Your guide to starting a book club in your school oxford. Ive tried lit circles for the past three years with my fifth graders, with varied results. Students help each other understand a text and make sense of it. By creating roles within each literature circle or book club group and specific tasks for the group to accomplish during their text discussion time, teachers can.
Book clubsliterature circles book clubs are smallgroup discussions around a shared text. Introduce literature circles by explaining they are groups of people reading the same book and meeting together to discuss what they have read peraltanash and dutch 30. There is some live action, as well as a scripted section that was written by a student. Why you should use literature circles with your students. Book clubs and literature circles take advantage of peer relationships to help students comprehend what they have read and connect with books. Certainly literature circles, book clubs, and discussion groups arent new tools for many teachers. A con for the literature circle is that literature circles take a lot of time. Free printables for literature circles laura candler. By creating roles within each literature circle or book club group and specific tasks for the group to accomplish during their text discussion time, teachers can modify the work to make it more studentcentered. Another option for literature circles is a book club format. The literature circles took about five weeks to complete.
Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books. See more ideas about literature circles, teaching reading and teaching language arts. Lets specifically consider the question asked about same and mixedability grouping for literature circles. As a group of students reads a novel or longer text, they meet. Literature circles, which has names like literary community, book group, book club in foreign sources duncan, 2009. Introduce the unit with a short book talk about each book that a group may choose or talk about what type of short text students will select. Harvey daniels wrote about a system to use when you are new to this type of instruction in his book literature circles. I use these in the beginning of the year to help students understand the process of how they should be working in a group of readers. Your job is to prepare a brief summary of todays reading. I need a wide range from very low 3rd grade to high 4th grade. I was in a book club once, i said, explaining how a group of friends read the same novel and then. Classroom book clubs is a narrated slidecast that describes a fun and effective method of doing literature circles. Literature circles differ from other small group instructional approaches like guided reading in several ways. Each group chooses a text and each group member chooses a role sheet.
Smokey has authored or coauthored thirteen books on language, literacy, and education. Book club is my version of harvey daniels literature circles. Students are grouped based on a book that they choose to read. Voice and choice in the studentcentered classroom heinemann, 2002. The problem is i have to have the titles to the media specialist by friday morning. In his system, each student has a different role or job to attend to as the group reads. Training students for literature circles scholastic. What type of literature circle grouping works bestsame. Iv experimented with many different types of literature circles, and this page. Literature circles and book clubs betterlesson coaching. The discussion is guided by students response to what they have read. For middle and highschool students, short stories are a perfect choice.
The ideas are from reciprocal teaching that i have adapted. Last spring, my 8th grade students were involved in literature circles where they read one of six young adult historical fiction selections. Literature circles as support for language development. They prepare for a group meeting by reading agreedupon pages, with the followup discussion led members of the group. The power of literature circles in the classroom edutopia. These are cards that my students use when they are in literature circles or book clubs. Literature circles can be a place for cooperative learning. Effective literacy circles and book clubs center for the. The chief difference is that students are not assigned roles.
Last year, a colleague introduced me to the idea of book clubs. With elementary students, the teacher can begin by reading an engaging picture book. Book clubs and partnerships play a crucial role in supporting student comprehension and also in making the reading process a social one nichols, 2006. Book clubs and literature circles reading instruction 101. Previously, i wrote a series of articles that cover procedures, minilessons, and assignments and assessments. Lit circles by teacher4life great ideas for this year. So, i will share details about two of the main types of literature circles being used in classrooms. A book discussion club is a group of people who meet to discuss a book or books that they have read and express their opinions, likes, dislikes, etc. Voice and choice in book clubs and reading groups and teaching the best practice way. In each strategy, students select books they wish to read with a group of their peers. Book clubs are groups that are formed by the teacher with literature selected by the teacher. The biggest difference between a literature circle and a book club is that the book club primarily focuses on comprehension of the story, while a literature circle explores not only comprehension. Guided reading and book clubs also called literature circles also motivate students by giving a purpose to their reading.
You may hear talk about events and characters in the book, the authors craft, or personal experiences related to the story. Heres the list one group of third graders at waters school recently came up with. This resource works for any novel and will become a lifelong tool that you can use multiple times each school year. They function in a similar way to lit circles, but allow for much more autonomy on the part of the kids. This approach is very flexible and does require students to take on roles when they meeting. The first thing i learned about literature circles is that there are so many different versions out there that i would never have time to discuss them all. A literature circle is equivalent for young people of an adult book club, but with greater structure, expectation and rigor. Book clubs are smallgroup discussions around a shared text. Popular literature circle books meet your next favorite book. Like reciprocal teaching, you can establish group roles, and i think by doing so, youll have greater accountability in the groups discussion and workload.
A passionate blog on getting a book club up ad running, with reasons why to have one. I must admit i was really skeptical at first with the idea of letting go, as she says. The literature is tied together by author, genre, topic, or theme. What are the most common pitfalls in implementing studentled discussion groups. Literature circles department of education and training. The intent of literature circles is to allow students to practice and develop the skills and strategies of good readers dalie, 2001. What do we know about literature circles now that we didnt understand eight or ten years ago.
From literature circles to inquiry circles the educators. Classroom book clubs are an easy and fun way to implement literature circles. For example, the saskatoon public school board has some great resources on their website about different ways to run literature circles, as well as assessment and evaluation considerations. Students demonstrate how to conduct literature circles. Discussion in elementary education started by stephernie, mar 31, 2008. As we share ideas, we help the kids winnow the list down to a reasonable number of entries, eliminating duplicates and gently discarding wacko suggestions. And getting beyond the basics, what do mature or advanced literature circles look like. Both of these options provide many benefits to our learners.
At its core, literature circles are groups of students meeting together to discuss reading. Your group discussion will start with your 12 minute statement that covers the key points, main highlights, and general idea of todays reading assignment. Other frequently used terms to describe a book discussion club include reading group, book group, and book discussion group. Types of roles in literature circles activities for book club participants. Literature circles are small, short term discussion groups that have chosen managed choice to read the same. Reading az also provides all the resources you need for literature circles with any book. An opportunity for students to practice reading in a group setting, discuss what they have read, and apply reading strategies they have learned are just a few. I have run after school book clubs with our students. Book clubs literature circles book clubs are smallgroup discussions around a shared text. The training for literature circles seems to work best when done as a large group with the entire class. This resource consists of 5 short narrated videos that will teach you how to implement this method in a stepbystep way. One such approach, the literature circlewhich is somewhat like a student book club in the classroomhas drawn a great. Read the literature circles overview to learn specific protocols with a trackrecord of success.
Using literature circles the pros and cons rachel knauer. The groups in both cases are fluid and flexible, meaning they may change frequently. It is more often called simply a book club, a term that is also used to describe a book sales club, which can cause confusion. Overview of literature circles literature circles resource. This is the first installment in a series of seven posts with ideas and suggestions for running effective literacy circles or book clubs with students from second grade through high school. A blog about the experiences of a book club teacher. Literature circles are a great way to look at a book in many different ways. One of the major areas i worked on with my 8th graders all year was questioning. Basically, literature circles are another name for elementary school book clubs. So, i tried it as a whole class using the book holes. Smokey has been struck by the range of the book club boom that his book helped initiate. Literature circles encourage students to own their learning.
Taking your literature circles to the next level comprehension. Literature circles as support for language development t. Book club by joel bedford is licensed under cc by 2. What new resources and procedures can help teachers organize their classroom book clubs better. As a group of students reads a novel or longer text, they meet regularly in book clubs to share observations, questions, and new learnings related to their reading. Were currently experimenting with online literature circles at our school. Book clubs by the national library of new zealand a fantastic website.
Explain the role sheets and your expectations for behavior in literature circles. Studentled book clubs have the same goals as literature circles. Emphasize the studentcentered collaborative nature of the reading strategy by discussing how the strategy places students in charge of leading their own discussions as. In literature circles, small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in depth. Pei, 2018, is a teaching method that the students come together. Literature circles and studentled book clubs are both instructional strategies that allow students choice, voice and motivation in reading.
Literature circle journals save teachers time by pulling together predetermined roles appropriate for a leveled book. See more ideas about literature circles, teaching reading and reading lessons. Allow students to choose groups or assign groups with 35 members per group. Cavanaugh proposes that literature circles promote critical thinking skills, comprehension skills, cooperative learning, and discussion cavanaugh, 2006. The aim is to encourage thoughtful discussion and a love of reading in young people. Literature circles, book clubs, and article studies literature circles, book clubs, and article studies are another important structure in our balanced or comprehensive literacy instructional framework. Id like to get away from our basal reader a little bit by doing some literature circles or novel studies as a whole class i havent.
During literature circles, students use higher order thinking skills, work together, learn from one another, and through discussion develop a deeper understanding of the literature. Literature circles are a process for engaging students in reading with their peers. When students have one role, they might focus more on that one role than the rest of the book. Traditionally, we have used literature circles, book clubs, and article studies with students who were reading above grade level. Literature circles and book clubs are a text discussion strategies that supports studentled facilitation and discussion in small groups. Depending on the maturity level of the class, we met with either great success or total disaster.
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