Wednesday, June 19, 2019

Circle Within a Circle Activity

Intended age group: Upper Elementary through Adult
Time Needed: 10 minutes (or more)
Learning objectives: Participants will review topics and share with various partners a tidbit of
what they have learned so far.
Materials needed: None
Overview:
Count off participants, 1 through 4. Ask the 1’s and 3’s to each form a circle. Then, have the
2’s form a circle around the 1’s, and the 4’s form a circle around the 3’s. The inside circles
should face out, and the outside circles should face in. Each participant should be facing a
partner. Give a topic for the pairs to discuss for 60 seconds. Allow each partner to introduce
themselves giving their name, job, and location. Ask the following questions, and give
instructions for the circles to shift their positions.
1. What is your all-time favorite movie and why?
2. What is your favorite movie and why?
Inner circles move two spaces to the left
3. What is the best experience you have had personally as a student. What made it so
good?
4. What is the most satisfying work experience you have had in the past five years?
Inner circles move two spaces to the left; outer circles move three spaces to the left
5. Who in your life has had the most important impact on your character? How did s/he do it?
6. Describe a situation where you think you had a permanent impact on the values of a
young person who was not a member of your family.
Inner circles move two spaces to the right; outer circles move four spaces to the left
7. What feelings were invoked in your by the video about the team that cheered for their
opponents? Why?
8. Can the kind of caring demonstrated in the Haircut video be taught? If so, how?
Inner circles switch places with the inside of the other circle; outer circles stay in place
9. What do you know about the values of the coach in the video “Game of Hope?” How?
10.Describe how and where you might use videos like the ones you just saw.
Inner circles change pleaces withouter circles, so inner becomes outer, and vice versa.
Inner circles move two spaces to the left
11. What lessons can be learned from this activity and how effective was this as an early
training technique?
12. Describe at least three ways you could use this technique.
Take time following the activity to ask for reactions and reflections.
Classroom application:
This activity can be used to review any topic in any subject. If you use known-answer
questions (such as #2 above), the activity can become a review game to play before an exam.
If you use open-ended questions (such as the rest of the above questions), the activity can be
used as a “getting to know you” icebreaker, as a way for students to share bits of themselves
with their classmates, or as a way to explore more complex issues.
Recap:
1. What was the purpose of this activity?
2. What did you notice about the progression of the questions?
3. What were the purpose and impact of the increasingly complicated movement
instructions?
4. Do you think this activity increasess the likelihood that particpants will approach the
training with a more positive or relaxed attitude?
5. How could you effectively use this technique with students, colleagues, and parents?


Circle Within a Circle Activity and Recap

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