Closing Circle

Closing Circle is a quick way to circle around a classroom and ask each student to share one thing they now know about a topic or a connection that they made that will help them to remember or how this new knowledge can be applied in real life.

The closing circle strategy is a manageable way to peacefully wrap up the day and send students off feeling a sense of accomplishment and belonging. Like Morning Meeting at the beginning of the day, closing circle brings a sense of calm, safety, and community to students and teachers. The routine also helps students practice reflecting on what’s meaningful to them about their schoolwork, their classmates, and themselves. After a five- to ten-minute closing circle, students leave school feeling excited about their accomplishments and looking forward to the next day’s possibilities.

Pre-reading stage

• Engage students interest in the text by asking questions about it, eg: "How many paragraphs are in this passage?" or, "What do the pictures in the lesson tell you?"
• Write the key words of the topic on the board and explaining them to the students.
• Give simple information about the reading topic.

While reading stage

The first reading procedure

This stage is also called "reading for purpose". Therefore, reading here is for a certain purpose, a certain goal must be achieved by the students themselves, with the guide of the teacher. For example, the teacher asks the students to write down the words that begin with the letter "T" while the teacher reads aloud. Another example is that the teacher may ask the students to mark the difficult words in the passage to explain them later on.

The second reading procedure

In this stage, the teacher and his students discuss the topic of the passage. However, the teacher must prepare in advance a number of questions about the passage and write them down on the board. The students then answer these questions with the supervision of the teacher not with his help.

The last reading procedure

This stage is the interactive stage, where the students interactive with the teacher and read the passage one by one or by group to reach the goal of making the students understand the passage and read it correctly.

Post-reading stage

In this stage, the earlier two stages are evaluated. This stage contains answering the book's exercises and questions that related to the reading passage. If the students answer these questions correctly with a less interference by the teacher, the goals of the lesson are achieved. However, the teacher must finish ten minutes earlier, giving him enough time to evaluate the students understanding of the lesson. Therefore, the teacher can repeat the lesson to the students who do not understand in a quick and comprehensive way.

Strategy description

In a closing circle strategy, students reflect on their topic by each sharing one important thing they learned and the how they can apply that knowledge in their lives.

1. Sit students in a circle.
2. Share the rules for a closing circle:
• each student shares one learning and how they can apply that knowledge in their life,
• only one person talks at a time,
• no questions, critiques or responses.
3. Model an appropriate reflection such as: “I learned that bullies often won’t bother you if you’re in a group of friends. So, when someone who is known as a “bully” is around, I’m going to stick near my friends so that he or she won’t bother me.” Or “I learned that Rosa Parks had to break the rules to take a stand for what she believed in.  Although I don’t like to break rules, I now know that I need to think for myself before blindly following other peoples’ rules.”
4. Students take turns sharing one thing they learned and will apply in their lives. Consider taking anecdotal notes as students share to note their learning and real-life connections.
5. Remind students that the important knowledge and applications that they shared in closing circle would all be good additions to their pen pal letters!