Through participation in Open Circle, students in grades K-5 master the fundamentals of becoming socially competent learners. They learn to listen to one another, to work cooperatively, to communicate clearly, to express their feelings, and to identify and solve problems to deal with conflicts peacefully. They become members of a classroom community. Many American classrooms encourage and require children to engage in "cooperative learning," to carry out a science experiment as a team, to act out a piece of history, to compare and contrast two characters in a novel, or to solve a math problem and explain a solution. Much of the language and skills involved in cooperative learning are taught in the Open Circle Curriculum. Less evident are the explicit connections between the Open Circle Curriculum and the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks, so we have created this document as a guide: Links Between the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework and the Open Circle Curriculum.

In short, the Open Circle Curriculum creates the foundation and environment for cooperative learning. Students learn skills such as good listening, problem solving, and validating others' opinions. They learn to set classroom guidelines and rules that set the standards for a safe, respectful learning environment. Finally, students learn the language and vocabulary to express their feelings and opinions and to solve problems in an independent manner. These fundamental skills directly and indirectly impact their learning in social studies, science, math, language arts and health education.

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