DOUBLE TAP TO ZOOM ON PHONE OR TABLET Interruptions directed to the teacher • Ignore the first interruption (unless the child needs to use the toilet or has some other urgent need). If the child interrupts again, he will likely keep interrupting until you respond. Act on the second interruption. (Usually it will be a request like “Will you tie my shoe?” or “Can I get a drink of water?”) Tell the child that you are very interested in what he has to say but that he must wait until the end of circle/ group time. If the child interrupts again, signal by nodding your head to another adult to help the child with his needs. Go back to the activity quickly. • Keep a mental note of the nature of the distraction. At a later time, talk with the child about what he may be able to do differently the next time so as not to interrupt. • Some interruptions are great learning opportunities. They should be allowed, and you should follow through on them. For example, if a child complains that another child hit him, use the conflict resolution strategies discussed in “Problematic Behaviors” that starts on page 173. All the children will be interested and will learn from the experience. When “show-and-tell” does not go well The purposes of show-and-tell are for children to make a connection between home and school, to practice speaking in front of a group and communicating clearly, and to share some- thing personal to help everyone get to know each other better. There is, however, a tendency for show-and-tell to go on too long and to be a bit chaotic, in part because the children who are not sharing are disengaged from the activity. Sharing commercial toys creates a number of problems as well, so try to find alternatives to meet the goals of show-and-tell. • Limit the number of children who share during show-and-tell by assigning some to share only on Monday, others on Tuesday, and so on. To keep the time appro­priately short, consider doing show-and-tell in small groups or in two groups simultaneously. • As an alternative to sharing a toy or object, suggest that children share family ex- periences using photographs from family trips or special events. They can also use photos to tell about their pets; bring in something that they or a family member have made at home or an interesting found object such as an unusual stone; or share a favorite book or song from home, or something similar. Sharing themselves rather than things helps children who have no item to share and makes for more personal, meaningful sharing. • Involve all the children in this activity by making sure the child who is talking speaks to the other children, not to you. Encourage the other children to ask ques- tions of the child who is sharing. Place yourself behind the child to facilitate this. • A variation on show-and-tell is to have the children bring their items in bags so that the other children can try to guess what they are. They ask questions and get cues from the size and shape of the item in the bag. The child who is sharing can give hints, with adult help as needed. The hints can be physical, such as shaking the bag and tapping the object, or verbal such as “I found it on a beach” or “It fell from a tree” or “It has a picture of an elephant on the front.” 22 • Part 1 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL