Open Circle

Open Circle is our social and emotional curriculum.  This is a picture of our first Open Circle meeting!  We always sit in chairs in a circle.  There is always one empty chair just in case someone else wants to join us.  We practiced getting in and out of the circle safely and carefully.  The students have listened to some great read-alouds about transitioning to school.  In another Open Circle meeting, the students shared some of their ideas for classroom rules.  We will meet for Open Circle about 2 times per week. We will also listen to at least 1 read-aloud per week about the Open Circle topic we are focusing on.

Dear Family:

This year our class is using the Open Circle Curriculum, a comprehensive social and emotional learning program that supports elementary school children in developing the skills needed to be good learners and to form healthy, positive relationships with people throughout their lives.

Twice each week during the whole school year, the class will meet in a circle for about 15 minutes. lesson topics will include listening well, including one another, cooperating, understanding feelings, teasing, recognizing differences among people, getting calm, problem solving, positive self-talk, and more. the goals of the lessons are to create a cooperative classroom environment and to give children the skills they need to solve interpersonal problems and to build positive relationships.

Sometimes your child will have a homework assignment from Open Circle that might require your participation. You can help your child develop the skills we are working on in Open Circle by discussing and practicing them at home. You might ask your child to tell you what we talked about in the last Open Circle meeting.

You will receive Open Circle Home Links periodically to keep you informed. they will include new vocabulary words and suggestions for some children’s books that relate to Open Circle lesson topics. You might want to check one or two of these books out of the library to read with your child. 

The Open Circle Curriculum was developed by Open Circle at the Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College, and is available for all elementary grades. at each grade level, Open Circle addresses the same core concepts and skills in ways that are specifically designed to be developmentally appropriate for students at that age. All teachers who use Open Circle have received special training to implement the Curriculum in their classrooms.

If you have any questions about Open Circle, please do not hesitate to contact us.

For more information about Open Circle, please visit www.open-circle.org.