Circle time activities

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Home : 2003 : January : 8

Circle time activities
By Grace

Hi there,
I have lots of activities in school for this kind of thing. I will try to remember one or two which may be useful, depending on the age.
1. Get the children to get into order using their birth date. only thing
is they are not allowed to speak and must find out from each other by using sign language etc.
2. Divide the class into pairs.Have them sit on a chair opposite each other. Give them a subject to talk about eg they might have to find out from each other the funniest thing that has ever happened, or the most frightening thing that has happened.There are lots of things you could choose-

favourite book, sport, best holiday event. After a few minutes give a signal. Everyone moves round a chair and starts again. keep going until most children have spoken to each other. You could have a written followup where they try to remember what was said and who said it.
3. Make out a question sheet. Again depending on the age, set the questions. (eg my favourite colour is red. I can whistle. I can count to three in another language. I like to sing. I can swim. I can play a musical instrument.) Leave a space beside each sentence. by questioning the other children, each child has to find someone who can do each thing. They write that child's name beside the sentence. They can only use a child's name once. This means they have to speak to many people and not just their own friends.
4. Make foldovers. Each child writes his or her name at the bottom of an A4 page. The pages are then collected in and redistributed. When the child gets a sheet he reads the name at the top and then writes something he has learnt fro talking to that child. Then fold the paper over so the next person can't read what was written. Pass the pages round again and repeat until you reach the bottom of the page. Give the page to the child whose name is at the bottom for him to read. I have also done this later in the year where each person must write a positive comment about each child. When the sheets are given back to the child whose name is at the bottom, they can read all the nice things that have been said about them. I have seen children with low self esteem absolutely delighted at what was written. They take the page home to keep and read it again and again.
There are lots of other ideas. Hope these ones will be of some use to you. If you need more, let me know and I'll bring my book home with me.
Grace