1st Term Reading Assignment Literature Circles 1st Term Reading Assignment

What is Speed Dating?

Book Speed Dating Set-Up Minute 1 = Choose a Date Move to any book station you want. Minute 2 = First Impressions Take time to look the book over. Look at the front cover. Read the blurb on the back. Open the book and check out the font size and white space. DO NOT START READING YET! Minutes 3-5 = Getting to Know Your Date Begin reading the book. Start at the beginning (i.e. Chapter 1)

Literature Circle Explanation Read over the Literature Circles Explanation Paper on your own. Questions to follow.

Literature Circle FAQ How often do we meet together as a group? You will meet with your group every third class period. Do we have any homework to complete before we meet with our group? Yes! Every class period you will have a specified # of pages to read. Do not read ahead! Keep on track with where your group is, so you don’t spoil the novel for the other students. To prove you are reading, you will have a reading check assignment that you have to complete by each group discussion day. Part of this reading check assignment will be taking on a designated role for each discussion that will require some preparations before you meet as a group (more details to follow). It is your responsibility to complete this so that your literature circle meetings run smoothly.

Literature Circle FAQ What do we talk about when we are together? There will be a schedule for your meetings that will tell you what you should be doing and in what order. With your group you will summarize the reading, discuss significant moments, make connections, and develop vocabulary. I will also give your groups items to discuss on the day of discussion.  How do I get a good grade? To get a good grade on this assignment, you must participate fully in your literature circle discussions, complete all readings and assignments on time, and ask for help if you are not understanding! What if someone doesn’t complete their work? If someone comes to class unprepared, it will be very clear to the group and to me. At the end of each meeting, you will submit an anonymous peer assessment sheet that will give you the opportunity to share who has not come to class prepared.

Literature Circle Roles These roles will rotate every discussion day. If you have a smaller group you will have to do more than 1 role’s preparation for every discussion. There will be a paper you fill out for this roll that will be due the day of the discussion.

Literature Circle Roles Summarizer The Summarizer must provide an overview of the assigned reading for that meeting. Each group meeting will be initiated by the summarizer. They will cover the general overview of the readings, key points or moments, and action tracking. Discussion Leader The Discussion Leader is responsible for developing strong questions for the group to discuss based on the reading. The questions need to be thought-provoking so they illicit detailed and lengthy responses. Text Connector The Text Connector is responsible for making text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to- world connections based on the reading. Vocabulary Leader The role of the Vocabulary Leader is to find words that are particularly challenging, interesting, or important to the reading.