Hajah Ratnawati binti Haji Mohammad - BRUNEI DARUSSALAM 1ST Princess Maha Chakri Forum 2017

1. 1ST Princess Maha Chakri Forum 2017
Presented by:
Hajah Ratnawati binti Haji Mohammad
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
CIRCLE TIME
FOR
STUDENTS WITH
SPECIAL NEEDS

2. CONTENT OF PRESENTATION
• Objectives of the presentation
• Introduction – What is Circle Time?
• Purpose of Circle Time
• Therapy Massage and its benefit
PART A
• Circle Time Components
PART B
• Planning the Circle Time Routine
PART C - Closure
• Songs
• Checklist

3. Objectives of Presentation
 To share one of the best practice of teaching students with
special needs.
 To exchange ideas and experience among PMCA recipients,
educators, outstanding teachers in Thailand , policy makers from
the 11 Southeast Asian Countries, and members of relevant
regional and international organizations.

4. WHAT IS CIRCLE TIME?
(Photo #1)
Circle Time is also known as Morning Circle or as Morning
Meeting, it is often a daily lesson in both general education
and special education classrooms(Kriete, 2003)

5.  Across these four components, Students build their
socialization, communication, and academic skills.
 Circle provides opportunities to encourage children to have
positive relationships (Farrell, 2003).
 Children learn to take turns, wait, and to cooperate during
group games.
 Children practice communication skills during each of the
components of Morning Circle by sharing experiences,
posing questions to peers, and listening (Kriete, 2002).
Purpose of Circle
Time

6. Therapy Massage
Benefits
1. Provide relaxation and
calming effects.
2. Increase attention span,
eye contact and
concentration skills.
3. Improves fine and gross
motor skills.
4. Improve academic skills
(Photo #2)

7. What must we do
before we start Circle Time?
• Discuss the rules first
Photo #3
Circle Time
Checklist
Use visual cues
for rule cards

8. Lesson Plan for Circle Time
 7.30 – 8.00
 Therapy Massage
 National Anthem & Prayer
 Circle Time – Greeting
 Introducing their name/show their name card
Say “My name is Amal”
 Sing a song of :
Good morning to you
 Point to their friends as the teacher call out their friends’
name
Foot print for the
students to stand
during National
Anthem

9. Part A
The Components of Circle Time
The following activities were included in one or more classrooms:
1. Attendance
2. Greeting
3. Sharing
4. Group Activity
5. News and Announcement
6. Calendar, daily schedule (including special class events
7. Cognitive lessons,

10. The Circle Time Components
1. Attendance
Benefit:
 Each student is learning to recognize his/her own photograph.
 Attendance is a particularly appropriate time to embed gross
and fine motor skills.
 Reach and grasp can be emphasized as the child selects
his/her own photograph and hands it to the teacher.

11. Students Attendance
(Photo #4)

12. 2. Greetings
 Feelings of individual importance are enhanced as each child
hears his/her own name during the greeting component of Morning
Circle.
 This also provides an opportunity for children to learn each other’s
names, thus supporting classroom membership. (Bondy & Ketts,
2001).
 A variety of greetings are possible such as verbal greetings,
high fives, and handshakes.

13. 3. Sharing
 The sharing component addresses communication skills
while children learn more about each other.
 Sharing provides a context in which to teach about good
listening skills.
 It also provides an opportunity to put thinking into words as
children share their own experiences and pose questions to
their peers.

14. 4. A Group Activity
(Songs, Musics, Games or Physical Activities)
 A short group activity ensures that each child has a
way to participate (Bechtel, 2004)
 A daily song, physical activity, poem, dance, or game
becomes an important part of classroom ritual and
identity (Bondy & Ketts, 2001)

15. 5. News and Announcements
 The final component is news and announcements. Kriete
(2002) suggests highlighting one or two events of the day
rather than reviewing the entire schedule.
 The purpose of this segment is to get students enthused
about the day (Bechtel, 2004).
The Circle ends by providing a transition to the next activity/ lesson
of the day.

16. Circle Time Exit Greeting
Morning Circle ends with an exit routine that may even include an exit song.
Children may learn to leave the Circle when they
hear their names called as part of the exit greeting.
For example, “Bye bye [child’s name].”
Other Example:
End the Morning Circle by singing the following words as the last verse
of their Circle song, “The teachers on the bus say Circle is
finished.” Students learn to recognize these familiar words as a cue
that it is time to transition to the next lesson.

17. Part B
Planning the Circle Time Routine
 Meaningful Morning Circles start with careful planning,
including decision making about the components,
physical environment, equipment, staffing,
positive behaviors supports, and communication
with parents (Bechtel, 2004).

18. 1. Physical Environment
 Seating is usually organized in a semi-circle or
horseshoe shaped arrangement.
Space near a wall is necessary if the class is working on
calendar, attendance, or any other components
that will require posting materials on a
flat, sturdy surface.
Photo #5

19. 2. Equipment and Materials
 The seating must be selected and positioned so that
children and adults are at eye level to facilitate
conversations.
 Communication equipment, such as voice output devices,
small portable easel, The slant board are another area of
consideration
 Feldman (1995) presents ideas for additional artifacts
appropriate for Morning Circle such as microphones to be
used when verbal students take turns speaking and creative
ways for ambulatory kids to transition to circle.

20. Daily Helper Roster
Calendar
Helper
Weather Chart
Helper

21. Communication Equipment
Slant Board
(Photo #6)
Easel
The slant board provides a
stable platform that keeps the photos from
moving, making the task more accessible to
children with visual impairment.

22. 3. Communication Supports
 A meaningful representation may be a photograph, line
drawing, object, print, sign symbols or braille.
 The teacher may decide to use additional representations
for the various components of Morning Circle, such as
calendar, music, and sharing.

23. 4. Staff Participation
 There should be a sufficient number of staff or peer
helpers to ensure that each child’s communicative attempts
are recognized and that each child can actively participate
(including the performance of any motor components)
 Using a visual chart to record the Circle songs and poems
can support staff to participate more fully in Circle.

24. Use of Visual Chart
for Choices of Songs
(Photo #7)
The student picks their
favourite song
Then, the student pastes
the picture of the song
Then, the helper will play
the songs
accordingly

25. 5. Behavioral Supports
 Bechtel (2004) suggests that teachers consider how to
reinforce positive behaviors and how to correct inappropriate behaviors during
Circle.
GIVE SOME EXAMPLES??
 In some cases, tokens or tangible reinforcement will need to be distributed
during Morning Circle time. (e.g. five stickers equals
time with play game using the computer.)

26. Photos or line drawings that prompt appropriate behavior may also
be integrated into Circle and paired with verbal praise such as
Excellent, Very Good, Well Done,
Good job etc.

27. 6. Parent Involvement
 Teachers may want to consider sending a letter to parents to
describe the goals of Morning Circle (Working with Families,
Responsive Classroom Newsletter, 2001).
 Such a letter (communication book) could communicate to parents
what they can do to support the participation of their child.
For example, parents could record a message about an event that occurred in
the home on a single message communication device. Later, the child could
activate the message during the sharing component of Morning Circle.

28. • Daily Schedule, Calendar, and Weather
Some of the classrooms concentrate
on identifying the day of the week and the
daily activities, while others address the
month, year, and date.
We attaches velcro to the dates to create a more
interactive lesson for students who place the numbers in
the correct location on the calendar.
(See photo 8)
In the process of pulling information off and placing
information on the calendar, the students are practicing
fine motor skills.

29. Calendar and Daily Schedule
(Photo #8)
We attaches velcro to the dates to create a
more interactive lesson for students who
place the numbers in the correct location
on the calendar.

30. Gross Motor/Exercise
 The students might take turns selecting a yoga position and then
all of the staff and students imitate the position.
 This is an interesting way to integrate imitation and awareness of
body positioning while providing an opportunity for the
students to move about and stretch before returning to
deskwork

31. Sensory items for Gross Motor
Exercises
Balance beam
Jumping mat
Thin mattress
Plastic stools
(Photo #9)

32. Sensory Items
Coloured shape floor mat
Textile foam /board
Lycra Tunnel
(Photo #10)

33. Sensory Items for Circle TimeTunnel
Seesaw
Sensory Light Ball pit
Therapy ball
Photo #11
Sensory Gonge
Tactile Disc

34. Multi Sensory Activities
(Photo #12)
Balancing and
Focus Skills
Observational Skills
(Matching colours)
Balancing and
Focus Skills
(Walk on stools)
Multi Sensory Skills

35. (Photo #13)
Hands and Eyes coordination
skills & Cognitive skills
(Stacking blocks according to the
number value)
Gross Motor Skills
(Stretching Lycra cloth)

36. Part C
SONGS ACTIVITY

37. The Hokey Pokey

38. Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes

39. If You Are Happy

40. Basic Skills Checklist for Circle Time
Skill Area: Greeting
Targets: Able to greet and say or sign
•“Good morning”
• “Assalamualaikum”
• sign Hello
No. Name: Date and Days
Mon
6 Mac
Tues
7 Mac
Wed
8 Mac
Thurs
9 Mac
Sat
11 Mac
Remarks
C P I C P I C P I C P I C P I
1. Fathimah (CP) A / / / /
2. Diana (VP / SP) / / / / /
3. Amal (DS/VP/HP) / / / / /
4. Anisya (GDD/SP) / / / / /
5. Mahadhir(SP/CD) / / / / /
6. Harold (HI/CP) /
(SL)
/
(SL)
/
(SL)
/
(SL)
/
(SL)
7. Farah (SID/SP) / / / / /
8. Iza’an (VI/CP/SP) / / / / /
Comments:………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………..
Code:
Staff completing Assessment
C = Correct, Independently
E = Prompted ………………………..................
I = Incorrect or No Response

42. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION
“Helping students with special needs fills
my entire life with purpose, bless and love
that continues to multiply over time”