View
2.705
Download
3
Category
Tags:
Preview:
Citation preview
Making LiteratureCircles Come Alive
Kelly GardnerPARATESOL 2009
My Background
What are literature circles?
Book Clubs Students meet in groups regularly
to talk about a book they haveread.
Literature Circles are... Reader response centered Part of a balanced literacy program Groups formed by book choice Structured for student independence,
responsibility, and ownership Guided primarily by student insights and
questions Intended as a context in which to apply
reading and writing skills Flexible and fluid; never look the same twice From Getting Started with Literature Circles
by Katherine L. Schlick Noe & Nancy J. Johnson© 1999 Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
Literature Circles are not... Teacher and text centered The entire reading curriculum Teacher-assigned groups formed solely by
ability Unstructured, uncontrolled "talk time" without
accountability Guided primarily by teacher- or curriculum-
based questions From Getting Started with Literature Circles
by Katherine L. Schlick Noe & Nancy J. Johnson© 1999 Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
Why use literature circles inyour classroom?
It provides opportunities to read, write,speak, and listen.
Students interact in groups and are heldaccountable for individual roles.
They are student directed. They are engaging.
Literature Circle Roles andStructure
RolesRoles Discussion Director (questioner)Discussion Director (questioner) Literary LuminaryLiterary Luminary Vocabulary EnricherVocabulary Enricher SummarizerSummarizer ConnectorConnector IllustratorIllustrator
Adapted from Harvey DanielsAdapted from Harvey Daniels
Discussion Director
This role is designedto promote discussionand to ask higher levelquestions about thetext.
Literary Luminary
This role is designedto get students tochoose passages fromthe text. They maychoose them becausethey´re... interesting funny confusing important
Vocabulary Enricher
The vocabularyenricher´s role is tochoose difficultwords from the textand find out whatthey mean. Theythen explain themeaning to the restof the group.
Summarizer
The summarizer´srole is to choose themost importantevents that occurredin the passage.These are sharedwith the group andother groupmembers add theirideas.
Connector
The connector relatesthings that occur in thepassage with his orher life, the real world,or another book reador movie seen.
Illustrator The illustrator´s job is to
draw something from thepassage that caught hisor her attention. Theimage is then sharedwith the group and othermembers guess what ishappening in the pictureand discuss this part ofthe passage.
Challenges of ManagingLiterature Circles
Developing an understanding of roles Teaching students to work in groups Helping students stay organized Maintaining and English environment Making sure students do the reading Keeping the conversation going
Addressing Challenges Developing an understanding of roles
Practice, practice, practice Teacher guides students through the process Student volunteers have conversations in a “fish
bowl”
Addressing Challeges Teaching students to work in groups
Establishing what good groupwork looks like Good conversations vs. Bad conversations
Developing Clear Expectations Modelling by teacher Modellng by students Evaluation of mock conversations Self and group evaluations after each
conversation.
Addressing Challeges Helping Students Stay Organized
Keep role sheets, meeting calendar, notes, andself evaluations in a folder that stays with theteacher
Spend time at the beginning determiningstudents roles, pages to be read before eachmeeting, and meeting dates.
Addressing Challeges Maintaining and English Environment
Establish the expectation of English whensetting up groupwork expectations
Hold students accountable for English speech Video camera Fish bowl Teacher observations
Addressing Challeges Making sure students read
Create time for reading in class Choose books that are at students´ independent
reading level
Addressing Challenges Keeping the conversation going
Give students conversation sentence starters, In my opinion.. One connection I made... I agree/ disagree... What do you think, _______? Etc.
Establish the expectation of keeping theconversation going.
Practice commenting on other group membersideas.
Useful Links Literature Circle Resource Center
http://www.litcircles.org/ http://www.literaturecircles.com/ Literature Circles: Getting Started
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=19
Literature Circle Roleshttp://www.abcteach.com/directory/basics/reading/literature_circles/http://www.edselect.com/Docs/Litcir.pdf
Resources Daniels, H. (2002). Literature Circles: Voice and
Choice in the Student Centered Classroom. Portland: Stenhouse Publishing.
Recommended