Literature Circles

Lennie Garcia Carla Stringer

Norms Participate and fully engage in activities Respect different perspectives Unplug yourself Have fun Take care of your needs

CPQ: How can I use Literature Circles to enhance the learning of my proficient readers?

Agenda: A day with my favorite character Ultimate goal What are Literature Circles and the research behind them Steps for implementation Keeping the energy alive in your Literature Circles Types of Mini Lessons Scheduling Options DLIQ Reflection

A day with…. Think about your favorite book character. If you could spend a day with him/her, what would you spend your time doing?

What is your ultimate goal for your students?

What are Literature Circles? Literature Circles are to students what Book Clubs are to adults. The ultimate goal is to provide a life-long love for reading. Through student choice and self-motivation, Literature Circles aim "to allow students to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers (DaLie, 2001)”.

What does research say about Literature Circles? Book club-type discussions have been linked to higher reading achievement at a variety of grade levels and among students who are poor, inner-city, bilingual, ESL, or incarcerated (Daniels, 2001). The National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that kids who do large amounts of independent reading score about 10 percent higher on reading tests than kids who read little or not at all (Daniels and Steineke, 2004).

Furthermore… Schooling that’s filled with solitary and mechanical work, frustration, and failure doesn’t bond kids to reading. People who read and think and grow for a lifetime typically fell in love with books at an early age, and often, a teacher was the matchmaker (Daniels and Steineke, 2004).

Getting started with Literature Circles Create an environment where students feel safe sharing ideas openly. Choose a variety of novels at varying levels. Have a book talk-introduce novels to students, read a synopsis of each, and let students peruse. Put students into groups and assign jobs. Students will set deadlines for when each section of the book should be completed. Facilitate and watch your students excited to learn!

Create an environment where students feel safe sharing ideas openly. In your groups, create a mini-lesson to teach the skill that was assigned to you. Use the chart paper to help express your ideas.

3 Choose a variety of novels at different levels. R S T Z

How do I pick novels? Just remember to SWIPE a good book! Size of print/# of pages Well-written Interesting/meaningful Pictures Emotions Is the book long/short enough? Is the print large/small enough? Is the book written in a style that I would want my students to mimic? Does the book cover topics that are interesting to my students? Are there ideas that mean something in the life of my students? Are there pictures? Can my students use the pictures to refine literary skills? Will the book evoke strong emotions from my students? Are these emotions appropriate subject matter for my students to explore?

Have a book talk-introduce novels to students, read a synopsis of each, and let students peruse. Buffet of books Blind date with a book Rank the summaries Read summaries Favorite First Lines

Put students into groups and assign jobs-students will set deadlines for when each section of the book should be completed. Literature Circle Packets Folders Roles can be based on the needs of the students (driven by data)

Facilitate and watch your students excited to learn!

Keeping the energy alive in your literature circles- Revisit your groups after each novel. Teach mini-lessons throughout the year based on needs. Communication Annotating text Asking good questions Etc. Allow students to hold more responsibility. Choosing novels to be selected Choosing roles that need to be completed

Mini-Lessons 5-15 minute lessons that cover topics as needed Social skills Cognitive skills and strategies Smart reader strategies Different purposes Introduce a new skill Practice a newly taught skill Demonstrate a helpful variation on previously taught skills/strategies

“Effective social skills, active reading strategies, and good books are the foundation of all kinds of engaging classroom (and life) activities (Daniels and Steineke, 2004).”

“I’ve noticed a problem…” “Let’s try something new…” Teacher explains why it matters Teacher connects to own reading Students brainstorm solutions Teacher adds own ideas Students choose a solution Students commit to implement Define skill/strategy Practice with short text Share responses Students commit to implement Groups meet and apply mini-lesson Debrief outcomes OR AND

Schedule Options Literature Circles should meet on a predictable schedule 1-3 times weekly. Literature Circle discussion days: You can pull a small group to the table while your students are engaging in their Literature Circle discussions. Mini-lesson5-15 minutes Literature Circle- discussion minutes (or longer) Debrief/mini-lesson5-15 minutes

Schedule Options Literature Circles should meet on a predictable schedule 1-3 times weekly. If you want to monitor students while they read and work in the beginning stages of implementation, you could allow time daily (during your whole group instruction) for them to work and you to provide mini-lessons. Students read silently (complete role) 15 minutes Mini-lesson10 minutes Whole group lesson35 minutes

DLIQ-Reflection id earned nteresting uestions Fold your paper into four sections and label. As you reflect, answer the following questions: *What did I do today? *What did I learn today? *What did I find interesting? *What questions do I still have?

Resources Daniels, H. and Steineke, N. (2004). Mini-lessons for Literature Circles. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Johnson, N. J. and Noe, K. L. (1999). Getting Started with Literature Circles. Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.