Do your kids need a breather? In this lesson, students will learn the circle process and help write guidelines for community building and SEL instruction. Students will learn the practice of belly breathing to help self-soothe, calm and focus.
Students will be able to practice self-calming, manage stress, and improve focus using belly breathing. Student will be able to co-construct guidelines for when they are in circle time.
Introduction
(5 minutes)
Gather students into a circle, either seated in chairs or on the floor. Share with students that they will be gathering in a circle once a week or more to build community with their classmates.
Raised attention signal: Once your students are in a circle, introduce or remind students of the raised hand attention signal. Explain that when they see you raise your hand, it’s a signal to stop whatever they are doing, raise their hand in the air, and quietly look and listen to you.
Introduce the talking piece: Explain that when they gather in a circle to learn and discuss important things, they will use a talking piece (choose an object that has meaning as the talking piece). Whoever has the talking piece can speak. They do this to make sure they don’t talk over anyone and listen to the person who is sharing. Every week each student rotates and brings in a talking piece that means something to them.