Guide for Preparing Circle for Opportunities to Respond and Engagement
OTR Project with Early Childhood Classrooms
Grand Valley State University
2016
Instructions
This guide accompanies the OTR Project video training and flashdrive with video examples. As part of the study we would like you to watch the video examples on the flashdrive before circle each day. The video examples are 1-2 minutes long and are examples of a teacher delivering high rates of OTR. We would like you to view at least one video before each circle time. When you are watching the video, notice the activities of circle and also how often she delivers OTRs, and then plan your circle time to deliver a high number of OTRs. You can watch the videos in any order and you can repeat any of the videos.
We would also like you to complete a brief log every day before circle time to let us know if you were able to watch a video example before circle and whether you referenced the guide. We will have the video data collectors hand this to you each day and ask you to complete it. Of course, no repercussions will occur from not watching the video examples or completing the log.
OTR Circle Time Preparation ChecklistTeacher: Classroom:
Date: / Time of circle: / Did you watch an OTR video clip before circle time? / If yes, what time did you view the clip? / Which video did you watch? Indicate letter (e.g. A, B, C) / Did you use the guide today?
The rest of this guide provides a quick summary of the video training so you can look at the information presented at any time during the project. The next page is a Table of Contents with all of the information in the guide.
Preparing for Circle Time to Increase Opportunities to Respond (OTR) and Engagement
Table of Contents
1. Instructions
2. OTR Definition and Delivery
3. Why Planning for Circle is Important
4. Group and Individual OTR
5. Preparing Ahead of Time
6. Goals of Circle Time
7. Types of Circle Activities to Increase OTR and Engagement
8. Student Expectations
9. Support Staff Expectations
10. Preventing Problem Behaviors
11. Discriminating Examples and Non-Examples of OTR
Preparing for Circle Time to Increase Opportunities to Respond (OTR) and Engagement
OTR Definition and Delivery
· OTR (opportunity to respond) is defined as giving a request to a student or group of students and the student has/have the opportunity to actively respond.
· A request can be verbal, a physical stimulus, a non-verbal cue, an expectant pause in an activity, or a combination of these.
· Along with providing a request, an OTR requires that there is an opportunity for a student to respond. A student may respond with a motor and/or vocal behavior.
Why Planning is Important
· To make sure that all children are getting an opportunity to actively participate and meet important goals to prepare them for kindergarten.
· When the students are actively responding they are more engaged. This means they are learning and there are fewer off-task behaviors.
Group and Individual OTR
· During circle, individual and group responding is intermixed throughout.
o choral responding (all students calling out an answer to an instructor question)
o whole group participation (singing a song, imitating a movement)
o individual responding (allowing one child to choose the next song, answer a question, model a behavior for the group)
· Mixing up the teaching keeps children engaged and helps them anticipate and respond to different directions and learning expectations.
· For some children, group participation is emphasized and others need more individual opportunities to stay engaged. All children can benefit from both kids of opportunities to respond. Children who are preparing for transition will need more emphasis on responding as part of a group and early learners will need more individual opportunities to keep them engaged and participating.
Student Expectations
· Sit in chair or in designated floor area. This seems obvious but it is hard for a child to learn if they are not sitting in a comfortable and attentive position. Also, when some children are not sitting, it makes it hard for other children to learn and subtly gives them permission not to sit and attend either. Sitting is a “get ready to learn” behavior.
· Follow the circle time rules. The circle rules may vary by teacher and classroom but generally will include behaviors such as look at the teacher, sit quietly unless it is time to talk or sing, sit in the chair with hands and feet to yourself, and follow directions of the teacher.
· Raise hand. Teaching students to raise their hand for a turn is a great way to teach preparation for school and how to request a turn or assistance. It is also a way to teach young children to manage impulses and wait for a turn.
· Wait for a turn. Waiting is inevitable in school and in life. The wait time should be appropriate for age and ability but each child can learn to wait for short periods. A waiting picture or item can be used to help children if needed.
· Participate in circle activities. Participation should be expected (although not demanded) and students who require additional assistance will be supported through prompting as needed. If the activities are set up to be fun and age-appropriate, students will usually be excited to participate. Offering choices is a good way to promote participation.
· Greets peers. Greeting peers and responding to greetings is an important social skill and helps students orient to who is in their class. This also helps them to learn to be aware of others and engage in reciprocal interactions.
· Pass items to peers on request. This is also an important skill since it teaches students to be aware of others, give up an item, share, and follow directions.
Support Staff Expectations
· Be at circle. Most importantly, support staff is needed at the circle to provide prompting, acknowledgement, and support to the circle time instructor.
· Acknowledge students for participating appropriately. All staff at circle should acknowledge the children for meeting the behavioral expectations. It is better to prevent problems by identifying success than have to respond to problem behaviors. This may be public acknowledgement for the whole group by the circle time instructor or quiet acknowledgement by the support staff for children who need a little extra attention.
· Monitor students and direct them to sit appropriately, as needed. The first expectation for students is to sit and be ready to participate. If a child is having difficulty, it is important for the circle instructor or support staff to provide circle time rule reminders or assistance to sit appropriately. A visual reminder is a low level prompt that can be least disruptive or intrusive, and they are easiest to fade over time.
· Prompt students individually (as needed) to participate in activities (e.g. counting, singing) after teacher gives group direction. Some students will readily participate in circle activities with no support. But there are other students who might need help to participate because of language difficulties or other challenges. The goal is for children to have lots of opportunities for active responding, which may include supported responding through prompts from an adult. A prompt may be visual, gestural, verbal, or physical. The outcome should be that the child engaged in the activity similar to peers in a way that is least intrusive and makes it a fun, successful experience.
· Fade prompting and promote independence. Although some children will need assistance to participate, the goal is to fade that assistance gradually over time so the child is independently participating. Staff should monitor their prompting and be intentional about reducing the need for prompts over time.
Preventing Problem Behaviors
· Teach and review student and staff expectations. Your student and staff expectations are your best way to prevent behaviors, which is why they are so important to establish, review, and reinforce.
· Evaluate seating arrangements. The first expectation for students is to sit in circle. Assess what seating is going to be best for the group. Determine whether they are able to sit on the floor for extended periods without the support of a chair or backrest. If not, consider using chairs or having the children lean against something when sitting on the floor. If students are fidgeting and can’t stay in one spot, designate spots on the floor (sit on a dot, carpet square) or consider a chair. Ultimately, you may want your students to learn to sit on the floor but if they are early learners, it may be better to start with more support to make learning successful. Also consider how close together children can sit without bothering each other. These may seem obvious but a weak seating arrangement can be a problem for the entire circle time and interfere with learning. Each circle, take the time to get everyone seated and ready to learn. Also be sure to acknowledge the group for sitting and being ready to learn.
· Seat yourself to be close to all students. The circle instructor needs to move in close to children to offer them opportunities to respond by touching, pointing, giving, receiving, and taking turns with an activity. The instructor also needs to be able to offer individual opportunities and prompts as needed. Being further away from students is less engaging and reduces the instructor’s connection with the group.
· Have materials available and close by. Down time to find materials and having to leave the circle area increases the likelihood of off task and disruptive behaviors, which then requires the instructor to reorient the group for learning and thus reduces the number of opportunities to respond. Keep materials close and be sure they are ready before starting. This is fluent teaching and keeps the activities moving.
· Set up smaller groups for circle if a large group is difficult to manage. If a classroom has a large group or a group that requires a lot of prompting and support, consider splitting the whole group into two smaller groups. One group can be at circle while the other group is involved in another activity. This works well with a group of high need learners, early learners, or at the beginning of the school year before sitting behaviors and the circle time rules are established. A smaller group that needs more support can get more opportunities to respond in a split circle. A split group can always be put back together.
In Summary…
Discriminating Examples and Non-Examples of OTR
· It is important to be able to discriminate between activities that produce high OTRs and those that provide little opportunity for OTRs and less engagement and then select activities and teaching strategies that produce high OTRs.
· You can watch video examples of teachers that provide high OTRs during circle time, or record your own circle time and watch for OTRs. Similar to the activity in the video training, you can watch for and track the number of OTRs delivered in a specified amount of time. You can then calculate how many OTRs are delivered each minute.
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