Textbook Circles in Developmental Reading Classrooms
and Learning Communities
Kathryn Klopfleisch, Inver Hills Community College, KKlopfl@inverhills.mnscu.edu
Celeste Mazur, Saint Paul College, celeste.mazur@saintpaul.edu
Lisa Hanes Goodlander, Saint Paul College, lisa.hanes@saintpaul.edu
Textbook Circles use structured discussion groups to help students develop discussion ability,
self-regulation skills, and the ability to use/evaluate reading comprehension strategies while
reading college textbooks. While it can take many different forms, the general approach
includes this process:
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2.
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4.
Instructor introduces and models strategy roles
Students form small groups and each chooses a role
Students read independently, applying the strategy
Students re-group to discuss content of text and reflect on roles’ effectiveness
Sample Textbook Circle Roles
You can create or adapt textbook circle roles to fit the needs of your class and students. Below
is a list of roles we have developed; some are based on and adapted from those developed for
the original literature circles (Daniels, 1994) and later on for use in K-12 with expository text as
Textmasters (Wilfong, 2009).
Foundation Builders work in small groups to examine the chapter’s
structure, learning goals, graphics and headings. They make “I will learn
statements” based on chapter titles and headings, graphs or charts, and
bolded words.
Planners work together or individually to create a reading schedule for
the chapter. They decide to read a certain number of pages per day in
order to complete reading in time to study for exams, etc. Students
might complete the planner on a bookmarked-shaped handout they can
keep in the book itself.
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Notetakers select a note taking style based on the chapter structure
(outline, Cornell, margin annotation) and take notes on a section of the
chapter or the entire chapter.
Illustrators graphically represent a section of the chapter by creating
Venn or t-diagram to compare and contrast concepts, a mind map to
show relationships between terms, a time line to represent steps in a
process, etc. Students can opt to draw by hand or with digital tools.
Key Terms Investigators work with a pre-determined number of terms
from a section of the chapter and then does one or more of the
following: defines them in their own words, explains how they relate to
one another, develops original anecdotes or examples using the terms
or describes how they relate to important concepts in the chapter.
Connectors describe ways the concepts in the chapter relate to their
own lives, (text to self), current events (text to world) or other texts
(text to text). They look for and write a pre-determined number of
connections to share with the group.
Summarizers summarize portions of the chapter or the entire chapter.
They strive to limit their summaries to a pre-determined number of
words and work to select only main ideas and eliminate examples,
supporting details, etc.
Test Predictors create test questions that stylistically mimic the
questions they will be asked on the exam. For example, if the exam is
going to be a multiple choice test, they will develop multiple choicestyle questions. If the test will be short answer, they predict what those
questions will be.
How Textbook Circles Help Students with Self-Regulation and Discussion Skills
Developmental students often struggle to:
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distinguish between memorizing and learning
use textbook features to make decisions about studying
vary their studying for different subjects or texts
discuss academic content confidently with peers
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How textbook circles can help
When they select reading textbook circle roles, students notice not only textbook features and
structure, but also they select specific strategies that are likely to be effective for a particular
text. They choose based on these three factors:
1) Personal Preference—how do I like to take notes? What is comfortable for me? What
has worked for me in the past?
2) Text Structure—What does the organization of the textbook section or chapter tell me
about what is important to the authors?
3) Goals—What do I need to do with this information? Take a multiple choice test? An
Essay test? Participate in class discussion? Write a paper?
Example:
Luisa and Ahmed are both students in an introductory Psychology course but they have
different instructors. Luisa’s instructor evaluates with multiple choice tests, while Ahmed’s
evaluates with papers. Here is the thought process they might go through in using Textbook
Circles to approach the material;
Luisa
Personal
Luisa is a visual leaner so she likes
Preference graphic organizers.
Text
Structure
Goals
When Luisa takes on the role of
Foundation Builder, she notices one
textbook sections is divided up into
five parts. Each part describes a
different cause for depression. For her
during-reading strategy, she selects
the role of “Illustrator” and creates a
mind-map.
Because Luisa knows she has to take a
multiple choice test, she decides to be
the “test predictor” since it most
closely prepares her for the test she
will take.
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Ahmed
Ahmed likes to be highly organized
when he takes notes.
When Ahmed takes on the role of
Foundation Builder, he notices the
same thing Luisa does, but he chooses
the note taker role.
Ahmed knows he has to write an 800
word essay over the material. He
chooses the “Summarizer” since that
role most closely prepares him for
what he must do.
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Finally, Textbook Circles invite students to evaluate the strategies. This allows them to
determine what did and did not work for them personally, and what did and did not work for
the text. The conversations they have help them develop into students who are able to
recognize how textbook features can help them make study decisions and how they must vary
their study approach based on the structure of the text and how they will be evaluated on their
understanding of it. Through regular practice and reflection, students gain experience and skill
in discussing academic material.
References and Further Reading
Caverly, D.C., Nicholson, S.A., & Radcliffe, R. (2004). The effectiveness of strategic reading
instruction for college developmental readers. Journal of College Reading and Learning, 35(1),
25-49.
Daniels, H. (1994). Literature circles: Voice and choice in the student-centered classroom. York,
ME: Stenhouse.
Kellner, D. (2012). Reading Strategies for College and Beyond (Revised First Edition). San Diego:
Cognella Academic Publishing.
Levy, R.J. (2011). Literature circles go to college. Journal of Basic Writing (CUNY), 30(2), 53-83.
Mulcahy-Ernt, P.I. & Caverly, D.C. (2009). Strategic study-reading. In R. F. Flippo & D. C. Caverly
(Eds.), Handbook of college reading and study strategy research (Second Edition), 105-147.
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Peverly, S.T., Brobst, K.E., Graham, M., & Shaw, R. (2003). College adults are not good at selfregulation: a study on the relationship of self-regulation, note taking and test taking. Journal of
Educational Psychology, 95(2), 335-346.
Ruban, L., & Reis, S.M. (2006). Patterns of self-regulatory strategy use among low-achieving and
high-achieving university students. Roeper Review, 28(3), 148-156.
Stien, D. & Beed, P.L. (2004). Bridging the gap between fiction and nonfiction in the literature
circle setting. The Reading Teacher, 57(6), 510-518.
Wilfong, L.G. (2009). Textmasters: Bringing literature circles to textbook reading across the
curriculum. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 53(2), 164-171.
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