What are literature circles?  Students choose their own reading materials  Small temporary groups are formed, based upon book choice  Different groups read different books  Groups meet on a regular, predictable schedule to discuss their reading  Kids use written or drawn notes to guide both their reading and discussion  Discussion topics come from the students  Group meetings aim to be open, natural conversations about books, so personal connections, digressions, and open-ended questions are welcome  In newly-forming groups, students may play a rotating assortment of task roles  The teacher serves as a facilitator, not a group member or instructor.

What is speed dating?  Multiple singles meet in an organized place.  Each single man/woman spends a very short amount of time talking to another man/woman. When time is called (about 5 minutes), singles switch who they are talking to.  At the end of the event, people get the information of who they are interested in.

What does this have to do with literature circles?  We are going to use speed dating so that you can get acquainted with your book choices for this semester  We will follow the same process as speed dating  You will rank the books at the end in order of how interested you are in them  I will pair you up with one of your top three choices (hopefully your first)

First Book: Fahrenheit 451

Second Book: Brave New World

Third Book: Never Let Me Go

Fourth Book: Children of Men

Fifth Book: Unwind

Group NumberMembersStart at... 1 Tommy A Jenna Tommy D Kyle Nina Jessie The Book Thief 2 Carter Kailey K Matt CJ Kaitlyn M Allie M Nathan Absolutely True Diary 3 Jake L Allison Katy P Jake W Gillian Ashley Leah Stolen 4 Hayley Sarah Mckenzie Erin Kaitlyn W Hannah Mike It’s Kind of a Funny Story 5 Maddie Lauren Melanie Jennifer Kaylie Payton An Abundance of Katherines

Group NumberMembersStart at... 1 Max Chase Jake Taylor Brandon Morgan The Book Thief 2 Aaron Grant Jordan Tyler Rebekah Matt Lexi Absolutely True Diary 3 Avery Brooke Miya Anna Madisyn Will Stolen 4 Clay Kim Sabrina Kyle Dan Katie Meghan It’s Kind of a Funny Story 5 Monica Caitlin M Autumn Deanna Mitch Zac An Abundance of Katherines

Lit Circle Discussion Examples  Clip One:  Clip Two:  Clip Three:

Literature Circle Roles  The Connector  The Secretary  The Discussion Liaison  The Quote Connoisseur  The Artist  The Word Whiz

The Connector  This person will be responsible for making three types of connections with the text in preparation for the meeting:  Text to Text: comparing the book you are discussing to another book/story/movie  Text to World: comparing the book you are discussing to a real-world issue  Text to Self: comparing the book you are discussing to your life experiences

The Secretary  This person keeps track of the discussion about the book  Responsible for keeping track of how many times people participate  Responsible for recording the key points talked about during the discussion session

The Discussion Liaison  This person is responsible for initiating discussion  This person will come up with five INSIGHTFUL questions about the part of the book that you were assigned to read  This means questions that require more than a one-word answer!  This person is also responsible for making sure the discussion flows nicely

The Quote Connoisseur  This person is responsible for choosing three quotes that they found interesting while reading the required part of the text  They will explain why these quotes in particular were intriguing/ meaningful

The Artist  This person is (you guessed it) responsible for choosing a key scene from the section that his or her group was required to read and drawing it  They must provide a written explanation for why they chose that particular scene

The Word Whiz  This person is responsible for choosing five words from the required section  The person will list the word, where it is used in the text, and what it means

ALL Members Must Contribute to Discussion to Receive Full Credit!!!