Overview

 

Literature Circles

Book discussion groups where several students read the same text (a novel, story, poem, or content piece) selected by teacher or student choice, and take active roles in the discussion by preparing to lead specific sections of it.  Students choose or are assigned written jobs/roles such as passage picker, discussion director, word wizard, character sketcher, and connector.  All students in the group have a role they are responsible for preparing before coming to the discussion group.

 

Roles (examples)

1.     Discussion Director: Develops questions group members will discuss about this portion of the book; decide important ideas and issues raised in this section of the book and design questions that address them

2.     Passage Picker: Selects significant passages from the sections being read; determines why important; calls other readers’ attention to passage and leads discussion about it

3.     Word Wizard: Searches section of text for words that are key to understanding what is happening in the story; notes the page and sentence where found; checks the dictionary  meaning of the word; leads a discussion about the meaning and intent of the word from context and what the word contributes to the importance of the passage

4.     Character Sketcher: Develops a character map of major characters in the text

5.     Connector: Thinks of ways personal experiences connect to events and themes appearing in the book; leads discussion of these issues

6.     Summarizer: Summarizes what has happened and major issues discussed to this point in the book

7.     Investigator: Examines other sources (newspaper, web, encyclopedia, content texts, etc.) that have connections to the book being read; shares information with the group

8.     Artful Artist: Develops a creative way to respond to the events and themes in the story

9.     Travel Tracer: Creates and maintains a map of movement if the story involves travel (wither physical or metaphorical)

10.                        Activity Activator: Involves group members in an activity that represents information learned and ideas experienced from reading the book

11.                        Meaning Mapper: Develop word map for selected words from the day’s reading: including a picture of the word; the sentence from the story containing the word; a definition; and the word used in a sentence

 

Process

1.     To start, begin with the whole group and a limited numbers of roles

2.     Model the individual roles using a think-aloud process

3.     Students share roles, discussing how they are preparing for them with peers

4.     Ask students to show you what they plan to do and give them feedback before they carry out their roles in the discussion group

5.     You might set up a fishbowl or circle-within-a-circle to show other groups how the process works as you act as facilitator

6.     Routine may be a three-day cycle; meet to decide roles and how much will be read, read and prepare for role; give to you for feedback; discussion

7.     Make sure that you take time to discuss the process= how it’s working, what needs improvement; offer lost of positive feedback

 

 

Title Page

Special Note

Launch Activity

Overview

Midnight Magic Lesson

Ragweed Lesson

Emily Upham’s Revenge Lesson

Relationship to The North Carolina Standard Course of Study

Reference materials

Bibliography