ESL EOI Literature Circle Study: The Forbidden City
SUMMARIZER
Meeting Date:_________________
Pages ______ to ______
Name:________________
Your job as Summarizer is to prepare a brief summary of the assigned reading.
Remember that a summary focuses upon the main events in the beginning, middle, and
end order, and answers the questions of: Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?
Include a statement about what the author was trying to convey.
You will begin the Literature Circle discussion by sharing your summary.
Key Points:
Beginning
______________________
Middle
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End
______________________
The author is trying to convey
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ESL EOI Literature Circle Study: The Forbidden City
VISUALIZER
Meeting Date:_________________
Pages ______ to ______
Name:________________
Your job as Visualizer is to create a visual representation in response to the assigned reading.
This could be a:
 Sketch
 Cartoon
 Diagram
 Mind-map
 Drawing
 Timeline
 Flowchart
 Stick figure scene
Your visual should relate to something specifically discussed in the assigned reading or a picture
that conveys any idea from the text. When your group meets for Literature Circle, share your
visual representation and invite your group members to predict what you have illustrated and to
connect the drawing to their own ideas about the assigned reading. After everyone has talked
about your representation, you tell the group what your picture means, where it came from, or
what it represents to you.
Flip to the back of this page to complete your visual creation.
One the front of this page, write a brief explanation of the significance of your visual, and
how this helped you to better understand the text.
Write a brief explanation of the significance of your visual.
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How did creating this visual deepen your understanding of the story?
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ESL EOI Literature Circle Study: The Forbidden City
DISCUSSION DIRECTOR
Meeting Date:_________________
Pages ______ to ______
Name:________________
Your job as Discussion Director is to develop a list of THICK questions pertaining to this
section of the text that will generate discussion about characters, problems, theme, issues,
thoughts, feelings, events, predictions, and/or concerns. You will lead the discussion at
the Literature Circle, and invite group members to share their roles. (Remember that the
Summarizer begins first by sharing a summary of the selected reading.)
Please refer to the chart below for a clearer understanding of the THICK kinds of
questions you are expected to generate for your discussion:
THICK QUESTIONS
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have more than one possible answer
encourages thinking to find answers
invites differing opinions
encourages rich discussion
encourage speculation, prediction and inference about the
text
Discussion Questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
THIN QUESTIONS
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have a yes or no answer
answer is obvious; can easily be found
only one opinion possible
limits discussion
encourages recall of facts, details and events
ESL EOI Literature Circle Study: The Forbidden City
PASSAGE PICKER
Meeting Date:_________________
Pages ______ to ______
Name:________________
Your job as Passage Picker is to choose a passage in the story to talk over with your group
members. Try to choose a passage that is:
- descriptive
- suspenseful
- interesting
- powerful
- puzzling
- emotional
As you decide which passages or paragraphs are worth going back to, make a note of why
you picked each one. When sharing the passage with the group, you may read the
selected passage aloud to the group, or ask people to read them silently first before
discussion.
Passage page ______
Paragraph(s) _________
I chose this passage because:
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Passage page ______
Paragraph(s) _________
I chose this passage because:
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ESL EOI Literature Circle Study: The Forbidden City
CONNECTOR
Meeting Date:_________________
Pages ______ to ______
Name:________________
Your job is to make connections between the selection read and;



Your own experiences
Happenings at school
Other people or problems that you are reminded of


Other books, newspapers, magazines or novels
you have read
Other movies or TV broadcasts you have viewed

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
World events and issues
Happenings in the community
Similar events at other times and places
Text-to-Self
Text-to-Text
Text-to-World
My Connections:
Text-to-Self:
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Text-to-Text:
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Text-to-World:
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How did making these connections deepen your understanding of the story?
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ESL EOI Literature Circle Study: The Forbidden City
WORDSMITH
Meeting Date:_________________
Pages ______ to ______
Name:________________
Your job as Wordsmith is to read and view your text selection and keep track of new and
interesting words / phrases that you discover. It is your job to decode the vocabulary in
the text and share what you have learned with your group.
As you read, select ten interesting words or phrases. Be sure to use exact quotations and
page numbers from the text. Use a dictionary to record the meanings and be prepared to
share your findings in your Literature Circle discussion.
Word / Phrase (include page number)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Definition / Explanation (use a dictionary)