The Lit Circle Begins Practicing Lit Circle roles

Standards and I will be able to… Standard: Speaking and Listening 8.1: Collaborative discussion. I will be able to display my speaking and listening skills by practicing following a particular role in a collaborative discussion with my peers.

Holocaust Literature as a Genre “Writing means sharing. It's part of the human condition to want to share things - thoughts, ideas, opinions.” --Paulo Coehlo The genre of Holocaust literature spans many different types of writing— graphic novels, poetry, memoirs, novels. It even includes children’s books. Today, you will be looking at some examples of children’s novels to help practice the group roles and work you will be doing with your literature circle novel.

But, before we begin… Class Discussion: How old do you think someone should be when they first learn about the Holocaust? Why would someone write a children’s book about such a disturbing subject? Why do we continue to study the Holocaust in school?

The tool you will use The Double-Entry Journal (or Diary—The DEDs) Quote from the text with citation Reaction to the text (as directed by your role) “To prevent escapes or uprisings, Eichmann planned to deceive Jewish leaders” (Bascomb 5) See following PowerPoint slides

Group Roles Discussion Leader: This person will be responsible for coming up with levels 2 and 3 questions. You will be in charge of leading the discussion on Lit Circle days, but everyone is responsible for making the conversation lively and useful. You will need to come up with five questions for each chunk you read. You will also need to provide a statement at the end of your questions that states what you believe your author is attempting to say about the human condition in the chunk you read. Remember:  Level 2 questions are literary analysis questions. Example: “Why did the author do this in this way?  Level 3 questions are big idea questions. Example: “What does this particular section of the book say about the human condition?”

Diction Detective Mark Twain said, “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Your task will be to find out which “right words” the author used and what effect they had. You will find at least five sentences or passages as you read that have an emotional impact, and then you will write about why that particular word choice was so effective (pathos). You should relate at least one passage to what the author is attempting to say about the human condition by his/her particular word choices. You might write something like, “When [the author] uses the word/this phrase, it makes the reader feel/think …. because …”

Bridge Builder Your role will be to connect the things we are reading in class (and the things we have already read/seen) to your literature circle book. For each chunk, you will be asked to look at particular passages in your reading and connect them to something else we have discussed in class. This will be invaluable when it comes to the panel discussion. You must have five passages you quote, along with five connections you make. At least one of those connections must be to how the passage connects to the idea of the human condition. For example: When the author says __________________, it shows that he/she believes (something about the human condition), just like (another text we read in class) does.

Reporter You will be basically the person in charge of summarizing in your group. You will report back the important events that happen in the chunk you are in. You should not only have events from the beginning or the end—you should have passages from throughout the section that your group has read for this checkpoint. You must have five passages you cite, along with a description of the important event you see happening. For example, “When the author writes “__________,” it shows the beginning of one of the most important events in this section: (describe the event).

Artist (if you are in a group of five) Your job will be to illustrate what is going on in this chunk of the book. You will find four passages that bring up particular emotions or images in your head as you read. Your explanations will then be what that particular image or emotion was. For example, “When I read this passage, I imagine ____________________/ feel (an emotion) because ________________.” However, you will have another task: you will create an image (whether it be a visual aid, a drawing, or a chart) that will help the group members with their discussion. It should be something that takes the language used in the book and then creates something that will spur useful discussion.

Different rules for groups of different sizes Group of three: You will have a Discussion Leader, a Diction Detective, and a Bridge Builder. However, you will only do 4 entries for that role, and each person will have one entry in which he/she acts a Bridge Builder. If there is an interest, someone may do some illustrations to supplement what he/she is doing, but no one will have the Artist role. Group of four: One person may only do four entries instead of five for a particular role and then have one artist “entry.” Group of five: Each role will be represented.

Task today You will be practicing this with your groups today. You will read a children’s book aloud and then perform your group role task as practice. FOR TODAY ONLY, you will only have to do two entries in double-entry diary format. This way you will have an example of what you need to do as you continue to read on your own. Afterward, the group should come up with a theme for the children’s book. The topic for the theme should be the human condition. This will be practice for when you have your panel discussion at the end of the unit and have to use the information you’ve gathered to discuss that topic.

Share out Each group should state what them they gathered from the book and select one or two people to share out with the whole class what they discovered. Remember, your major assessment for this unit will be a speaking and listening standard. You must become more used to speaking in front of groups.