1. Daily Slides and Activities
Literature Circles
Daily Slides and Activities

2. Day 1: Journal Summary Questions Other Tasks
Did you know that it can take months to design a book cover for a book? Creative Directors consider everything: color, shadow, font, image, material, etc. They not only want to appeal to a particular audience, but they want to communicate something about the book through the design.
Together, study the cover of your lit circle book. Discuss everything about it—the color, objects, type of text, etc. Write down what you notice and what that might mean about the content and tone of the book. What message could the design be sending? Why would the creative director choose that picture, image, or design over something else?
*You should write your journal entries together. This means when you bring them up to me, I will see almost identical entries. Each person should make contributions to the entry.
Questions
Other Tasks

3. Literature Circles – Day 1
Step 2: Summary
Summarizer read aloud
Discuss accuracy of summary, points to add, plot questions?
Make notes on summarizer page
Step 3: Questions
Questioner read aloud each question
Group has an adequate/appropriate discussion
Make notes of main take always on questioner form
Step 4: Other Tasks
Share and discuss
Focus on what this task does to enhance your understanding or appreciation.
DO NOT move on without discussing it. (Reactions? Connections?
Step 5: Follow Up
Director goes to side table to fill out purple form
Clarify text/tasks due for the next meeting
Begin reading your next section

4. Reflect What did you do well? What can you improve upon?
What did your group do well?
What did your group improve upon?

5. Day 2: Journal Summary Questions Other Tasks
What words would you use to describe the protagonist so far? Discuss this first, coming up with at least three main adjectives that capture the personality of the character.
Then, keeping those ideas in mind, imagine your character is a new student at PVJH. How would he/she respond? What activities would he/she participate in? Why those? What classes would he/she excel or struggle in? Why? What group of friends would he/she fit into? What would the bus be like for him/her? Explain. Discuss these ideas as a group before you begin your journal.
*You should write your journal entries together. This means when you bring them up to me, I will see almost identical entries. Each person should make contributions to the entry.
Questions
Other Tasks

6. Literature Circles – Day 2
Step 2: Summary
Summarizer read aloud
Discuss accuracy of summary, points to add, plot questions?
Make notes on summarizer page
Step 3: Questions
Questioner read aloud each question
Group has an adequate/appropriate discussion
Make notes of main take always on questioner form
Step 4: Other Tasks
Share and discuss
Focus on what this task does to enhance your understanding or appreciation.
DO NOT move on without discussing it. (Reactions? Connections?
Step 5: Follow Up
Director goes to side table to fill out purple form
Clarify text/tasks due for the next meeting
Begin reading your next section

7. Reflect What did you do well? What can you improve upon?
What did your group do well?
What did your group improve upon?

8. Day 3: Journal Summary Questions Other Tasks
Look at the topics list provided to your group. What topics do you see shining through so far? Make a list of the topics you see on your notebook paper.
Next, discuss which ones you think are the most important or most prominent. Come to a consensus as to which two or three are the most important so far, and discuss what is happening in the novel that relates to them, why they are important, what message the author might be sending about each, etc. As a group, decide what you are going to say about each topic, and then complete your journal with a blurb about each.
*You should write your journal entries together. This means when you bring them up to me, I will see almost identical entries. Each person should make contributions to the entry.
Questions
Other Tasks

9. Literature Circles – Day 3
Step 2: Summary
Summarizer read aloud
Discuss accuracy of summary, points to add, plot questions?
Make notes on summarizer page
Step 3: Questions
Questioner read aloud each question
Group has an adequate/appropriate discussion
Make notes of main take always on questioner form
Step 4: Other Tasks
Share and discuss
Focus on what this task does to enhance your understanding or appreciation.
DO NOT move on without discussing it. (Reactions? Connections?
Step 5: Follow Up
Director goes to side table to fill out purple form
Clarify text/tasks due for the next meeting
Begin reading your next section

10. Reflect What did you do well? What can you improve upon?
What did your group do well?
What did your group improve upon?

11. Day 4: Journal Summary Questions Other Tasks
Experts have identified seven qualities of a good reader. According to this list, a few things good readers do are as follows: they make predictions, visualize events of the text, and recognize confusion. Your journal today is based on these ideas, so as a group, discuss the following questions, and then write about your responses as your journal:
What are the predictions each of you have? Explain. You can be general or decide to make predictions about something specific.
What scene or scenes have you been able to visualize the best? What was about that passage that enabled you to picture it? (You could reference a specific passage.)
What parts have been especially confusing to you? How have you overcome that confusion? What are you still confused about?
Questions
Other Tasks

12. Literature Circles – Day 4
Step 2: Summary
Summarizer read aloud
Discuss accuracy of summary, points to add, plot questions?
Make notes on summarizer page
Step 3: Questions
Questioner read aloud each question
Group has an adequate/appropriate discussion
Make notes of main take always on questioner form
Step 4: Other Tasks
Share and discuss
Focus on what this task does to enhance your understanding or appreciation.
DO NOT move on without discussing it. (Reactions? Connections?
Step 5: Follow Up
Director goes to side table to fill out purple form
Clarify text/tasks due for the next meeting
Begin reading your next section

13. Reflect
Look at what you said you needed to work on/areas that needed improvement. Did you do a better job? What do you need to do today to be fully proficient in this standard?
What did your group do well?
What did your group improve upon?

14. Day 5: Journal Summary Questions Other Tasks
Holy cow! You are nearing the end of your book and your literature circle discussions. While I hope you are enjoying the book you chose, it is okay if you aren’t; the book’s feelings won’t be hurt and neither will mine. Sometimes things work out, and sometimes they don’t. Either way, it is important to think carefully and deeply about what it is in the book that you like and/or don’t like, so you know what to look for in the future. Also, keep in mind that you can like some parts of a book but not all parts.
For this journal, you will actually journal first and then share with your group. Take some time to think about what you would rate the book on a scale from 1 to 10. What parts have you liked? What parts would you change? Make sure you can back up your rating with specific events or details, so you can discuss this with your group members.
Questions
Other Tasks

15. Literature Circles – Day 5
Step 2: Summary
Summarizer read aloud
Discuss accuracy of summary, points to add, plot questions?
Make notes on summarizer page
Step 3: Questions
Questioner read aloud each question
Group has an adequate/appropriate discussion
Make notes of main take always on questioner form
Step 4: Other Tasks
Share and discuss
Focus on what this task does to enhance your understanding or appreciation.
DO NOT move on without discussing it. (Reactions? Connections?
Step 5: Follow Up
Director goes to side table to fill out purple form
Clarify text/tasks due for the next meeting
Begin reading your next section

16. Reflect What did you do well? What can you improve upon?
What did your group do well?
What did your group improve upon?

17. Day 6: Journal Summary Questions Other Tasks
You are done! Great job! That means it is time to revisit topics to determine what themes have popped out in the text. You will need the following:
- The topic sheet you received last week.
- The yellow theme handout you got earlier in the year (in literature tab – on stool if you need another copy).
As a group, discuss the topics you see the most in the text. Which ones do you see the most often? What lessons do you think are attached to these ideas? Often, changes in the protagonist point us to theme. How did the protagonist change? What lessons did he/she learned?
After discussing, take some time to write about your major takeaway.
Questions
Other Tasks

18. Literature Circles – Day 6
Step 2: Summary
Summarizer read aloud
Discuss accuracy of summary, points to add, plot questions?
Make notes on summarizer page
Step 3: Questions
Questioner read aloud each question
Group has an adequate/appropriate discussion
Make notes of main take always on questioner form
Step 4: Other Tasks
Share and discuss
Focus on what this task does to enhance your understanding or appreciation.
DO NOT move on without discussing it. (Reactions? Connections?
Step 5: Follow Up
Director goes to side table to fill out purple form
Clarify text/tasks due for the next meeting
Begin reading your next section