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Re: Implementing Lit. Circles - Q for Laura
Posted by Laura on 7/25/08

On 7/24/08, new teacher wrote:
> Hi Laura,
> Could I ask you what books were read in your lit circles? Did groups
> get to choose anything they wanted, or did you have 4-5 books in mind &
> then set up groups based on book preferences? Had you read all the
> books before? Were the books grouped by theme or any other "grouping"
> quality? Did you continue with other whole-class work during lit
> circles? E.G. were certain days "lit circle" days and others for whole
> class work? Did you give class time for lit circle reading? Besides
> questioning & discussing skills (great points to work on, by the way!)
> did you have other activities or projects?
>
> My apologies for all the questions; I'm curious how this works!
> Thank you so much!
>
>
>

I'm happy to share what I did.

I teach in PA, where our standards do not dictate that we "teach" books.
Rather, my job as an English/Language Arts teacher is to teach THROUGH
literature, so I enjoy freedom in which books I choose to read with students.
I just started at my current school last year and the outgoing teacher had
spent her time "teaching" The Great Gatsby, The Crucible, and To Kill a
Mockingbird. I come from a World. Lit background so hadn't ever taught these
books before. In order to make my life a bit easier my first year in the
district, I instead asked the principal if I could order some books from
Amazon to use for lit. circles in place of one of the American. Lit.
selections. He agreed and I ordered the following books around the themes of
immigration/finding identity in a new place/The American Dream (or lack
thereof...):

Enrique's Journey
The House on Mango Street
What is the What
Interpretor of Maladies
The Jungle
Funny in Farsi
Bone
Snow Falling on Cedars

and a bunch of others.

I bought five of each and spent a day passing the books around and allowing
students (I had fifteen of them) to choose their #1, 2, and 3 picks. I then
put them in groups of 3-4 based on their book choices and personalities.
Everyone got their #1 or 2 pick in the end, I believe. I have read most of
these books before, but also ordered some that got great reviews but I hadn't
read yet. This wasn't a problem with honors students, but I will make sure
I've read ALL of the choices when I do this with my general students. I also
sent home permission slips of course, as there is some adult content in the
books.

Lit. Circle groups were asked to develop a reading and group meeting
schedule, create a group "rules" list, and decide on roles. I asked that
students have meetings a minimum of four times and that each student play
each role once. For each assigned reading/meeting, each student was
responsible for doing close reading via reading logs, post-its, or
double-entry journals (their choice). They were also responsible for
completing their "role" and then, following the meeting, writing a
post-meeting reflection. All of these assignments were kept in a portfolio
to be turned in at the end of the unit.

A typical week was 2 days of mini-lessons on reading and/or writing and three
days where groups were either meeting or reading/working. Because students
met on different days, it meant that I could devote at least 1/2 a class
period to sitting in on their discussions.

The last element to this unit was the writing component. After students
completed their books, they were asked to create two pieces of writing (of
different genres, purpose, and for different audiences) inspired by their
lit. circle book. They were then asked to complete a final reflection on the
whole unit. These three writing pieces were included in the portfolio and
then everything was turned in and graded by me.

It went well. I was impressed by the caliber of portfolios I received and
though I will change some things for next year, I LOVED this unit. For those
who don't have time to allow in-class reading, you can easily change the
schedule so that they are reading at home but still holding group meetings on
scattered days. In fact, I might do this next year and instead have groups
do other work (vocab, grammar, etc) when they are not holding Lit. Circle
meetings.

Respectfully, I disagree with L. Swilley's advice to abandon lit. circles. I
never lose my role as teacher during this unit. In fact, I feel as though I
am doing a BETTER job of guiding them as they figure out how to analyze,
question, and discuss literature, then respond to it.

Good luck and have fun!

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Posts on this thread, including this one


• Lit. Circles--talk to me..., 7/15/08, by GA/8.
• Re: Lit. Circles--talk to me..., 7/15/08, by in the same boat.
• Re: Lit. Circles--talk to me..., 7/15/08, by Chele/5/SoCal.
• Re: Try these links...more inside, 7/19/08, by cam.
• Re: Try these links...more inside, 7/21/08, by JGS.
• Re: Abandon literary circles , 7/21/08, by L. Swilley .
• Re: Abandon literary circles , 7/21/08, by Confused.
• Re: Confused, 7/21/08, by Really? I thought Swilley was very clear + on target! nfm.
• Re: research points to the value of student based learning, 7/21/08, by cam.
• Re: research points to the value of student based learning, 7/21/08, by JGS.
• Re: Chele--Lit. Circles--talk to me..., 7/21/08, by Wanda.
• Re: Chele--Lit. Circles--talk to me... for Wanda, 7/21/08, by Chele/5/SoCal.
• Re: Implementing Lit. Circles, 7/24/08, by Laura.
• Re: Implementing Lit. Circles - Q for Laura, 7/24/08, by new teacher.
• Re: Implementing Lit. Circles - I'm not Laura, but... :D, 7/24/08, by Chele/5/SoCal.
• Re: Implementing Lit. Circles - Q for Laura, 7/25/08, by JGS.
• Re: Implementing Lit. Circles - Q for Laura, 7/25/08, by Laura.