Cultural Literature Circles Job Roles & Examples

Discussion Director Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about the book. Don’t worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read, so jot them down as you go. Begin your open ended questions with why, how, or what if. · Lead the circle by initiating discussion from group members. · Compose 3 open-ended questions that encourage discussion of the plot. Provide answers to your own questions. · Compose 2 open-ended questions about the characters. Provide answers to your own questions. · Compose 2 open-ended questions about any concerns, thoughts, feelings, or inferences regarding the text. Provide answers to your own questions.

Discussion Director Example PLOT: Why do you think Hamlet follows this father’s orders to seek revenge? CHARACTERS: What if Ophelia never accidentally died. How do you think this would have affected Hamlet’s action later in the play? FEELINGS: How do you feel about how Hamlet acted towards Ophelia throughout the play? Did he treat her like a lover should? Why or why not?

Quiz Master Your job is to develop a 10 question quiz over the section that you were assigned to read. You can focus on plot events or characters to ensure that each group member has done the reading. The quiz should be challenging, but not impossible. Keep track of plot events and character details as you read to make the process of creating quiz questions easier for you. · Include a space for name and hour · The quiz can use multiple choice, true/false, or fill in the blank questions. · You must prepare copies of the quiz for each member of your group and bring them to the meeting. · You will create an answer key to grade all completed quizzes once every student has finished. You will turn in the graded copies of quizzes from each student and your answer key.

Quiz Master Example Name:______________ Hour:__________ Where did Polonius send Reynaldo? To Spain To England To France To Denmark True/False Gertrude felt guilt over her part in killing King Hamlet. Hamlet sailed to _________________ when he was kicked out of Denmark.

Character Consultant Your job is to analyze the characters and how they develop throughout the novel. Choose one main character and create a character T-chart for him or her. · Title your T-chart with the character’s name. · Include 8 actions from the assigned reading made by this character. · Include 8 descriptive traits shown by these actions. · Write one full paragraph outlining a lesson that this character has learned within this section of reading.

Character Consultant Example Hamlet Hamlet mocks Polonius to 1. This shows that he is his face for being old. childish, and offensive.

Illustrator Your job is to draw a comic book representation of the assigned reading. Your pictures should summarize the events that occurred in this section of the novel. Be sure to title your comic strip with the chapters assigned. · Include at least 8 comic boxes. · Include a caption for each comic box explaining what is happening in the illustration. · Include at least 4 colors in your comic representations. · Please put your comic on a separate sheet of plain white paper, “8 ½ x 11”.

Illustrator Example In the orchard, a snake was King Hamlet passed away waiting to bite King Hamlet from the poison of the while he slept. snake bite...or did he?

Text Connector Your job is to find connections between the book you are reading and the world outside. Due to the nature of the novel, this means connecting the reading not only to your own life, but also the world around you. · Find one personal connection between the section assigned and your world (personal life, school, your community, etc.) Write one complete paragraph explaining this connection, its relevance to your own life, and to the novel. · Find one world connection between the section assigned and the issues that are affecting the entire world. Write one full paragraph explaining this connection, its relevance to the world that we currently live in, and to the novel. · Choose one theme (big idea) from the text and write one full paragraph describing how it is evident in the section that you read.

Text Connector Example Hamlet is a very troubled person, however, he shows that he is very loyal to his family members throughout difficult periods. I feel that I try to stay loyal to my family members when we experience hard times. I have helped my family when members have gotten sick, and am always there to assist in tasks that they cannot complete themselves. I think that Hamlet tries to stay loyal to his family because he knows that is what is important in life, especially when life can end so quickly like it did for his father. Being loyal to family is something that I believe all people should strive to do.