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Kayla Ende
I remember having small group reading circles when I was in elementary school. This was based on what level you were at so you were with other people of the same ability. In middle school and high school I remember being able to pick a book out of some options and then meeting up outside of class to go through a discussion guide or whatever was assigned to us. This was more student led and based so there was open ended questions and more roles placed.

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I remember in 6th grade we did a “book club” group which is similar to literature circles with a small group of peers. We all read the same book and then got together to discuss it. I thought it was really fun and engaging to talk with my peers about this book that we all chose together. Since it was peers, there was no pressure to say the “right” things and it was less intimidating since it wasn’t in front of the whole class. I got to hear different perspectives and know what stuck out to others while reading.
Literature circles are small groups of people who read and discuss books either of their choosing or given to them. It is often better if the students get to choose their own books though so that they stay engaged in it & enjoy reading.

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I have experience in both participating in and leading literature circles. As a student I really enjoyed them because they provide a lot more opportunity to participate and discuss content in that smaller circle than as a whole class. In some cases, each group reads the same book, or other times each group gets to choose their own book that they want to discuss. As a teacher, I love how beneficial lit circles are for students. There is such a wide range of different ways they can be used to support students. You can structure them to help students explore specific concepts, you can group students in certain ways that support reading levels, and it can allow students to individualize their learning more than an entire class doing the same thing at the same time. When doing lit circles with my middle schoolers i loved seeing how each group presented their content in different ways. Students appreciate the opportunity to have more control over their learning and it definitely results in an upped engagement.

Tori Holmquist

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In literature circles students choose or receive a role. These roles could include, director, instructor, examiner, illustrator and other roles. then students would read text and come prepared to discuss in their group through their responsibilities in their roles. For example, the illustrator might draw a picture about the reading and the director will lead the discussion, intro the reading do a closure and direct. I don't remember if we did these in elementary but lots in middle school and I have co-ficilitated one in a 7th grade practicum class and these are the roles we used each week to get through a chapter book.

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I don't remember every doing literature circles in elementary school. We would do small group readings and discuss what we read, but we would never have roles to play in the discussion. It would be teacher led and they would give us questions to answer. While I didn't experience this in my own learning, I think it is a great idea. It helps students to think critically and deeply about what they're reading and comprehend better. I think roles can help students feel like they have a voice and a responsibility. These studies or discussions can help students engage more into the reading and be able to apply what they're learning to their lives.

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Reading through the rest of my peers, I am actually kind of surprised by the lack of integrated literature circles in their classroom. I have a wide range experience with this concept. Before I knew what it was, I was conducting them in elementary school. It became an activity to do during our library time. Also, in older elementary settings I suggested it to my teacher and we had a book club like environment setup for each quarter. There was assigned roles for each person to have for each discussion. We had open choice of book - there were several groups with different books and an additional miscellaneous group where the book read by the group wasn't the same within the group. It was great exploration, and it built our own personal library throughout the year. This idea had continued in my middle and high school career following similar ideas. I love literature circles because it encourages active reading and diving deeper in a book regarding specific ideas to put together the whole of the book.

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Throughout elementary, middle, and high school I can recall participating in several literature circles. For example, in fourth grade, I remember splitting into groups based on the books we chose. In these groups, we would work through discussion questions and going over our weekly reading guides. Similarly, we had literature circles in middle and high school that were on more complex texts, and usually involved larger projects like papers or presentations in the end. During these literature groups, I appreciated the prompted discussion questions, and also the opportunity to ask my own questions. Also, I appreciated hearing from others in a smaller group instead of the whole class. I felt as though I was able to engage with the text more deeply because I had structure but also the space to learn on my own. Literature circles are a great way for students to engage with a text in a more personal, and conversation-based way.

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Looking back to my elementary school experience, I remember participating in literacy circles and book studies. In third grade, we were broken into small groups to discuss a book that we were assigned to read. We would meet together to discuss what happened in the recent sections of the book. My teacher created graphic organizers or worksheets for us to complete during this time. In middle school, I remember being a part of a book study for The Giver. We would gather together during class time to share our thoughts about what occurred in the book. My teacher would prepare discussion questions for us to complete and answer as an exit ticket at the end of class. The discussion questions made us ponder on the characters' choices and the symbolism of objects or events that occurred in the book. My middle school book study was rigorous compared to my elementary school book study. We were required to create a presentation about the book's continuing theme and then presented our theme in front of our peers. I personally enjoyed our small groups because I am fascinated with finding the symbolism and deeper meaning of books. Literacy circles were a space for me to share my perspective and have my voice heard. I created stronger friendships with my peers because we spent quite a few hours working together. I also loved when my teacher would sit in on our weekly meetings because it was a chance for her to interact with us personally. Overall, I think that literacy circles allow students to develop their social and higher-order thinking skills.

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I do not remember engaging with literature circles or book studies throughout my K-12 education. I do remember reading books as a class and having large group discussions. I believe in middle school we had small group discussions about books. For my last two years of high school, I attended an alternative school and was engaging in reading each morning before starting my work. Occasionally, my teachers would express interest in what I was reading and start a conversation. In Educational Equity, we were required to read a text and have book meetings to discuss our findings/takeaways. -- From my understanding, Literature Circles are small groups of students discussing a book in-depth.

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I remember in early elementary grades we would have stations and one of the stations would be a literature circle we would get a small book (mainly) sight words and we would read it together and then we would discuss it and the teacher would go along with us or ask us questions. Beyond that I don't really remeber doing any book studies with others besides Ed Equity last semester we read a book with a group and then discussed it each week. I think they are such a good thing for it is a way to talk throught what is going on the book and really process, predict, get into the story with other people. They are definetly something I would consider implementing in my classroom especially at the 3rd-4th grade age.

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I remember in elementary school and middle school having book studies or literature circles about books we had to read for school. Book studies and literature circles were a great way of keeping me accountable in the readings. It was also very beneficial for me because we were able to discuss the book and its important topics that I might have missed or not fully understood. I think literature circles are great for students because it is a way of creating community though books. It encourages the students to read and have fun doing so.

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I know that literature circles are a great opportunity to collaborate with peers to hear different perspectives and dive deeper into discussion about books being read. I have a few memories of literature circles when I was in elementary school and middle school. I personally enjoyed them and thought it was a great strategy for reading books. Relating to what Sydnee said, in third grade I remember we were in literature circles where each group was reading a different chapter book that correlated with our reading levels. I think literature circles are great opportunity to integrate differentiation in the classroom.

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My earliest memories of literature circles were in high school in Honors English. We were given packets of various pieces of writing, such as excerpts from books or famous speeches and we would have to deeply analyze them and leave as many comments as we possibly could to bring them to discussion with a small group in the classroom. I didn't enjoy this because I felt like I couldn't analyze the writing as much as my teacher wanted me to. Other than that experience, I did one in Educational Equity two semesters ago and I really enjoyed it. I have some basic understanding of what a literature circle and a book club should look like and how to facilitate it. I would like to learn more about how to do it successfully and make it fun and engaging for students.

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When I think of book studies and literature circles, I think about the conversations that I had as a student. I also think about how some students in the group were engaging while a few others never really participated as they couldn’t complete the assigned reading. When I participated in book studies at school, there was a set amount of questions that we had to get through and the groups of students were coordinated based on the reading level we were all at. I also did literature circles in a church group and these books involved a lot of deep and hard conversations. Other than this, I do not have a lot of recollection of book studies.

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I would say that I experienced literature circles mostly in high school. I remember in tenth grade we got to pick which book we read out of some specific options, and we would engage with our group about the book. The tables in my practicum are set up in pods, so they are able to interact and talk with each other. They do multiple literacy activities together. I have seen reading groups in multiple practicum settings, and I guess I am unsure if these are different or the same as literacy circles.

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In elementary school almost all of my teachers had guided reading groups, but not literature circles. These groups were determined based off of each students reading level. In lower elementary grades the students would read with the teacher and answer reading comprehension questions right after. But, as we got into higher elementary grades we would be assigned a book to read at home and when we had guided reading time at school we would discuss what we read with our group as the teacher listened. Since the majority of my practicum experiences have been in kindergarten classrooms, I have been unable to see literature circles. I anticipate that in Block 2, being in a fourth grade classroom, I will be able to see literature circles. I am looking forward to participating in literature circles in our classroom and in my practicum classroom. I believe it is also important for me to learn about literature circles from the teachers perspective.

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Taylor Peterson
I remember having book studies in elementary school. Getting to choose our favorite book from a few choices. I do remember it being based on reading level a few years because we weren't able to choose. Having specific pages to read and then coming together to share and have discussions. In elementary, the meetings were always teacher-guided, and as we reached middle school we had student-led discussions. I was not a fan of our book studies, due to not reading and then feeling behind or just not understanding what I read. I'm excited to learn how to use literature circles and how to make sure we are meeting every student where they are at.

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Megan Adamski

I remember doing something like a literature circle in middle school, although I'm pretty sure they just called it book club. It was nice because each group got some sort of choice - we could select which book we wanted to read out of the options the instructor provided. I experienced something similar to this in Ed Equity, where we read independently, then came together to discuss and share our thoughts/understanding. I've always seen it done in groups of 4-6 students. It's a great way to ease into group work, presenting ideas, and engaging in comprehension strategies. It's also always interesting to see how others interpret a text or what they find intriguing about it.

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I remember this word from when I was in elementary school... but I don't recall exactly what we did. I believe that it was set up kind of like a book club. We had a set of questions that we went through while reading a chapter or two. I saw these in my block one practicum every day that I was there and was able to help facilitate discussion in the small group.

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I remember doing literature circles in middle school once we started reading novels and longer chapter books. This helped us focus on our role and the content we needed to focus on for this chapter. Then we got to share and hear different observations and points of views from our group mates. I also used them in my Intro to Middle Level Education classes when we read cultural novels. This was fun in because, as higher education, we were able to expand more on the content and do fun and advanced activities with these books. I think this is a great way to get students to work together and focus on becoming a master at your content and what you are going to say to the group.

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I don't have much experience or knowledge about literature circles. I understand the basics of them and their purpose, but I do not know much about how they look in elementary classrooms or how to design and facilitate them. In 12th grade literacy, we would occasionally arrange the chairs so it was a circle and have a discussion about the book we were reading. This experience was not very inviting and I did not enjoy it or take much away. Given this poor experience with it, I would like to learn more about how they can be effectively used in our classrooms.

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Zoey Flemming
I remember doing book clubs like Sheridon said. I did that every year I was in elementary school and every year the books just got harder and harder. When I was in kindergarten we would have meetings with the teacher and that was it. As I got older, we would have meetings and then discuss in our groups. I always really like reading circles because they gave us a chance to use our voices and express our opinions. We also had books that pertained to our grade level and were also put in groups with kids based on our level. I don't remember anymore than that but I remember really enjoying them and it was a time to look forward to.

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I never experienced literature circles in elementary school. However I did them a couple times in high school. I did them in my English class with The Great Gatsby, and it ended up being that only of a couple of us did the reading so it was not equal participation within the group. I think if the group had everyone participate, it could have been helpful. It ended up being me and another classmate explaining what happened in the chapter to our other group members. My cooperating teacher has talked about literature circles, so I am excited to see how they work in a elementary classroom, where hopefully all students are participating.

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I really don't know a whole ton about literature circles. I do remember in AP English in high school that we did a few book studies in small groups by filling out different types of reading guides. I do think that literature circles allow the opportunity for students to share their views, thoughts, and opinions in regards to the books being read. I also think that this could be a good opportunity for differentiation, as different levels of readers could be in different groups with different books and this allows for the whole class to do the same thing, but different for the different needs of our students.

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Sheridon Buehler
I remember doing book clubs in elementary school and have experienced small group reading activities in my Practicum experience which I assume are Literature Circles. I've only seen kindergarten, where they have different stations and move with their own little group. Students would listen to a book and follow along, or do activities like word searches/read the room together. I also have seen them read together with the teacher at one of the stations. I don't remember a lot of details of what we did in our elementary book clubs, but I do remember that we would all be reading the same book (groups of us who were at the same reading level) and then we'd talk about them/do projects based on the book. I am curious what the difference is between a book club the way I experienced it and a Literature Circle.

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I don't know much about Literature Circles and Book Studies. I don't believe I used them much in my past educational experiences. When I think about when I read a certain book in elementary, middle, and high school, the book would always be discussed in a large group as a class lead by the teacher, and never in small groups in a Literature Circle or Book Study. In my EL Methods course I took last year, we did all read a book about classroom management together. Every three weeks, we could come together as a large group, and everyone would have a certain role in our Literature Circle. Other than that potential experience, I don't know much about Literature Circles or Book Studies.

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In my elementary experience, I was a part of a few book clubs, specifically in 4th and 5th grade. Three or four other classmates of mine would be assigned a novel to read and discuss together. I have never heard of the term 'literature circles' before this course, but after talking with my cooperating teacher this past week I learned that my 3rd graders will participate in literature circles this school year. I anticipate that I will learn more as I see it implemented in my classroom. I am eager to learn more about them in this course from a teacher's lens and then experience it directly through a student's lens in my classroom.

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Lily Greer
I have never heard of literature circles or book studies, but I am assuming that they are what my school called book clubs. My school did book club in the intermediate grades. During our ELA class we would be put into groups of 7 or 8 and we would all be given a book. We ended up reading about 4 books a year. We would meet once or twice a week, discuss what was read and then we were assigned the next number of pages we had to read. We would usually write a short essay afterwards as well on what we had read so far, what we would predict would happen next, etc.

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I only recall being in a literature circle twice throughout my educational journey - once in 8th grade, and once in college. In both, we read the book as homework and then spent time as a group discussing the chapters. Each separate literature circle time, we switched group roles so that everybody got a chance to lead, create discussion questions, and summarize for the class.

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I haven't had much experience working with Literature Circles or Book Studies before. In all of my prior educational experiences, I remember talking about books we read in class as a large group with the class and lead by the teacher. I never remember breaking out into small groups and discussing in Literature Circles or in a Book Studies. For my EL Methods course I took last year, we did all read a book together about classroom management, and we did a Literature Circle every 3 weeks about what we read. That is my only experience and potential knowledge about Literature Circles and/or Book Studies.

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I know that literature circles usually have various roles that the members play, and one person is usually in charge of leading it. I have only done one in Ed Equity a couple years ago, but I remember discussing books with my table in elementary school.