Social Skills: Peace Circle
Simple strategies to embed Social/Emotional Learning into every lesson, everyday.
In only a few minutes every morning, dramatically increase the strength of student-student bonds.
Materials:
A large foam dice, a stopwatch, a Day Friend cup of sticks with each student’s name.
A Step by Step guide to Getting Started with Peace Circle:
(Move to the next step as soon as students have mastered the current step.)
- Have students practice getting in a circle QUICKLY!
- Show students a large dice, and set expectations that whoever holds the die is the ONLY one who gets to talk. Show them how to hold it correctly.
- Introduce the simple sentence frame “I feel…” Tell students that they will simply pass the dice and practice filling in the sentence frame.
- On a Kindness Monday, introduce how to give a compliment. Role play and give examples for your age group. Discuss deep and shallow compliments. Model it by connecting it with the five virtues and using sentence frames (You were kind when ___. You showed courage when ___.) Point out that each day you may need to really notice what people do around you. When we focus on ourselves we miss others. This is also a great time to teach and reinforce Thank you, You’re Welcome! Kids need to learn and practice how to respond to compliments!
When your students are ready for advanced game rules, grab the full download, Rascal X. Have questions? Join the conversation at our Peace Circle Facebook Group.