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
Relationship to The North Carolina Standard Course of Study