Using literature circles in high school

With literature circles, students get into groups to discuss the work they did for their specific role. Literature circles and response bonnie campbell hill. I found that if a student was the word master for the group, thats all she did. Forming literature circles for book discussions is an excellent way to make sure your students comprehend the material being taught in class. Your job is to create or find an image that relates to the assigned reading. They can also have a say about who to be with in a book group. Your final project will consist of 3 culminating projects. Literature circles are a wonderful answer to this dilemma, even for the most reluctant of high school readers. Students are usually given the opportunity to select one of several books that theyd like to read.

Teaching esl literature may require a bit more planning, but its definitely worth it to open the world of literature to your students. If you are looking for more meaningful and engaging activities to use with students during literature circles or a novel unit, youll find twelve ideas below that are favorites in my classroom and the common core standards they align with. Effective literacy circles and book clubs center for the. A quasi experimental research using nonrandomized control group pretestposttest design was conducted to see effectiveness of literature circles on students reading comprehension. Literature circles for reluctant high school readers scholastic. They are a particularly effective tool to use in a high school english language arts classroom. You may hear talk about events and characters in the book, the authors craft, or personal experiences related to the story. Once the groups are established and the procedures are modeled, you will be a facilitator of learning, empowering your students to explore and respond to their books. Teacher support and involvement needs to be adjusted to reflect the students abilities and needs. Part of the elementary education and teaching commons let us know how access to this document benefits you. Using literature circles to increase reading comprehension and student motivation michelle jacobs rowan university follow this and additional works at.

A high school science teacher in north carolina, for example, uses literature circles to help her students understand complex scientific terms. The falling action in a work of literature is the sequence of events. Making discussions work literature circles resource center. Literature circles lesson plan and materialsgateway high school, california illustrator. Literature circles department of education and training. All children desperately need more opportunities to make choices in school. In an academic age where high stakes bubble tests and formulaic, calculated responses to mundane prompts seem to trump creativity and selfexpression, lit circles allow for authenticity and ownership while also reinforcing the higherorder habits of mind found in successful. Primary i use literature circles every other week, providing an emphasis on choice reading and predictable books with rhyme, rhythm and repetition during the alternate weeks. Let us know how access to this document benefits you. Reality of teaching high school first year teacher truths. Balanced reading program from chapter 1, getting started with literature circles. With guidance, however, students at all levels can learn to carry on. Studentled group discussions are a hallmark of good teaching practice.

Teachers can then divide students into groups of 4 to 6 members to read their groups chosen book independently and then meet together using roles to support their discussion. Literature circles and studentled book clubs are both instructional strategies that allow students choice, voice and motivation in reading. A high school science teacher in north carolina, for example, uses literature. Literature circles are a fun and effective way to get kids excited about reading, and they are aligned with common core state standards for speaking and listening. Literature circles are similar to book clubs, but to be useful, they. Over the last 11 years, i have experimented with literature circles in my middle school and high school english classes and adapted strategies as i learned more about my students, about teaching, and about literature circles. In literature circles, students can independently apply the skills and strategies learned throughout the year. The benefits of literature circles in the high school.

Students demonstrate how to conduct literature circles. Students learned to take responsibility for their own learning, and this was reflected in how effectively they made choices and took ownership of literature circle groups. Literature circles for reluctant high school readers. A literature circle or book club provides a way for students to dig into books that are at their reading and interest level. Teachers who want to try out literature circles need to know one thing no two. Literature circles in high school the doing what works. 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. Literature circles can be a place for cooperative learning. Browse this collection of printables to use with your literature circle activities.

Literature circles provide a way for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books. Read through the chat for ideas to implement in your own classroom. Students help each other understand a text and make sense of it. Discussions can be one of the most challenging aspects of literature circles. Making discussions work from chapter 5 getting started with literature circles by katherine l. Learn how to implement group discussions in the high school classroom. Students who had full access to the online forum were both more motivated to participate and entered more fully into thinking about and discussing their books compared with students corresponding by us mail. Resources for using literature circles in your classroom. In literature circles, small groups of students gather together to discuss a piece of literature in depth. Free printables for literature circles laura candler.

Online literature circles can also serve as a vehicle for collaboration among staff and students between two different high schools. As they conclude their description of the use of literature circles in a bilingual classroom, peraltanash and dutch explain the ways that the strategy helped students become stronger readers. Literature circles in high school the doing what works library. Literature circles have a number of components that are considered to be identifiable and unique to only this literacy method. How literature circles benefit reading comprehension. Primarily, my number one reason for not using literature circles is not the work load for me of all the copying, begging, keeping multiple stories straight, and grading. Teachers also shared popular themes for connecting novel choices. In each strategy, students select books they wish to read with a group of their peers. Then they switch roles at different points and so on. Literature circles in high school english classes valencia high. Literature circle strategies for high school classrooms. English teacher jim burke created this template to help students take notes as they read a text. Teaching literature to high school students can be difficult, but using literature circles, a proven successful teaching strategy, can help. Once youve taught a few classic books to esl students, the world is your oyster.

They prepare for a group meeting by reading agreedupon pages, with the followup discussion led members of the group. To help students understand the basics of book discussions i modeled the roles within a literature circle by reading a picture book to the class and then leading a discussion about the book using a fishbowl strategy. Literature circles can revolve around almost any type of literature. Literature circles and their improvement of comprehension. Literature circles for high school students encourage collaborative learning getting started. Everything you need to organize groups, rubrics to grade preparation and participation, minilessons to get literature circles started, grading rubrics and tons of ideas for culminatin science.

Of course, in order for them to be an effective structure for cooperative learning, the teacher needs to intentionally develop them as such. Literature circles and their improvement of comprehension 5 literature circles incorporate collaborative learning, motivation, as well as an increase in responsibility. Lecturing every day can become boring for students and teachers. Overview begin literature circles with book talks so students can choose books they want to read. The discussion is guided by students response to what they have read. Thousands of books are available as choices for literature circles. In a fishbowl strategy, a small group of students are in the middle of a circle discussing the. You will use your knowledge of the book to create a short skit that will show main ideas of the book. Literature circles allow students to make choices about their learning. Fulfill their chosen literature circle role s to contribute to the group. A group activity to develop reading comprehension, vocabulary and critical thinking skills. There is some live action, as well as a scripted section that was written by a student. This series focuses on the kite runner by khaled hosseini. I read all of the picture books aloud, and give a book talk on any chapter books.

Wieders students discuss a novel in groups where each plays a role. Oh, and one more thing if you liked these lesson plans, youll love using fluentu in your classroom. Teaching strategies for introducing literature circles to a 4th grade class duration. Basically, a literature circle is a cross between the book clubs many adults enjoy and oldfashioned elementary school strategy of reading groups. While literature circles are often seen as more suitable for older students, rich conversations, observations and wonderings about texts are possible at all year levels, even as early as foundation to year 2. Integrating writing strategies with literature circles. Literature circles are a strong classroom strategy because of the way that they couple collaborative learning with studentcentered inquiry. Literature circles are the perfect way to start or end any school year. From 19992001, i presented several regional and national workshops on literature circles. Daniels 1994 has frequently written about the use of. And although it might seem that the most logical subjects in which to use literature circles are those heavy in reading, such as language arts, history, and english, they can be used in other subjects.

Literature circles are small groups of students who meet to discuss reading following an. By gateway high school ca ninthgrade humanities teacher rebecca wieder describes how she facilitates literature circle discussions. How to create a classroom literature circle edutopia. Literature circles in high school book clubs for the classroom. One strategy many teachers use is to create literature circles, or a structured group of students who gather to discuss a book. Work in cooperative groups where everyone is involved to read a novel. The power of literature circles in the classroom edutopia. Literature circles are frequently used in englishlanguage arts classrooms as a means of promoting active analysis and discussion of the text by the students themselves. Literature circles allow students to smartly articulate the exchange that occurs between a reader and a text. Literature circles are a fun and effective way to get kids excited about reading, and they are aligned with common core. The benefits of literature circles in the high school classroom. The first thing that is crucial to setting up literature circles is. Literature circles for high school students encourage. But literature circles work best simply as a way to lure my students to read.