3 Easy Ways Community Circle Time Can Improve Wellbeing & Behavior

Inside: Learn what a community circle in an elementary classroom is, why they're important and how to use them effectively for a warm and inclusive community. Updated: November 26th, 2024

Starting the day with a community circle or morning meeting is a powerful way to create a positive classroom environment. These gatherings help students ease into the day and foster a welcoming and supportive environment for a sense of belonging and connection, especially important for kids who feel anxious or uncertain.

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A paper examining the effect on student behavior and peer relationships highlights the significant benefits of community circle time (or morning meetings) in elementary classrooms. It showed that implementing morning meetings positively influences student behavior to enhance social-emotional learning and improve the overall classroom dynamics. 

By providing a structured time for students to interact and share, these meetings help develop empathy, reduce behavioral issues, and create a supportive environment conducive to learning.

What is a Community Circle in a Classroom?

Educators often use a community circle first thing in the morning to outline the day's plans and provide students with clarity and structure. But this time can also be used to encourage meaningful interactions as kids share their thoughts or ask questions. Through these moments of connection, students develop vital social skills and strengthen their relationships with peers and teachers.

A community circle can also help students transition from home to school life with a gentle introduction to the school day.

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A sense of community in a classroom is essential for a successful year. Teacher-student and peer-to-peer relationships are important. These positive relationships and environments do not come automatically. Morning Meeting is the scaffold to create this environment.

ALLISON DOOLEY - Northwestern College, Iowa 
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The Benefits of Using a Community Circle

A regular community circle in the morning can help students to:

  • settle into the school day with a positive attitude
  • know what will happen that day
  • set goals for and be motivated for engaged learning
  • learn about structure, limits, and rules
  • develop patience while waiting for their turn
  • listen to and respect the person talking
  • have empathy and understanding another person's perspective
  • understand the importance of listening and not just talking
  • open up and communicate in positive ways
  • regulation emotions 
  • develop social skills to better understand their peers
  • be accountable for their words and actions
  • work collaboratively to find solutions and resolve conflicts
  • be part of and foster a positive and trusting community
  • build confidence, self-esteem, and resilience
  • offer support and healing for children suffering a loss
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Students can participate in fun greetings, share something about themselves, and engage in an activity. Implementing this strategy in a structured format allows students to get to know each other and see their similarities. When students see commonalities between themselves, they are more willing to take risks around them, collaborate, and feel comfortable. As a result, students feel accepted and respected because their peers listen and engage with them. With trust and respect between peers and the teacher, learning will begin to happen.

ALLISON DOOLEY - Northwestern College, Iowa
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How to Use a Community Circle

Traditionally, students sit in a circle on the floor. This arrangement enables everyone to see one another and create a sense of equality and connection. It ensures that everyone has an unobstructed view of each other's faces to encourage open communication, empathy, and mutual respect. This setup minimizes hierarchy since no one is in a dominant position to reinforce the idea that all voices are equally important.

Community circles also serve as a structured way to address behavioral or emotional challenges in a non-punitive way. This emphasizes collaboration and support rather than authority. 

Set some basic guidelines for facilitating a smooth-running and effective meeting:

  • Keep them relatively short, 10 – 20 minutes, depending on the age of your students.
  • The teacher leads the meeting unless a student has been nominated.
  • When a student is speaking, they cannot be interrupted.
  • When it's time for group discussion, students should indicate they wish to speak and wait until they are selected.
  • Students may be expected to contribute or may have the option to pass if they do not wish to speak.
  • Students are to be reminded that everyone's opinion matters and that the circle is a supportive and non-judgemental space where no-one is put down.
  • If an issue is being discussed within the circle, students are reminded to keep their emotions in check and use positive language while working towards a peaceful resolution or course of action.
  • Students are to respect everyone's privacy and only speak about their own experiences, concerns, or celebrations.
  • If someone wishes to share a personal matter or experience, other students must be respectful and not gossip about it outside of the circle.

Community Circle Format

Have the same format each day during circle time so children know what to expect. You can adapt it to suit your cohort, but an example would be:

  • Greeting (5 minutes)
    Begin by welcoming each student by name, with a wave, handshake, or other simple gesture. This helps everyone feel seen and valued. 
  • Sharing (5 minutes)
    Students take turns sharing something about themselves or responding to a prompt (e.g., “What’s one thing you’re looking forward to today?”). This activity builds trust and communication skills.
  • Group Activity (5–10 minutes)
    Engage the group in a short, fun activity, such as a cooperative game, song, or mindfulness exercise. This promotes teamwork and energizes students for the day.
  • Morning Message or Agenda (5 minutes)
    End the circle by reading a prepared message that outlines the day’s plan or focus. Invite students to respond to set a collective intention.

It can also be beneficial to incorporate a short meditation or mental health and wellbeing check-in. This can significantly enhance the experience for students as it promotes mindfulness, reduces anxiety, and helps students start the day with calm and focus. Here's how you can include this:

  • Mindful Breathing Exercise (1-2 minutes)
    Begin with a simple breathing exercise. Ask students to sit comfortably, close their eyes (if they’re comfortable), and take slow, deep breaths. Encourage them to focus on their breathing or silently count their breaths. This can help calm their minds and prepare them for the day.
  • Emotional Check-In (2 minutes)
    Create a space for students to share how they're feeling using a "feelings chart" or by naming their emotions. This supports emotional awareness and builds trust within the group.
  • Short Visualization or Gratitude Practice (2-3 minutes)
    Guide students through a positive visualization or gratitude reflection. For example, ask them to visualize something they’re looking forward to or reflect on one thing they’re grateful for.
  • Loving Kindness Meditation (5 minutes)
    Like a mini vacation for the mind and body, this meditation also reflects on sending positive thoughts to others. Here's a recording you might like to try.

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3 Ways To Use Community Circles In Your Classroom To Improve Wellbeing And Behavior.

3 Effective Community Circle Activities

One reason I love circles is that there are so many fun and engaging ways to use them. Here are a few of my favorite morning meeting ideas:

1. Conversation Starters

Meetings give you a wonderful opportunity to start conversations that help students to develop listening and social skill. They also allow students to voice their opinion, celebrate, or share something that is troubling them. You can choose a theme that suits your grade if there is a problem to address or a topic you want to teach.

Here are a few topic examples:

Friendship
Make up some slides with Getting to Know You questions to use during your meeting. These are terrific at the start of the year when students are making new friends or if you have friendship issues within your classroom. We have a ready-to-use digital resource, which can be tailored to include specific questions that relate to your grade. This type of activity encourages students to increase their circle of friends when they discover how many of their peers have similar interests.

Respect
Respect can be an especially important topic if you have problems with students paying attention or interrupting.

  • Ask students about their definition of respect.
  • Have students give some examples of what is and isn’t respectful.
  • Discuss why it’s important to show respect and how it feels when someone isn't respectful.
  • Find some quotes about respect and discuss their meaning.
  • After your discussion, have students make their own posters about respect.

Goal Setting
Talk about goals and why it’s important to have them. Discuss what a goal might look like and how to have different goals for different areas of life. For example, goals for learning, challenging themselves, persevering, controlling their emotions, hobbies, or sports, etc.

After your discussion, challenge students to set some for the day. Make them simple things to start with, like completing a difficult task or tidying their area after they’ve finished for the day. You can then expand their goals but setting them for a week, term, and even a few for the year.

Gratitude
This is obviously a great one for Thanksgiving, but gratitude is an important topic at any time of the year, especially if you feel your students have developed a sense of entitlement.

Robert Emmons, Ph.D., is the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude. The results of his studies have overwhelmingly and consistently concluded that practicing gratitude has a range of benefits. He shares his findings below:

Physical

  • stronger immune systems
  • less bothered by aches and pains
  • lower blood pressure
  • exercise more and take better care of their health
  • sleep longer and feel more refreshed upon waking

Psychological

  • higher levels of positive emotions
  • more alert, alive, and awake
  • more joy and pleasure
  • more optimism and happiness

Social

  • more helpful, generous, and compassionate
  • more forgiving
  • more outgoing
  • feel less lonely and isolated

Extend Topics

Any topic you use can be expanded after your morning meeting with a variety of activities:

  • have students construct an acrostic poem around your topic
  • group students to participate in roleplay
  • read picture books that relate to your theme
  • watch a video or movie based on your topic
  • have students to work together to create posters
  • share some quotes and ask students to create their own
  • brainstorm some synonyms for your topic word
  • write a song as a group that the students can record
  • construct a bulletin board around your topic

2. Introduce Mindfulness and Meditation

Many teachers already use mindfulness and meditation in the classroom to help stressed or anxious students by giving them tools for coping with big feelings and challenging situations. These relaxation techniques are often introduced to curb anxiety or angry outbursts by helping kids self-regulate. While children are learning from home, mindfulness and meditation can help create calm, peaceful learning environments and improve focus and concentration.

If you haven’t considered mindfulness and meditation in your classroom, I encourage you to take a look at the list of benefits below:

  • helps reduce stress and anxiety
  • improves concentration and memory
  • increases happiness
  • improves relationships
  • boosts energy
  • encourages better behavior
  • creates greater self-awareness
  • improves sleep
  • increases physical and mental health

Read this post to learn more about incorporating mindfulness or meditation in your classroom. There are a few fun activities to get you started.


3. Nurture Positive Character Traits

A great way to improve behavior in the classroom is to build character. Kindness is my favorite thing as it’s the foundation on which all character traits are based. It’s proven that teaching kindness in schools can improve wellbeing, relationships, happiness, and reduce stress and bullying (just to name a few)!

There are so many fun kindness activities that will have your students begging for more. These can be introduced during your morning meeting. If you start a kindness challenge for the whole grade, students can discuss progress during your meeting each day. It’s a great way to encourage enthusiastic involvement and teamwork.

Here are just a few ready-made activities you might like to try:

I’m certain you’ll find including morning meetings a Godsent, however you decide to structure them. Starting with a calm and productive activity that will not only improve wellbeing but get their brains ready for a big day of learning is the perfect way to ease your students into the day.


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