Whole Earth Curriculum WEC
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Lesson 01 — Taking Turns

Learners experience taking turns with one shared object and learn that waiting means everyone eventually gets a chance.

D02 P1: Emotional & Social Awareness D02.S1 45 minutes Draft
Objectives

Objectives

  • D02.S1.K.01 Take turns and share materials during play with a gentle reminder.

Essential question

How do we take turns so everyone gets a chance?

Key vocabulary
turnwaittogetherfairafter
Materials

Standard materials

  • One shared object (ball, tambourine, or shell) · 1 A single object everyone will want, so waiting is real
  • A "turn" marker (a stick, card, or pebble) · 1 Shows whose turn it is; passed hand to hand

Low-tech / no-cost

  • Voice and body Use a shared song — each learner sings one word and passes the turn with a wave
  • A single found object One stick, leaf, or stone that must be passed around

Enriched / lab & device

  • A visual turn chart · 1 A card or board showing "my turn" and "your turn" in pictures
  • A soft ball or beanbag · 1 Easy to hold and pass to make the turn visible to all
Works in different contexts
  • large-group Use the turn marker so everyone can see whose turn it is from across the circle; invite the whole group to chant the next learner's name
  • self-directed A learner practices "my turn, your turn" with a grown-up or a friend, passing one object back and forth
  • outdoor-only Pass a found object — a smooth stone or a stick — around a sitting circle in the open air
  • multi-age An older learner models "now it's your turn" and hands the marker to a younger partner
  • level-grouped Learners who already wait well take longer turns with more steps; others practice a single quick pass
Two children face each other; the child on the left holds a ball and a TURN marker while the child on the right waits with open hands, and a dashed arrow labeled "your turn next" shows the pass.
Two children face each other; the child on the left holds a ball and a TURN marker while the child on the right waits with open hands, and a dashed arrow labeled "your turn next" shows the pass.

Lesson 1 — Taking Turns

Summary

Learners share one object by taking turns and practice the small skill underneath it: waiting. They close by noticing how turn-taking feels fair — everyone gets a chance, no one is left out.

Objectives

  • Take turns with a shared object during play with a gentle reminder. (D02.S1.K.01)

Connection

When many children want the same swing, ball, or drum, only one can use it at a time. Taking turns is the way everyone gets a chance — you wait, then you get your go, then you pass it on. It is fairness you can practice with your own hands.

Materials

  • One shared object (ball, tambourine, or shell)
  • A “turn” marker (a stick, card, or pebble)

Preparation

  • Arrange a circle so everyone can see each other.
  • Choose one object worth wanting — the point is that waiting is real.
  • Prepare the turn marker that will pass hand to hand.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”) so it works in a classroom and for a self-directed learner. As facilitator, keep the tone light: waiting is hard at age five, so celebrate every wait, no matter how short. Give a gentle reminder rather than a correction — the standard itself asks only for turn-taking with a gentle reminder.

Procedure

  1. Gather (5 min). Sit in a circle. Look at the one object in the middle. If everyone grabbed it at once, what would happen? We would bump and fuss. Instead, we take turns.
  2. Meet the turn marker (5 min). This marker tells us whose turn it is. Whoever holds it is “in.” Everyone else waits and watches.
  3. Pass it around (15 min). The first learner holds the object, enjoys it for a moment, then says “your turn” and passes the marker to the next learner. Around the circle it goes. You waited — now it is your turn!
  4. Try it in play (10 min). Now use one toy or one ball in a small group. Play together, passing the turn. If you forget, a friend gives a gentle reminder: “my turn next.”
  5. Close (10 min). Talk together: how did waiting feel? How did it feel when your turn finally came? Remember — when we take turns, everyone gets a chance.

Differentiation

  • Support: Keep the object with one learner for only a short moment so no one waits too long.
  • Extension: Invite learners to invent their own turn-taking game and teach it to a partner.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Can the learner wait and then take a turn with only a gentle reminder?
  • Artifact (portfolio): A note or drawing the learner makes about “my turn, your turn.”

Resources

Home connection

At home, play a game that needs turns — a board game, a ball, a story where each person tells one part. Notice: everyone gets a chance.