Literature Circles Motivate Students to Read

Even if you haven't consciously thought about it, if you're a language arts teacher, you have no doubt integrated "literature circles" into your program to some extent. Literature circles are effective additions to the language arts curriculum. They truly engage students in literature, allowing them to discuss stories or poems in depth with their peers. Research points to the benefits of literature circles; teachers in elementary, middle and high schools find them valuable. This method fits in well with the common core state standards which require students to "read and comprehend independently and proficiently." Literature circles are as different as the students and teachers who participate in them; however, common threads can be found in today's schools.

Description

Literature circles parallel book clubs in many ways. Small groups of students meet - usually once or twice a week - to discuss a common piece of literature, such as a trade book. Since students choose their own books, motivation is high. Groups are student-centered; the teacher acts as an observer for the most part. Students decide how many pages will be read prior to their next meeting, and then interact in conversations about that segment. This dialogue encourages critical thinking, reflection and a deeper understanding of the text. Each member fills a role at group meetings. Responsibilities could include leading the discussion, summarizing the story, making connections to the outside world, highlighting vocabulary or analyzing character traits. All students prepare in advance and participate each time the group gathers.

Preparation

Before starting literature circles in your classroom, you need to prepare yourself and your students. A group of teachers from Carol Morgan School put together this TeacherTube video in which they used the book, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, to model literature circles. It provides a good, general overview of how literature circles look and sound. It takes several weeks to prepare students for literature circles. The teacher's responsibilities include providing book choices, "advertising" the books to students, discussing expected behaviors, modeling group member jobs, establishing consequences for unfulfilled jobs and developing assignment sheets. You can find beneficial resources at websites such as Literature Circle Resource Center, abcTeach, ReadWriteThink and Mr.Coley.com. Introducing students to the levels of questioning strategies in Bloom's Taxonomy is advantageous.

Group Formation

Students can be grouped homogeneously - by ability, according to reading levels determined by measures such as Lexiles -- or heterogeneously -- with varying ability levels. Teachers sometimes form groups, and then each group picks a book. More often, students individually choose from selected titles, and groups naturally evolve. Three to five students per group is optimal; this gives each child a chance to be heard.

Roles within Group

Every student has a responsibility to the group. Roles can be determined by the members or by using a method such as picking jobs out of a hat. Roles change for each meeting. Possible roles include the following:

Discussion Director: writes questions that will lead the group in discussions. Questions should be in-depth, not simple yes or no responses.

Clever Connector: finds connections between the story and the outside world, other classes or different books. He might relate to something in his life or at his school. He invites other students to share their personal connections.

Savvy Summarizer: highlights the important points of the story. The summary should be brief and focused, touching on key points.

Word Wizard: looks for important words in the reading. They can be unfamiliar or unique words. The Word Wizard should note the pages on which the vocabulary words can be found. He will define the words, present synonyms, antonyms and context sentences.

Literary Illuminator: highlights important passages from the book. She tells why she thinks these passages stand out and she involves the group in a discussion about them.

Artful Artist: draws a picture, cartoon, diagram or stick figure scene related to the book. It can be a character, part of the plot or setting, something that was read in the book or something related to the book. The artful artist often asks other students to comment on the picture before relaying its importance to the story.

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