Civics Non-Fiction
Literature Circles
8th Grade Social Studies
What are we doing?
You will be assigned to a group of 3-4 students
 In your groups, you will be reading two nonfiction books about the era just before the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s
 You will also be taking notes, asking questions,
looking up additional information, and talking
about what you read
 All you need to do is participate in class by
reading, taking notes, and being a good group
member

What books will we read?

During the first few
days, everyone will
read parts of Miles to
Go for Freedom:
Segregation & Civil
Rights in the Jim
Crow Years
What books will we read?

Then half of the groups
will read Getting
Away with Murder:
the True Story of the
Emmett Till Case
while the other half will
read Freedom
Walkers: the Story of
the Montgomery Bus
Boycott
Why are we doing it?
To learn about Civil Rights
 To learn about American History
 To learn about civics concepts like the
Constitution & the Bill of Rights and the
Supreme Court

Why are we doing it?
To gain experience reading non-fiction
books
 To learn some new habits when reading
non-fiction books
 To gain experience working in groups
 To gain experience developing your own
questions and answering them

New Reading Habits?
Skim materials before you read them
 Read with a pencil in your hand (take
notes – not just on “facts” but on
questions, comments, ideas, confusions –
anything that crosses your mind)
 Use direct quotes from the material as
evidence to support your discussions

New Reading Habits?
Address any questions or confusions by talking
with others who are reading the same material
 When the text is insufficient, go outside the text
to get answers (look up unknown words, look up
names/concepts mentioned by not explained)
 Spot different kinds of information patterns
(compare/contrast, pro/con, cause/effect,
sequence of events)

How does it work?
Each day you will be told what chapter to
work on
 Each member of the group will fill in a
Pre-Reading & Notetaking Form for each
chapter

How does it work?
Follow the instructions on the form.
 Step 1: skim the chapter and record
questions & predictions

How does it work?

Step 2: Read the chapter. Write down
direct quotes that make you think of
questions, ideas, confusions & personal
connections.
How does it work?

Step 3: After reading is done, return to
the Pre-Reading chart and record
comments and quotes about your
predictions
How does it work?

Step 4: Discuss your notes with the
group. Try to answer questions or address
confusions. Do extra research to fill in
gaps in your knowledge or vocabulary.
How does it work?
Step 5: Staple all group members’ forms
together and hand them in. You’re done
with one chapter!
 Each day you just repeat the process until
the book is done.
 Sometimes the teacher will have you take
a little quiz or write a short answer to a
question to make sure you are
understanding the material.

How to quote text
When we ask you to quote the text, we
are simply asking you to write down some
exact words you see in the book, put them
in quotation marks, and add the page
number.
 We are NOT asking you to find where the
author has quoted other people. ANY text
in the book can be used to make a quote
for your notes.

Example of Quoting the Text
The author calls it “a
critical moment in
American civil rights
history” (11).
Idea: Now I see
why we are
reading this
book!
Example of Quoting the Text
The murder and the
“sham trial” were
the “last straw” for
African Americans
(12).
Confusion: Last straw
before what? And
what does sham
mean?
A Few Other Issues
Reading: silently or aloud?
 What if you have questions with no
answers?
 How is grading done?
 Resources available:

– sample notes
– Dictionaries
– a few computers
Dealing with Racial Terms
Who is an African American?
 Dealing with old, outdated, archaic, and
offensive terms
