Most teachers know the difficulties students experience when directed to stand or sit in circle formations in order to participate in circle time activities. This simple task is so time consuming that many of these activities just seem to go by the wayside. I'd like to share with you a simple solution that is so easy you'll no longer find yourself avoiding circle activities and may even embrace them instead.
All that is needed is a visual on the floor, whether it be a piece of tape or SitSpots® placed in a circle formation. This will provide a visual prompt so that your students will know exactly where to go when directed. Many of us know that custodians are against tapes (painters, washi, masking, duct, electrical, etc.) being used on carpeting, flooring, mats, or rugs because of the tape residue that's left behind once it's removed. For this reason I don't recommend using the masking, painters, duct, electrical tape or any kind of tape on your flooring, mats, rugs or carpeting even for short periods of time. A great alternative is to use carpet circle SitSpots® that attach themselves to carpeting without using adhesives or leaving any tape residue behind. These dots can be easily repositioned, and the best part is custodians absolutely love them.
Directions for students standing or sitting in a circle formation for circle time activities:
Place SitSpots® down onto your rugs, mats, or carpeting creating the circle formation that you want your students to make. I recommend placing these dots rough side up so they can be repositioned easily. Once you get them positioned to where you want them, flip them over to rough side down and they'll instantly begin attaching themselves to the carpeting, rugs, or mats. Firmly press them down concentrating on their edges. Blue stars are placed as markers or places in this picture forming a circle. They can be spaced as close together or as far apart as needed and you can always add more or eliminate some depending upon the number of students you want to accommodate.
That's all there is to it! Now whenever you want your students to stand or sit in a circle formation direct them to stand or sit on their SitSpots® dots, or in this case their stars. Within seconds they'll be standing or sitting in a circle formation.
Here's a picture of my seating area in which students sit or stand on their numbered SitSpots® which are placed on the carpeting for markers identifying exactly where students need to sit or stand. In this seating configuration I can provide direct instruction, partner share, and dismiss them by colored rows, etc.
In order to save space in your room and minimize transition time, you can combine both of the above formations together using the same space of the classroom. Different shapes or colors of SitSpots® are used below to define the circle formation surrounding the numbered SitSpots®.
By providing visuals in this configuration your students will be able to transition back and forth between these two formations quickly and efficiently saving everyone lots of time and effort.
The important part of of creating a circle formation surrounding the seating area is to use either different shapes or different colors for the visuals to define the different areas. Doing so will eliminate student confusion during transition times.
No more frustration or time wasted. It's all about visual prompting which helps students know exactly where to sit or stand. Once attached to the carpeting, mats, or rugs, SitSpots® will not shift, lift or peel from the carpeting and can be vacuumed over without disturbing them. Students can stand, dance, jump, sit, or roll over SitSpots® and they'll remain attached to the carpeting, mat, or rug until you reposition them.
Incorporate visual prompting for lines, seating areas, circle formations, etc. It's the perfect solution to helping transition times become faster and much easier for everyone.
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