Literature Circles
Literature Circles are gaining popularity as a means of implementing group discussion. While lit circles could be beneficiary with any novel, they are ideal for class selected reading. As with all group work, the groups should be selected carefully depending on class size and depending on if the theory is to equally distribute students or if the groups will be based on level. Ideally, within the groups there is equally distribution of roles. Often times, this method is useful for implementing alternative texts to the curriculum and can be selected by the students or as groups. With this, the students gain a sense of ownership to the text and control over their curriculum instead of reading a text "because they have to". Literature Circles are a particularly great opportunity to introduce Young Adult Literature texts. While there are roles provided below, this method can be adapted for an upper level, honors course by implementing traditional literary lenses as roles (Marxism, Feminism, New Historicism, etc.).
Roles Include (from Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher)
Roles Include (from Deeper Reading by Kelly Gallagher)
- Discussion Director- Develops discussion questions, guides discussion
- Literary Luminary- Locates passages to be discussed
- Illustrator- Creates visual representation related to the reading
- Connector- Finds connection between text and outside world
- Summarizer- Provides brief summary
- Vocabulary Enricher - Searches for important words
- Travel Tracer- Tracks location of action and notes changes
- Investigator- Finds information on a topic related to the book
- OR....
- Questioner- Poses questions for discussion
- Summarizer- Discusses brief summary
- Clarifier- Searches for unclear passages; asks others for clarification
- Predictor- Predicts what will happen next and supplies rational
- OR...
- Facilitator- Lead discussion, keep track of time, keep group focused
- Recorder- Record group discussion and main points
- Reporter- Share group recording to class