as opportunities for student-student and teacher-student engagement.
Steps for the activity:
1. Number students in groups of four
2. Post a four-paragraph reading passage on walls outside (or inside) of classroom. The passage can be taken from either Lesson D (each unit in Ventures), or other, topic-related passage
3. Each person in group gets a number from 1-4 (or variable)
4. Numbers correspond to assignment sheets (from passage) on walls outside the classroom
5. Beginning with the first student and repeated for other students in the group:
a) First student runs, reads, remembers, returns, and dictates to the other three (speaking ONLY);
b) ‘Writers’ ask questions to clarify words, grammar, and punctuation.
6. Repeat step 5 for students 2, 3, and 4
7. First team to finish correctly gets a prize or recognition
At end, all groups compare notes and the original (on overhead screen) to identify the group that comes up with most accurate version. Discuss problems, challenges, how students felt, etc.
Ask for feedback on what students learned, get their feedback, and review difficult words together.
Rule Violations:
- Runners/speakers may try to write instead of speak, say something like, “Drop your pencils/pens!!! Speak to your classmates, don’t write the sentences for them.”
- Writers sometimes just copy and don’t listen, say something like, “Don’t just copy your classmates; if you don’t understand, ask clarifying questions of the speaker.”
Modifications:
- The group size can be modified based on the number of paragraphs (higher level), sentences (intermediate), or words used (lower).
To see this activity in action, watch this video: