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Literature
Circle Strategies
for High School
Classrooms
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Parent Permission Slip
(this
slip becomes the first sheet in a student's journal for the novel)
Dear Parents,
This quarter
your student has a choice of novels to read as we begin small group
literature circles. Your
student, ____________________________________, has elected to read
the novel ____________________________________ .
Please discuss this book selection with your student and perhaps
visit a library or bookstore to preview the novel.
Please sign this permission slip to let me know that
you give permission for your
student to read the novel.
Sincerely,
Teacher's
Signature
Parent
Signature: ______________________________
Date: ____________
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Role and Page Assignments
Novel Title: ______________________________
Lit
Circle Meeting # 1:
Date: ________ Read Pages: __________
Discussion
Director: _____________________________
Summarizer:
_____________________________
Vocabulary
Reporter: ___________________________
Passage
Master: ______________________________
Lit
Circle Meeting # 2:
Date: ________ Read
Pages: __________
Discussion
Director : _____________________________
Summarizer:
_____________________________
Vocabulary
Reporter: ___________________________
Passage
Master: ______________________________
Lit
Circle Meeting # 3:
Date: ________ Read
Pages: __________
Discussion
Director : _____________________________
Summarizer:
_____________________________
Vocabulary
Reporter: ___________________________
Passage
Master: ______________________________
Lit
Circle Meeting # 4:
Date: ________ Read
Pages: __________
Discussion
Director : _____________________________
Summarizer:
_____________________________
Vocabulary
Reporter: ___________________________
Passage
Master: ______________________________
Lit
Circle Meeting # 5:
Date: ________ Read
Pages: __________
Discussion
Director: _____________________________
Summarizer:
_____________________________
Vocabulary
Reporter: ___________________________
Passage
Master: ______________________________
Lit
Circle Meeting # 6:
Date: ________ Read
Pages: __________
Discussion
Director: _________________________
Passage Master: ______________________
Summarizer:
___________________________
Vocabulary
Reporter: _________________________
Name:
______________________________________
Book: _________________________
Assignment:
page ________ to page ________
Literature Circle's Name: _____________
Your
job is to develop a list of questions that your group can discuss about this
part of the novel. Your questions should be ones which require thought and get everyone talking
and sharing their opinions and reactions.
The best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and
concerns as you read. Do NOT write
questions that call for a simple "yes" or "no" answer or a
factual detail !
Order for Leading Your Group Discussion
ü
Call
on the Summarizer to read the summary.
ü
Pose
each one of your questions to your group for discussion
ü
Ask
for each member of your group to state their comment/questions about this
section of the novel.
Lead your
group
in response to what each person says.
ü
Call
on the Passage Master.
ü
Call
on the Vocabulary Reporter.
ü
You
fill out the Group Record sheet, with input from your group members
ü
After
discussion is completed, assign roles for your next reading and make sure
everyone gets a new role sheet,
including
absent members.
ü
Call
the teacher over. Be ready to discuss items on the Group Record sheet.
Discussion Questions or Topics for Our Lit Circle:
Types
of Questions:
What did you think about......? (name a
specific event, action, or character's action)
Why do you think that.......?
What do you think will happen......?
(ask for predictions of events and
characters' actions)
What is happening at the part
where.......?
What do you think ______________
(event/incident) means?
Name:
______________________________________
Book: _________________________
Assignment:
page ________ to page ________
Literature Circle's Name: _____________
Locate 3
passages of the story that your group should reread, discuss, and think about.
ü
Passages
should be important things for everyone to
notice, remember, or think about.
ü
Choose
a variety of passages, not all the
same type--here are suggestions:
·
surprising/startling
·
confusing
(something you wonder if other people "got")
·
descriptive
writing: figurative language, strong verbs, etc. (identify literary devices)
·
important
(maybe a clue? foreshadowing?)
·
controversial
event (elicits different opinions from group members)
During Your Group Meeting, Do the Following:
1.
Make sure everyone opens to the
right page and help them find where the passage begins.
2.
Either read it aloud yourself,
have everyone read it silently, or ask someone to read it.
3.
Tell
your reasons for selecting each passage; ask for comments. Do they agree with your choices?
Page _______ Paragraph(s) ______ The
first 3 words of the paragraph are: _________________________________
This is interesting (or puzzling)
because:
An interpretation that can be made from another passage, found
on Page _________, Paragraph
_______ is
because
In today's reading, a tie-in to my experience and/or knowledge
appears on Page _________, Paragraph ______ and is
Name:
______________________________________
Book: _________________________
Assignment:
page ________ to page ________
Literature Circle's Name: _____________
Your job is to prepare a brief summary of today's reading. The other members of your
group will be counting on you to
give a summary that conveys the key points, the main highlights of today's
reading assignment. It is a good
idea to jot down the main events on scratch paper before you complete this form.
Be sure to write your summary in
complete sentences !
When you have finished your summary, give this section a short
title--something that captures the main idea.
My Title for the Section:
_____________________________________
Summary:
______________________________________________________
My group agreed that my summary was
complete and accurate _______yes
________ no (if no,
add what is missing on the back of the sheet)
Name:
______________________________________
Book: _________________________
Assignment:
page ________ to page ________
Literature Circle's Name: _____________
Your job is to
look up definitions to the words you are given, (or find unknown words on
your own if no vocabulary list is provided), and create an excellent sentence
using each.
During
the Lit Circle Meeting, Do the Following:
1.
Make sure everyone in your group copies down each word and definition on
their vocabulary sheet
2.
Together create a new sentence and write this on your vocabulary sheet
3.
Make sure the teacher checks the group's sentence for accuracy
1.
Word: _____________________________________
Page _________ Paragraph ________
Sentence from the book:
___________________________
_________________________________________________
The
definition is: :
________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________
My
excellent sentence is: :
________________________________________________________
________________________________________
2.
Word: _____________________________________
Page _________ Paragraph
________
Sentence from the book:
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
The
definition is: :
______________________________________
_____________________________________________
My
excellent sentence is: :
_______________________________________
___________________________________
3.
Word: _____________________________________
Page _________ Paragraph
________
Sentence from the book:
____________________________________________________________
________________________________________________
The
definition is: :
__________________________________________
__________________________
My
excellent sentence is: :
__________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
My comment or question about this part of
the book is: ____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Name:
______________________________________
Book: _________________________
Assignment:
page ________ to page ________
Literature Circle's Name: _____________
Following the group meeting, the
Discussion Director will complete this form with the help of the group members.
1. Two topics which generated the most discussion today were:
2. As a group, we agreed one of the most important or intriguing passages in this section was about:
(this may or may not be one that the Passage Master selected)
3. Group Participation Today: (1)
means beginning (2) means
developing (3) means focused (4) means
exemplary
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Member's
Name
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Completed
Reading
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Contributes
relevant
info
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Listens
to group members
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Fulfills
duties
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Remember to give this sheet to the teacher before
leaving today.
Integrating Writing Strategies with Literature
Circles
Thousands
of books are available as choices for literature circles.
Developing a variety of literature circle activity folders can be
overwhelming unless the teacher has a bank of
generic writing ideas that will work with a wide range of novels.
Here is bank of writing activities that will work for many literature
circles.
1.
Daily Journal Sheets: that chart the progress and critical thinking of
the small group and its
members. All groups
complete these with every book. (See attached "role" sheets)
2.
Wordsplash: to introduce a work to students. After
small groups speculate on the reason those particular words appear
together, ask them to predict the story
that the words might tell (1 side, 1 page).
You can also ask a literature circle group to design a wordsplash for the
NEXT literature circle that will read this novel.
3.
Mandalas: after students read a story, chapter, poem, or novel, ask
them to draw a picture that represents the
images and feelings and characters of what they just read on
a circular piece of paper. Do
this before discussion. Often
times, this activity will help students to crystallize their thoughts on a piece.
After drawing, ask them to write just one
sentence explaining the drawing. After
small group sharing of the drawings, ask them to write 7 sentences explaining
the story and its significance. Fran Claggett's book Drawing Your Own Conclusions,
explains this strategy in great detail.
This is a first step of that strategy
4.
Main Idea or Theme Posters: Ask each small group of readers to choose the main
ideas and events
of the novel they are reading. My
favorite time for using this activity is the middle of a long novel or about 3/4 of the way through a novel when you want to make sure all
the students are "caught up" in their
understanding of the novel. On the
high school level, I might ask for 20-25 of the most important events that have happened so far. What
constitutes "important"? Each
group of students must decide.
I then ask the students to choose 2-3 images of symbols that represent
the book and to make stencils
of these images. For
example, apples and milk bottles for Animal
Farm and loaves of French bread and
silver candlesticks for Les
Miserables or spider webs and
barns for Charlotte's Web.
Using the stencils, the students then draw 20-25 shapes on construction
paper, cut them out, and list the
important novel events on the shapes.
The shapes are then attached to the poster
(in order of occurence). Reading group members individually write an explanation of the poster its
events. The posters are presented
to the class and then hung on the walls.
5.
Pair/Share Journals: To
keep variety in the classroom, I sometimes ask students in one literature
circle to share their journals with another literature circle in the
class. This allows the different
groups to compare and comment on each other's findings and discussions.
It also allows me, as the teacher, from occasionally NOT having to read
each and every student's journal. I
am able to collect any comment on them a
few times less a quarter.
.
Occasional Thought Letters: This writing is longer than a journal
entry (which often take about 15 minutes
to write) yet shorter and simpler than a formal essay.
It takes about an hour to write and could be 1 page typed single-spaced.
The student is able to write about an entire week's work in the literature circle or class and reflect on the "whole" of
the week. I ask students to explain
the most significant, problematic,
exhilarating points we discussed or strategies we tried.
7.
Dialectical Journal: Students write one or two significant quotes on
the left hand side of their journal page. On
the right hand side, the students then remark or comment or explain or question
the quotes. This allows the
students to grapple with the meaning of the passages.
8.
Found Poetry: I ask the students to find a passage in the novel and
to compose a "found poem" using the passage's exact words.
Sometimes I offer a group of passages for the students to choose from.
9.
Time Line: Ask students to tape 2 or 3 pieces of notebook paper
together and to draw a line across the taped pages in readiness for a time line.
Then ask students to write about positive characters and events on the
TOP of the time line and about negative characters or events BELOW the time line. After
this is completed, ask the students to circle the one most positive event and
the one most negative event that has occurred in the story and to write about them. Share
within the group and add the writing to the journals.
10.
Internet Research Project: If each literature circle is reading a
different novel, I usually made a reference folder for each group.
The folder contains journal prompts, discussion questions, some kind of a
"hands-on" related research
activity (making braided Jewish challah bread for the novel THE CHOSEN or taffy for one of the Laura
Ingalls Wilder books, for example), and a simple research project for the group
which is often internet-based. Joe
DiMaggio died right before one of my literature circle groups read THE OLD MAN
AND THE SEA one
spring. Since Joe is mentioned as
the hero of the main character in the novel, I asked that
literature circle group to research who Joe DiMagggio was, why he would
have been someone's hero, and to write a speech about him that might have been
given at his recent memorial service or published
in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED.
11.
Homemade Cliff Notes: Students
who know each other well and have experience with literature
circle enjoy this activity. Each
literature circle group is asked to write a self-styled "Cliffs Notes"
for their novel.
I usually assign this for a novel that has no
actual Cliffs Notes. Students
write chapter by chapter discussion questions, quizzes, vocabulary lists and
activities, maps, and test banks. If
time allows, they can also write character descriptions, setting explanations,
and theme presentations. My high schoolers type these up and often add a colorful cover in yellow and
black ala the real Cliffs. If the
entire class of literature circles is reading the same novel, I split the
Homemade Cliff Notes into chapters
and assign each literature circle a different chapter.
12.
Food, the Book, and Writing: Ever had that class that meets right
before the late lunch period? They can be
ingenious about getting food into the class.
Several years ago, my AP Language class was reading an
contrast/comparison essay about gumbo.
After reading the light-hearted essay, they
decided to research various gumbo recipes, select 5 to make for class, and bring
them in to school.
After a wonderfully smelling morning with crock pots cooking
in my class, we taste-tested the many gumbos and wrote our own compare
and contrast essays on our very own gumbos. Would work well for literature groups, especially for the
classes meeting later in the day.
13.
Journals with Secondary Character Perspective: I often ask literature
circles to write a journal
entry from a secondary character's perspective 2 or 3 times during the
course of their reading and then to share
their entries with group members.
14.
Journal Headlines: Write a headline for a particular section of the
book . Example-- "Bear House Vandalized."
15.
Letter-Writing between Two Characters: Students can write imaginary
letters between two characters. This
works well if different literature circles are working on the same novel. Each
group writes a letter for a particular character and sends it to the
"character" in another literature circle.
16.
Telegrams: Students can write telegrams of urgency
from one character to another. Of
course, cost must be taken into
consideration. Every word or letter
costs so much money. Class can
decide before hand how much money each
character has to spend on a telegram. Groups
then draw character names out of a hat and
must compose a message within that character's telegram
"budget."
17.
Editorials: Students can write an editorial on an issue that a book
introduces or write an editorial from the perspective of a character keeping the
novel's setting and the character's knowledge
in mind.
18.
Life-Lines Project: Students collect quotations from each
book/poem/play/short story they read all
year long in their journals. At
the end of the semester and at the year, they look over the list of quotes and
decide why this group of quotations is significant. (formal essay assignment).
19.
Important Character Quotes: Students
collect important character quotes as they read through a
novel. Afterwards, they
examine the list and write about what these quotes together reveal about the character.
20.
Yearbook Snapshots of Characters:
Students assemble "yearbook snapshots" of various
characters in a novel. They
must decide on the following:
·
nickname
·
activities, clubs, sports, (and what years they participated)
·
quotation that character chose that shows something about him and
what is important to him/her
·
favorite music/hobbies (must be
consistent with setting)
·
book that has had greatest impact on this character
·
voted "most likely to......." by his/her class
·
character's plan after high school
Students must then find
or draw a picture of their conception of the character
(magazines offer help and so do
computer clip art programs). They
mount the picture on white paper with the
information underneath
21.
Advertisement: Students
write an advertisement for a particular character from the character's
point-of-view. Examples
might include Charlotte in
CHARLOTTE'S WEB offering her spider babies for adoption, Chillingsworth in
SCARLET LETTER might advertise his healing herbs, or a soldier in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT advertising
his need for waterproof boots.
22.
Alphabet Scheme: Divide up
the letters of the alphabet between your group members. For each of the letters,
choose something from the book that starts with that letter.
This can be a person, place, or
thing. Then, write a brief
explanation as to what the significance of this person, place, or thing was to
the story. Put only one letter per
page, but make them two-sided pages so it will read like a book.
Add drawings/artwork on each page, or find passages from the book to quote
and attach. Type these.
Make a cover for the book and bind it together.
·
A is for...............
·
B is for...............
23.
Creating a Childhood for a Character:
Students are asked to create a believable childhood for a
particular character in a novel. For
example, students might devise a childhood for David Copperfield's cruel
step-father Mr. Murdstone or a childhood for
Jocasta of OEDIPUS REX.
24.
Poetry Collection: Create a collection of poems relating to
characters and incidents in your book. Each poem must be accompanied by an
explanation of its applicability to the novel. Everyone in your group must write or collect two poems.
Together, create a cover and back for your collection and bind the poems within it. Be
creative in your cover design and
material you use to make it out of. Possible
poetic forms for you to choose are: "I Am Poem" (as one of the
characters, a "found poem" (see #13), an acrostic poem based on the title of the book, and
miscellaneous rhyming and free verse poems.
You can use published poems that relate to your novel, also.
Please type all poems.
25.
CD Cover: Using an actual CD clear plastic cover, please design a
cover of a CD for your novel. On
the
inside of the CD case, write a list of songs which will "tell the
story" of your novel. This
song listing
should fit inside the plastic case.
Please add another sheet (or sheets) which explain why these particular
songs reflect the themes, settings, events, and characters of the novel.
You may also add the lyrics to each song.
26.
Obituary for a Character: Students
can write an obituary for a character who dies in the novel
or a character who has died before the novel "began." See attached obituary written about Gregor in Kafka's Metamorphosis.
27. “To
Do” List for a Character: I have had some success asking my student's to create "to do" lists for the
characters in the story, usually as a review at the end of a section. The list
should contain three or four items, going from general to fairy specific, until
the last item makes it clear -- for those who read -- who wrote the list.
List 1
Buy dog food
Look for new way home from school
Buy red shoe polish
Check on tornado insurance for Aunt Em
List 2
Buy pipe tobacco
Tune violin
Make appointment with Dr.
Watson
Want
more sources of writing strategies?
v
Check out
the professional resources listed on the last page of this handout.
Most offer even more ideas for integrating writing with literature circles.
Storybooks
that Work in Literature Circles
for
Middle and High School
All Those Secrets of the World by Jane
Yolen
Barefoot by Pamela Edwards
Black and White by David Macauley
Dr. Mr. Blueberry by Simon Jones
Faithful Elephants by Yukio Tsychiya
Fly Away Home by
Eve Bunting
Golem by David Wiesnieski
Guess Who My Favorite Person Is
by Byrd Baylor
House on
Pooh Corner (last chapter) by
A.A. Milne
Jumangi by George Spelvin
Letting the Swift River go by Jane Yolen
Ming Lo Moves the Mountain by Arnold
Lobel
Mysteries of Harris Burdick
by Chris Van Allsburg
Night Driving by Coy
Pink and Say
by Patricia Polacco
Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young
Smoky Nights by Eve Bunting
Someday by Charlotte Zolotow
Something from Nothing by
Phoebe Gilman
The Keeping Quilt by Poloco
The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly
Stupid Tales by Jon Scieszka
The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg
This Quiet Lady by Zolotow
To Climb a Waterfall by Jean Craighead
George
Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie
Two Bad Ants by Chris Van Allsburg
Uncle Jed's Barbershop by Margaret King
Mitchell
We are Down in the Dumps with Jack and
Guy by Maurice Sendak
When I Was Young in the Mountains by
Rylant
Zoom by Banyai
Not all of these titles still frequent book stores although
most can be ordered on the internet through www.amazon.com
or www.bn.com
Check area libraries for these picture books.
Professional
Resources for More Information
Draw
Your Own Ccnclusions
by Fran Claggett, Heinemann Publishers, 1992.
Claggett,
a frequent visitor at Florida Writing Projects, introduces the concept of
graphic representations as effective precursors to the writing process.
Explains in detail how the mandala
student-made graphics encourage higher level thinking,
focus reading comprehension, and serve as writing stimuli.
Measure
of Success
by Fran Claggett, Heinemann Publishers, 1996.
Claggett
presents alternative assessment ideas for language arts classes and explains current theory on assessment in understandable terms.
Literature
Circles: Voice and Change in the Student Centered Classroom by Harvey
Daniels,
Stenhouse Publishers, 1994.
The
benchmark publication for effective use of literature circles.
Aimed at the elementary level but
easily adaptable to K-College. The
"role" sheets from this workshop packet are adaptations of Daniels'
work. Presents clear and extensively drawn literature circle roles for each student involved.
Engaging
Ideas
by John C. Bean, Jossey Bass Publishers, 1996.
Bean
boils down the complex theories of the reading-writing connection into
understandable language and offers classroom friendly, practical ways to
encourage writing across the curriculum which ultimately yields higher levels of
critical thinking in students.
Practical
Ideas for Teaching Writing as a Process at the High School and College Levels compiled by Carol Booth Olson, California Dept. of
Education
(Publishers),
1997.
A
collection of practical, exciting writing strategies to use in middle and high
school.
"Reader-Response
Theory and the English Curriculum" by Robert Probst, published in The
English Journal, March 1994.
Probst
explains Louise Rosenblatt's theories on reader-response
in this easily understood article. If you don't understand reader-response yet, read this.
"Teaching
Ideas: While Reading the Literature" by
Diana Mitchell, published
in
The English Journal, September 1995.
A
collection of various ideas to integrate writing with literature studies.
A
special thanks to the teachers of the National Council for the Teachers of
English Internet List-Serv and the College Board Advanced Placement English
Teacher Internet List-Serv for their ideas and support as I experimented with
literature circles over the past
several years, especially: Bonnie Dodge (Iowa), Nancy Patterson (Michigan),
Skip Nicholson (California), Gloria Pipkin and Conni Shelnut (Florida), Katie
Brown (Tennessee), and Mary Kirkpatrick (Texas).
www.ncte.org
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