Literature Circles and
Multigenre Writing
Paula Griffith, Dickinson ISD, Dickinson, Texas
pgriffith@dickinsonisd.org
Nancy Votteler, Sam Houston State University,
Nkvotteler@swbell.net
What are literature circles?
When readers come together to
read, discuss, and share a book in a
community that takes ownership of
their reading process much like an
adult book club—that is a literature
circle.
Eleven “Key Ingredients…
Daniels, 2002
1. Students “choose” their
own reading materials.
2. Small, temporary
groups are formed
based on book choice
3. Different groups read
different books.
4. Groups meet on a
regular, predictable
schedule to discuss their
reading.
5. Kids use written or
drawn notes to guide both
their reading and
discussion.
6. Discussion topics come
from the students.
7. Group meetings aim to be
open, natural conversations
about books, so personal
connections, digressions, and
open-ended questions are
welcome.
8. The teacher is a
facilitator, not a group
member or instructor.
9. Evaluation is by teacher
observation and student
self-evaluation.
10. A spirit of
playfulness and fun
pervades the room.
11. When books are finished,
readers share with their
classmates, and then new
groups form around new
reading choices.
How do you sustain
momentum and excitement?
Real…
Authentic…
Personal….
…Writing!
What is multigenre writing?
Multigenre writing combines both
paradigmatic “knowing” and
narrative “knowing” in various
genres that give the readers better,
and often provocative views of the
writing topic.
Multigenre writing asks students to
read deeply about something that
interests them, connect their reading
to their own experience and
synthesize what they know into a
creation all their own.
“Our passions might limit us, but they
also empower us.” Tom Romano
Essential Ingredients:
1. This kind of research requires
passion. Therefore, successful
multigenre writing is about the
students’ interests, students’ topics
and student choice.
2. Discussion—students need time to
discuss their ideas, reinvent their
thinking, revise their work and get
feedback from their peers.
Multigenre writing is truly
collaborative.
3. Personal connections—when
students are reading about their own
interests, they are vested in the
process. If it is interesting to them,
they will construct meaning from text
by making it personal and their own.
4. Modeling—this is the perfect time
to write with your students! Show
them your own struggles as well as
examples from real literature and
other student models.
5. Experimentation—encourage risk
taking in your classroom. It is just as
important that students are allowed
to discover their own reading and
writing identity as it is to pass a test.
6. Process—this is the time to focus
on writing process, teach revision
strategies, examine editing rules
and establish “expert” cohorts that
can assist with peer learning.
Essential Tasks:
1.The art of topic selection
2.How to conceptualize a written
composition from scratch—TTAPP.
3.What is a theme? How does a
writer create separate texts that
are thematically connected?
Essential Tasks, cont. :
4. Stylistic devices such as
metaphor, simile, flashback….
5.Documentation skills and how to
avoid plagiarism
6. Language skills, including editing
skills and word choice
So what does writing
inspired by book clubs and
research sound like…look
like?
Peter’s Diary
Dear Diary;
You won’t even begin to guess what happened today. I was in my
backyard when I saw five or six airplanes in the air. So I ran inside to
tell my parents, but they just said, “Oh, it’s probably just the Air
Force.”
That’s when we heard “KABOOM!” We ran outside to see what it
was and we saw smoke throughout the air! People were running
away from the airplanes. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing.
“So, they were Japs,” my dad said. We could hear sirens everywhere.
“Pearl Harbor is under attack!” said the reporter. We were
watching the news to get some information on what was happening
outside. They said that two ships were under water, the Arizona and
the Oklahoma.
“My friend’s dad is on that ship,” I told my parents. Now, all I
could think about was the people on those boats and their families
and how they must feel….
Inspired by Boy at War by Harry Mazer
My Feelings
I woke up one morning thinking it was going to be an
ordinary day like no other. Once I got to school, I had
language arts. When everybody got to class my teacher,
Mrs. Griffith, told the class that we were going to start a
book club.
I chose a book called Girl of Kosovo. When I was
reading that book, it got to me. It made me think that it
was wrong to kill another religion just because there
different.
Then one day, Mrs. Griffith put some books on the
desk, and I read the book, One Boy From Kosovo. It was
about families who lived in refugee camps who were
hiding from the war. They really had it bad….
Inspired by Girl of Kosovo by Alice Mead
Civil Rights
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks had been working
all day, and her feet were killing her. She did not want to
give up her seat, so this is how it all started. Rosa refused
to give up her seat. She did not want to argue, and she did
not want to move. So she was arrested. She was not the
first African American to be arrested for not following the
Jim Crow laws, nor would she be the last.
Dr. Martin Luther King was a pastor of Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He and other
community leaders felt a protest of some kind was needed.
A meeting was called, and an overflowing church crowd
came to the church to here Dr. King speak. He told the
crowd that the only way they can fight would be to
boycott the bus company….
Research inspired by Sounder by William Armstrong
Jews and the Holocaust
Every Jew had to sew a yellow star on there clothes,
and they had to put them on there window so that the
soldiers could see them at night. Once they put them on
their clothes, they were taken away and never heard
from again. The soldiers took them on a train, and the
poor people had to stand in the train for hours—hungry
and thirsty. Some women were throwing their babies
out of the windows of the train. People were watching
but did not pick any of the babies up. I bet you if I
were there I would pick up as many as I could because I
think it is wrong for people to be able to take people
away like that….
Inspired by Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
References
Daniels, Harvey. (2002). Literature Circles: Voice
and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups.
Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Romano, Tom. (2004). Crafting Authentic Voice.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Romano, Tom. (2000). Blending Genre, Altering
Style. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Romano, Tom. (1995). Writing with Passion.
Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Happy reading and writing!