Transcription of Step by Step Guide to Circle Time
1 The step by step Guide to Circle time , by Jenny Mosley 1 ContentsForeword3 Introduction4 How to use this book5 Part One: Understanding theQuality Circle time Model7 The benefits of Quality Circle Time7 Quality Circle time is safe7 Quality Circle time is flexible9 The structure of Quality Circle Time12 Getting ready for Quality Circle Time17 Part Two: Getting to Knowthe Model22 Before you begin22 Practical Circle time Plans24 Into the unknown24 Getting to know you27In and out30 Can I join the game?33A time for telling36 Keeper of the keys39 Things that work for us42 Stick with it44 Monarch of the realm46 Stop and think49In my opinion52 All change55 Using SEAL guidance in Quality CircleTime meetings57 How to use the SEAL toolkit forCircle time meetings59 Part Three.
2 Designing YourOwn Quality Circle Times62 The skills of Circle Time62 Writing your own plans65 step One66 Meeting up66 step Two75 Warming up75 step Three79 Opening up79 step Four86 Cheering up86 step Five88 Calming down88 Putting It All Into Practice92 What Teachers Ask96 The step by step Guide to Circle time , by Jenny all have our own light bulb moments in our career as educators. For me sucha moment was when I began to understand that there are three very differentreasons for children not behaving as we want them to. One reason may be thatthey have not yet learned the skills that underpin positive and pro-socialbehaviour.
3 Another may be that they have the skills but are not choosing to usethem because alternative choices offer them bigger pay-offs. A third reason maybe that although they have the skills, and although the incentives to use thoseskills are in place, they are simply too hurt and distressed to make wise Circle time was another light-bulb moment for me. It seemed a magicway of addressing all three of the reasons for behaviour difficulties. Theframework of Golden Rules and Golden time provides the motivation. Circlesessions provide the teaching of the skills children need in order to managetheir feelings, develop empathy, and make and keep friends.
4 The sessions alsoprovide the kind of nurturing environment that reduces children s distress andhurt by enabling them to share it with others and receive is why Circle time is important in the government s approach to the socialand emotional aspects of learning materials (SEAL), on which I was privileged towork. More and more teachers are using Circle time routinely in theirclassrooms, and looking for guidance and support in how to use it book provides that guidance. It explains the benefits of Circle time and takes usthrough the immensely helpful structure of meeting up, warming up, opening up,cheering up and calming down.
5 It provides just enough worked examples, helpfullygrouped under the SEAL themes, to give confidence to a practitioner new to CircleTime. It then leads the practitioner into the next, less scripted steps where childrenexplore the issues that are relevant to them as a group and as ideas in this book are practical and realistic. They acknowledge that somecircle times can feel flat or go wrong. They help us get over those humps andbecome ever more confident in our the look out for the Bag of Power and have fun with thechildren you GrossJean was formerly responsible for the Primary National Strategy s work on behaviour andinclusion.
6 She now directs the Every Child a Reader step by step Guide to Circle time , by Jenny to use this book step by step will Guide you through all aspects of the delivery of QualityCircle time meetings. As you work through the chapters, you will gain a securegrasp of the knowledge and skills that are needed to plan Circle time meetingsthat are uniquely tailored to the needs of your particular one benefits of Quality Circle time and the Five StepsThe step by step Guide to Circle Timebegins with a description of themany benefits that accrue from regular Circle time includes a description of each of the Five Steps and how they fittogether interchangeably to meet your children s two practical Circle time plansThis section begins with advice about the best ways to introduce CircleTime.
7 Short, three- step meetings are suggested as a way in . These helpeveryone to settle into the routines and rituals that make Circle time suchsafe, invigorating fun. A selection of five- step meetings follows theseare designed to give you experience of the range and variety ofapproaches that can be employed during Circle three tailoring Circle time to your own needsThe third part of the book is designed to help you become creative. Itexplains how to plan each stage of a Circle time meeting and put it alltogether as a coherent whole. In short, you will be successfully deliveringthe curriculum for social and emotional aspects of learning and a greatdeal more as step by step Guide to Circle time , by Jenny s worth the effort!
8 Clear structure and clarity of purpose are just two of the features that makeQuality Circle time so appealing to its many loyal practitioners. We advise you totry to work through the book in the order in which it is written. You may betempted to skip the theoretical bits and move straight into the lesson plans, butreading the explanations carefully is essential because your understanding of thedynamics that underpin each session will be crucial when you begin to planindependently. time and effort spent rehearsing the model will ensure that youhave the experience to create sessions that will enrich your children s lives andhelp them to become the self-motivated, self-assured individuals whom you wantthem to we don t do in this bookThis book is not about the whole Quality Circle time model.
9 Other booksinclude our strategies for setting up rewards and sanctions systems and ways todeal with challenging and unhappy children. They also highlight the need totake care of yourselves so that you are energetic and ready for the challengesthat each day brings. Furthermore, the whole model emphasises the need toensure that playtimes and lunchtimes are properly managed so that lessonslearned in Circle time meetings are not lost and forgotten when children areoutside the by step Guide to Circle Timedoes not revisit these aspects of theQuality Circle time model. It concerns itself solely with planning and leadingCircle time meetings that give children experience and training in a wide rangeof cognitive and practical skills that will enable them to achieve satisfying,motivated and successful are many excellent books from Positive Press and LDA that cover all theother aspects of the BY step Guide TO Circle TIMEThe step by step Guide to Circle time , by Jenny Circle time meeting includes activities that encourage the development ofthese skills.
10 This means that Circle time meetings offer you academic benefitsalongside their dynamic effect on social and emotional BY step Guide TO Circle TIMEC oncentratingLookingListeningSpeakingThin kingThe step by step Guide to Circle time , by Jenny Use Circle time plansOnce you have introduced Quality Circle time with three stepmeetings, you will be ready to deliver full five- step meetings. Try outthe scripts that follow and you will soon be familiar with the waysthings Circle time PlansThe plans that follow are designed to show you the range ofapproaches that can be utilised during Circle time themes have been carefully chosen to reflect the PrimaryNational Strategy guidance for the teaching of the social andemotional aspects of learning.
