Literature Circles

1. You will be assigned to a group based on a novel chosen.

2. Each person in a group will take on a different role (each person will take on each role at least once during the duration of the Literature Circle): - Discussion Director- Swift Summarizer - Word Wizard - Clever Connector- Interesting Illustrator

3. Each group will meet and discuss the section of the book read, based on the roles assigned. Individual member’s work, as well as group meetings will be evaluated.

4. You are expected to complete your assigned work on time, so that you can contribute to your group’s discussion. You are also expected to actively and productively participate in your group’s discussion, ensuring that you stay on topic, listen to others, and don’t put anybody down.

ROUTINES

Literature Circles

Your job includes the following:

1. Record your group members’ jobs for the assigned section of the novel, as well as whether they’d completed the work or not.

2. Lead your group’s discussion, ensuring that all members present their work in order, one person speaks at a time, while others listens, and that the group stays on topic.

3. Develop 5 good questions that your group might want to discuss about the assigned part of the book. Don’t worry about the small details; avoid YES or NO questions – your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the book, and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read.

Try to use the 5 Ws when creating your questions: WHO? WHAT? WHEN? WHERE? WHY? and HOW?

4. Once you have your questions developed, write down your own answers before you present the questions to the group.

Sample questions:- How did you feel when reading this part of the book?- What questions did you have when you finished reading this section?- What was going through your head when you were reading this part of the book?- Did anything in this section of the book surprise/disgust/amaze you, made you laugh, or taught you

something you didn’t know before?- What do you think might happen next in the book?- What are some of the important ideas in this section?- If you were put into the character’s place, would you make the same decision/choice?

Discussion Director

Literature Circles

Your job includes the following:

1. Prepare a brief summary of your assigned reading. The final product should be no more than 1 page single-spaced.

Things to consider for the summary:- Important events- Setting/location changes- New characters introduced- Changes in the existing characters (mood, feelings, appearance, actions, etc.)

SWIFT SUMMARIZER

Literature Circles

Your job includes the following:

1. While reading the assigned section of the book, look for a few especially important words; words that are unfamiliar, unusual or puzzling. You may also use familiar words if they stand out in the reading – they might be repeated a lot, or used in an unusual way.

2. Record 5 of these words, noting the page and paragraph number. Also, write down the sentence from the book in which the word is used.

3. Look up each of the words in the dictionary and record its definition. If you can’t find the word, try to figure out what it means by reading the paragraph where the word was found (or sometimes, the book might have a glossary at the end for you to consult).

4. Once you know the definition of the word, use it in your own sentence.

5. Come up with a creative way to present your words to your group. Write a brief description of your plan.

WORd Wizard

Literature Circles

Your job includes the following:

1. Find 3-5 connections between the section of the book and the world outside. This means you need to think about what you have read and connect it to:

- Similar events (local or in the world)- Other people- Same author (different author, but similar idea?)- Other book (movies?)- Same topic- Things that have happened in the school or community- Similar problems

2. Remember to explain the situation in the book first, and then describe how it connects to the experiences you’ve chosen.

Clever Connector

Literature Circles

Your job includes the following:

1. Draw some kind of a picture related to the section of the book you’ve read. You can draw an illustration, a cartoon, a comic, a diagram, a mind map (or even a regular map) – use your imagination! Some things you can draw might include:

- Character(s)- Problem(s)- Exciting part(s)- Prediction(s)- Surprise(s)- Setting(s)

Remember to be original and create your OWN pictures!

2. Write a paragraph describing/explaining your drawing.

3. Show your illustration without any comments to the members of your group. One at a time, they get to guess what your picture means/represents, to connect the drawing to their own ideas about the reading. After everyone has had their say, you get the last word: tell them what your picture means, the reason you drew it, what part of story it is related to, or what it represents to you.

Interesting Illustrator

Name ___________________________________ Class __________

Literature Circles – Individual Work

Section of book read: Date completed:

Discussion Questions

Question #1: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question #2: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question #3: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question #4: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Question #5: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Discussion Director

Director’s Own Answers to the Discussion Questions(make sure to have these written down before you present the questions to the group)

Answer Q.1: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer Q.2: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer Q.3: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer Q.4: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Answer Q.5: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name ___________________________________ Class __________

Literature Circles – Individual Work

Section of book read: Date completed:

Summary __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SWIFT SUMMARIZER

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Name ___________________________________ Class __________

Literature Circles – Individual Work

Section of book read: Date completed:

Important words

Word: Page # Paragraph #

Sentence from book:

Definition:

Your own sentence:

Word: Page # Paragraph #

Sentence from book:

Definition:

Your own sentence:

WORD WIZARD SUMMARIZER

Word: Page # Paragraph #

Sentence from book:

Definition:

Your own sentence:

Word: Page # Paragraph #

Sentence from book:

Definition:

Your own sentence:

Word: Page # Paragraph #

Sentence from book:

Definition:

Your own sentence:

Name ___________________________________ Class __________

Literature Circles – Individual Work

Section of book read: Date completed:

Connections

1. Situation in the book Connection

2. Situation in the book Connection

3. Situation in the book Connection

CLEVER CONNECTOR

4. Situation in the book Connection

5. Situation in the book Connection

Name ___________________________________ Class __________

Literature Circles – Individual Work

Section of book read: Date completed:

Description of illustration________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Illustration

INTeresting Illustrator SUMMARIZER

Literature Circles

Book Section(pages/chapters)

Member Name Job Description Work completed

Date

Novel Study Record