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Literature Circles

Possible Classroom Procedures:

 

Procedures for Teacher Candidates:

1. Read and understand the specifics of each role below.

2. Choose and sign up for a role.

3. Read your novel for your next meeting and come prepared to share and discuss as per your specific role.

Note: With your students, you would meet in literature circles at intervals throughout the novel.

Novel:
Date Started:
Date of Next Meeting with Literature Circle:
Roles
A Summarizer:
summarizes the novel for the group (a brief retell of most important parts and issues, etc.)
B Connector:
finds connections between the ideas in the novel and the real world ....connect to your own experiences, to similar events, to similar topics, to your understandings, etc.
C Questioner:
presents puzzling questions raised in the novel for the group to consider, relating to personal response, as well as questions relating to content
D Instigator:
raises issues for the group to discuss based on specific aspects of the novel
E Linguist:
draws group's attention to interesting words in the story (notes the page number) and discusses their meaning with the group
F Literary Critic:
finds examples of effective literary techniques in passages, finds effective passages, and, conversely, passages that are problematic
G Text Enricher:
supports the text by bringing in other related stories or non-fiction articles, books by the same author, or books set in the same place or during the same time
H Recorder:
take notes of the most important points and ideas discussed to serve as a record of the literature circle meeting (you do not prepare in advance for this role since your responsibility begins at the literature circle meeting)
Note: Role descriptions are based on those in Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom by Harvey Daniels, Pembroke Publishers, 1994, and in Guiding the Reading Process, by David Booth, Pembroke Publishers, 1998, page 54.

Click here for a printable screen view of the table above.