LITERATURE CIRCLES - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

LITERATURE CIRCLES

Presented by:

Valerie Eblin

Lisa Eastwood

Daniel Labram

Melissa Morales

“Small temporary, discussion groups, usually made up of four or five students” (Daniels 13).

• Although he is regarded as the primary researcher of Literature Circles, numerous other researchers have adapted the literature circle concept.

• Each student within the group has a particular role that they perform. The teacher may assign roles or allow students to choose a role that interests them. It is recommended that students rotate roles.

• Discussion Director
• Word Wizard
• Character Captain
• Passage Maker
• Artful Artist
• The Researcher
• Scene Setter

• This student makes sure that the group members participate in the discussion. He or she also takes notes for the discussion and keeps the group on task.

• This student locates words which need further explanation to fully understand the text.

• This student tracks the evolution of characters and cites text examples. He or she then shares his or findings with the group.

• This student takes down interesting and important quotations from the novel.

• This student draws scenes from the novel.

• This student goes outside the text and reports back to the group on issues such as historical context.

• This student keeps track of scene changes in the text and the significance of such changes.

• “Literature Circle Roles Reframed: Reading as a Film Crew” (IRA & NCTE, 2005)
• Literature Circles for English Language Learners (Lin, 2002)
• Inclusive Literature Circles for Auditory Learners (Lopez)

• Generally, all students within each group read the same text.
• All literature circle groups may read the same novel or each group may read a different novel.

• Highly structured
• Text is not as extensive
• Less frequent and shorter meeting time
• Limited amount of roles
• Limited amount of text choices
• Teacher must guide students due to age
• At this stage they are learning the basics of literature circles

• Structured
• More reader independence
• Text is more extensive
• More frequent and longer meeting time
• More roles introduced
• Students may read different text from a pre-selected group of books
• Less teacher guidance needed
• At this stage, students should be

more comfortable with the process

• Students may determine how much they will read and report on.
• Format is generally less structured for older students.
• After students are very familiar with literature circles, they may not need roles.
• Students may use sticky notes to mark pages of personal significance.

• Literature Circles can be used with non-fiction articles and trade texts.
• Students can read the same or jig-sawed chapters from the textbook.
• Most content area literature circle models emphasize vocabulary development.

• Reading Aloud
• Shared Reading  (visible text)
• Guided Reading  (leveled text groups)
• Independent Reading 
• Shared Writing  (teacher scribe)
• Interactive Writing  (teacher/kids share pen)
• Guided Writing or Writing Workshop (teacher guided, conferences, mini-lessons)
• Independent Writing  (own pieces)

• Students are using Podcasts to participate in lit circles with other schools.
• Technology allows global lit circles!
• Podcasts also allow students to tape and review their discussion.

• Reading material selection should be important entice lively and meaningful discussions
• The teacher must establish a community of learning environment.
• Students must be familiar with text & prepared to fulfill roles in the discussion.
• Students should critically analyze text.
• Respectful listening and sharing are essential!

• Stronger reader-text relationships
• Improved classroom climates
• Enhanced degrees of gender equity and understanding, and
• A learning environment more conducive to the needs and abilities of English language learners.

• Teacher must take students ability, maturity, and behavior into account when choosing structure.
• Like other reading strategies, literature circles should be used across the curriculum.

Candler, L. Teacher Resources. Retrieved March 25, 2007, from http://home.att.net/~teaching/litcircles.htm.

Daniels, H. (1994). Voice and choice in the student centered classroom. Pembroke Publishers Limited: Markham.

Lin, C.H. (2002). Literature circles. Eric Digest, 1-7.

Schlick, K. Literature Circle Resource Center.

College of Education Seattle University. Retrieved March 24, 2007 fromhttp://www.litcircles.org

Teacher Vision (2007). Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved March 24, 2007 from http://www.teachervision.fen.com.