When to use it
Morning meeting often opens with a share. A spun question gives everyone the same topic, and the surprise keeps returning students interested in a routine they repeat every day.
Questions such as whether it is ever okay to break a rule work well for practicing accountable talk. Students agree or disagree using a sentence frame and connect their idea to what a classmate just said.
In advisory or homeroom, these prompts help a new group get to know each other in the first weeks of school without forcing anyone into personal disclosures.
Ideas
- First grade: pass a talking object around the circle after the spin, and only the student holding it speaks.
- Fourth grade: run a think, pair, share where partners discuss the question for two minutes before the whole class joins.
- Seventh grade: hold a four-corners debate with strongly agree, agree, disagree and strongly disagree posted in the corners.
Variations
- Build a unit-specific wheel for history or science, such as whether a historical decision was fair.
- Use the team generator to split the class into small circles, and give each circle its own spin.
- Switch to elimination mode if you want the wheel to stop once every question has been asked, instead of starting a new round.
Tips
- Allow students to pass. A safe circle depends on choice, and many kids join in once they hear a few classmates answer.
- Review each question before class and remove any that might be sensitive for a student going through a hard time.
- Post agreements such as one voice at a time and disagree with ideas, not people, right next to the wheel.
Make it yours
Change any entry, weight or color above, or open a copy of this wheel to edit and share as your own. This page always keeps its original entries.