Literature Circles Information
For the remainder of the year, you will have the freedom to read any novel of your choice.
Literature Circle Purpose
*Builds comprehension (understanding what you read)
*Improves vocabulary (words you understand and use when you write and speak)
*Strengthens fluency (how smoothly you read)
*Promotes outside reading through daily activities
Reading Material
*Your novel may be from any source (For example: home or the library)
*It should be at least 100 pages or more in length.
*You may also choose to read articles from newspapers or magazines. You need to read at least
5 articles for each daily literature circle discussion.
Four Daily Activities During Class:
1) Writing about what you have read and preparing what you will share with the group according
to your role. (15 minutes)
2) Discussing with roles in a group of 4-5 people (10-15 minutes)
Director- leads the discussion for the day and asks questions of members.
Summarizer- each person in the group is a summarizer. Explain what you have read.
Passage Master- share 3 passages from your novel that you think are important. Gather
any reactions/feedback from the rest of the group.
Word Reporter-choose 2 or 3 words from your reading that you did not know or that
someone else may not know. Share the words and the meanings with the group.
Recorder- writes down discussion from the meeting including: summaries, passage
information, vocabulary words to hand into the teacher
Reporter- after finishing your discussion, the reporter explains the group’s activities to
the teacher before returning to your seats to read/write
3) Assessing the daily discussion- Were all group members on task? What was the most
interesting part of the discussion? (10 minutes) This will be the reporter’s/recorder’s job.
4) Reading for the next day’s discussion (10 minutes or remainder of class)
Goals for Literature Circles:
Students will learn about others.
Students will learn how texts operate, how they shape our thought and manipulate our emotions.
Students will learn about cultures and societies, their varying concepts of the "good life," of love
and hate, justice and revenge, good and evil, and other significant issues of human experience.
Students should learn how context (experience) shapes meaning (how you learn from the
experience).
Students should learn about the processes by which they make meaning out of literary texts.
Students will effectively use a variety of writing strategies to encourage reading comprehension,
critical thinking, and communicate their understanding of texts to others.
How to Accomplish These Goals:
Respond to the text through writing and discussion
Give students time to shape their responses and gain confidence in them (journals)
Find links among student responses
Invite discussion and writing about self, the text, others, and society
Look back to other texts, discussions, and writing and forward to what students might read next,
what they might write tomorrow
--Probst, 1994
Your groups will be different each week. You will have a different group role each day. On
notebook paper each day, write your group’s roles for that specific literature circle
discussion/meeting.
Literature Circle Meeting Date:
Who is….
Discussion Director:
_____________________________
Word Reporter:
______________________________
Passage Master:
______________________________
Recorder:
______________________________
Reporter:
______________________________
Use the following pages as a guide for your role and group discussion. All information for the
daily discussion should be on the same sheet of notebook paper. Start a new sheet for each daily
discussion.
Discussion Director
Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group can discuss about their novel. Your
questions should be ones which require thought and get everyone talking and sharing their
opinions and reactions. The best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings,
and concerns as you read. Do NOT write questions that call for a simple "yes" or "no" answer or
a factual detail! Even though you are all reading different novels, you may have some opinions.
Order for Leading Your Group Discussion
1) Decide in which order you will share. Each person summarizes what they have read from
their novel for that day. The first day the person should also explain why they chose the
book, and what they know about the character, plot, setting, etc. thus far.
2) Ask a question to each one of your group members for discussion during the summary.
Allow others to comment or ask questions.
3) Call on the Passage Master.
4) Call on the Vocabulary Reporter.
5) Check with the recorder to ensure all information from the discussion is accurate
6) After discussion is completed, assign roles for your next reading
7) Call the teacher over. The reporter will share the discussion for the day.
Discussion Questions or Topics for Discussion Director (You can use this list and add to it.)
What did you think about......? (name a specific event, action, or character's action)
Why do you think that.......?
What do you think will happen......? (ask for predictions of events and characters' actions)
What is happening at the part where.......?
What do you think ______________ (event/incident) means?
Passage Master
Locate 3 passages of the story to read/share with the group, discuss, and think about.
-Passages should be important things for everyone to notice, remember, or think about.
-Choose a variety of passages, not all the same type--here are suggestions:
·surprising/startling
·confusing (something you wonder if other people "got")
·descriptive writing: figurative language, strong verbs, etc. (identify literary devices)
·important (maybe a clue? foreshadowing?)
·controversial event (elicits different opinions from group members)
Passage #1 pg. ___________ Reason for Sharing:
Passage #2 pg. ___________ Reason for Sharing:
Passage #3 pg. ___________ Reason for Sharing:
After reading and sharing your reasons for choosing this selection gather any
feedback/comments from the group and write them below. Do they agree with your reasons? Do
they have a different opinion of the reading? Do they have a different interpretation? Does it tie
into their novel or any modern events?
Word Reporter
Your job is to find 2 or 3 words from your novel that are unknown to you or
possible to someone else. Look up definitions to the words and create an excellent sentence
using each. Share with the group.
1. Word: _____________________________________ Page _________ Paragraph ______
Sentence from the book: ___________________________
The definition is: : ________________________________________________
My excellent sentence is: : ________________________________________________________
2. Word: _____________________________________ Page _________ Paragraph ______
Sentence from the book: ___________________________
The definition is: : ________________________________________________
My excellent sentence is: : ________________________________________________________
3 Word: _____________________________________ Page _________ Paragraph ______
Sentence from the book: ___________________________
The definition is: : ________________________________________________
My excellent sentence is: : ________________________________________________________
Daily Journal Sheets- Complete ONE of these activities daily. I will ask for them at
different periods to make sure you are writing in them. There will be no set due date so I
can accurately track your progress and your ability to stay on task during class writing
time. Below is a list of journaling topics. You may choose any topic you like, but try to
choose a variety instead of only using one topic. Any of these entries could be shared during
discussion as a part of the summary.
1. Summary: Start each entry with the name of novel, pages read, and what is occurring. You
can also add your thoughts on the events. (Predictions, agree/disagree, etc.)
2. Illustrations: Draw a picture that represents the images and feelings and characters of what
you just read. After drawing, write just one sentence explaining the drawing. You may wish to
share your picture during discussion as a part of your summary.
3. Main Idea or Theme Posters: Choose the main ideas and events of the novel. Choose 2-3
images of symbols that represent the book and draw these images. Write 3-5 sentences
explaining your picture.
4. High Points: Explain the most significant, problematic, exhilarating points of the novel.
5. Dialectical Journal: Write one or two significant quotes on the left hand side of the page.
Include the page number. On the right hand side, comment or explain or question the quotes.
(You are explaining your interpretation of the quotes.)
6. Found Poetry: Find a passage in the novel and compose a poem using the passage's exact
words. (Reorder them or add/take away from the passage.)
7. Time Line: Draw a line across the page (for a time line). Write about positive characters and
events on the TOP of the time line and about negative characters or events BELOW the time
line. Circle the one most positive event and the one most negative event that has occurred in the
story and to write 3-5 sentences about them.
8. Homemade Cliff Notes: Write a self-styled "Cliffs Notes" for your novel. Include chapter
discussion questions, vocabulary character descriptions, setting explanations, and theme.
10. Journals with Secondary Character Perspective: Write a diary entry from a secondary
character's perspective
11. Journal Headlines: Write a headline for a particular section of the book. Example-- "Bear
House Vandalized." Write a 7-10 sentence news article about the incident.
12. Letter-Writing between Two Characters: Write imaginary letters between two characters.
This could also be a letter between a character in your novel and a character from a different
novel in your circle.
13. Telegrams: Students can write telegrams (letters of urgency) from one character to another.
14. Editorials: Write an editorial on an issue that a book introduces or write an editorial from the
perspective of a character keeping the novel's setting and the character's knowledge in mind.
15. Important Character Traits Revealed: Collect important character quotes as you read
through a novel. Afterwards, examine the list and write about what these quotes together reveal
about the character. (personality, appearance, beliefs, etc.)
16. Advertisement: Write an advertisement for a particular character from the character's pointof-view. Examples might include Charlotte in CHARLOTTE'S WEB offering her spider babies
for adoption, Chillingsworth in SCARLET LETTER might advertise his healing herbs, or a
soldier in ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT advertising his need for waterproof boots.
It should include a picture and sentences explaining the advertisement.
17. Alphabet Scheme: For each letter of the alphabet, choose something from the book that
starts with that letter. This can be a person, place, or thing. Then, write a brief explanation as to
what the significance of this person, place, or thing was to the story. (A is for....B is for....).
Choose at least 5 letters for a journal entry.
18. Creating a Childhood for a Character: Create a believable childhood for a particular
character in a novel. For example, devise a childhood for David Copperfield's cruel step-father
Mr. Murdstone or a childhood for Jocasta of OEDIPUS REX.
19. Poetry Collection: Create a collection of poems relating to characters and incidents in your
book. Each poem must be accompanied by an explanation of its applicability to the novel. You
can find two or more existing poems, or write at least two poems of your own. Remember that
song lyrics are poetry set to music, so you may use those to explain a character. Make sure they
are school appropriate.
20. Obituary for a Character: Write an obituary for a character even if they live throughout
the story. Include information you would find in a real obituary (birth, death, family).