| Q&A: What's an around-the-circle sharing topic that works well for your class? |
Thanks to all these
teachers and the others
who answered this question when we posted it on the Responsive Classroom Facebook page!
On Monday mornings we often share what we did on the weekend. (I give the children a little time to think about what to share before we start.)
Mona Troxell Johnson, 2nd grade
teacher, Countryside, IL
While my students are doing independent research on countries, we sometimes share answers to questions such as: “What would you do first if you got to visit the country you are studying?” or “What would you eat?”
Stephanie Koch, 2nd grade teacher, Elverson, PA
I love reflecting on the previous week’s accomplishments. I’ll ask the class, “What helpful thing did you see someone
do last week?” and start off
by giving an example, often of an accomplishment by a
student with behavior challenges.
Sandy Poplos, 2nd grade teacher, Wilmington, DE
We’ll do things that connect to academics in fun ways, such as: “One person from the 1700s I’d like to have lunch with is ______, and I’d ask him/her ______.”
Mary Ginley, 5th grade teacher, North Port, FL
Sometimes after a partner share, we go around the circle and each student shares one thing that his or her partner said. This encourages listening to one another.
Nancy Ann Sartori, 2nd grade teacher, Hibbing, MN
We complete a sentence starter such as: “This weekend I am looking forward to ___ .” I vary the starter for different times of year, for example: “This winter I look forward to ___” or “Today I look forward to ___.”
Jodie Luongo, 4th grade teacher, Wilton, CT
On Monday mornings I have everyone share quick news about something that happened to them over the weekend. Then, later in the day they write their news. It’s a great way to get the ideas going for writing!
Daisy Cassidy, kindergarten teacher, Mill Valley, CA
Around-the-circle sharing is one of the formats used for the sharing component of Responsive Classroom Morning Meeting. In around-the-circle sharing, everyone in the group has an opportunity to briefly respond to a topic selected by the teacher.
Around-the-circle sharing is used early in the year to teach the basic skills needed for success with sharing. Once other types of sharing have been introduced, around-the-circle sharing may still be used on days when the teacher senses that children need the liveliness of sharing around-the-circle, when children need to practice some of the basic
sharing skills, or when many children are likely to have news to share. |
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