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Integrated Literature Review

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Marygrove resources

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Can 1st graders

use lit. circles?

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Can literature circles

be effective

in a 1st grade setting?

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Marygrove articles and databases

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ERIC - Education Resources Information Center

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ERIC is an online library of education research and information, sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.

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.gov Nat. Center for Education Sciences

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National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education

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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects, analyzes and makes available data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.

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.org MI e-library

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.gov

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How does popular culture engage history? In this lesson plan, students will examine The Searchers, one of the most widely acclaimed Western movies of all time, to explore interpretations of race, gender, and family-both in the time period depicted by the film and the time period in which the film was produced.

This lesson plan uses A. A. Lamb's painting Emancipation Proclamation and resources from BlackPast to explore the successes and shortcomings of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Reconstruction amendments, as well as the roles played by Black people in securing their own freedom.

Use Aaron Douglas's mural Into Bondage to introduce the stories of famous Harlem Renaissance figures, including Langston Hughes, and to explore the history and importance of Juneteenth, a holiday celebrating the end of Black enslavement in the United States.

Kerry James Marshall's painting Voyager, depicting two partially obscured Black figures standing aboard a ship, refers to an actual ship, Wanderer, which was among the last slave ships in the United States, illegally transporting more than 400 individuals from West Africa to Georgia in 1858-even though the importation of enslaved people had been banned in 1808. Use the painting as an entry point to discuss the Transatlantic slave trade and introduce students to the NEH-funded database Slave Voyages project.

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How does popular culture engage history? In this lesson plan, students will examine The Searchers, one of the most widely acclaimed Western movies of all time, to explore interpretations of race, gender, and family-both in the time period depicted by the film and the time period in which the film was produced.

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.org Small Lit Groups

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Making Meaning in Literature - Building a Literary Community

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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum

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.org Preparing for Group Discussions

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Engaging With Literature: A Video Library, Grades 3-5

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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum

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.org Building Community with LC

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Engaging With Literature: A Video Library, Grades 3-5

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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum

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Bloom's taxonomy

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Note: This site is moving to KnowledgeJump.com. Please reset your bookmark.

Bloom's Taxonomy was created in 1956 under the leadership of educational psychologist Dr Benjamin Bloom in order to promote higher forms of thinking in education, such as analyzing and evaluating concepts, processes, procedures, and principles, rather than just remembering facts (rote learning). It is most often used when designing educational, training, and learning processes.

The Three Domains of Learning

The committee identified three domains of educational activities or learning (Bloom, et al. 1956):

Since the work was produced by higher education, the words tend to be a little bigger than we normally use. Domains may be thought of as categories. Instructional designers, trainers, and educators often refer to these three categories as KSA ( Knowledge [cognitive], Skills [psychomotor], and Attitudes [affective]). This taxonomy of learning behaviors may be thought of as "the goals of the learning process." That is, after a learning episode, the learner should have acquired a new skill, knowledge, and/or attitude.

While the committee produced an elaborate compilation for the cognitive and affective domains, they omitted the psychomotor domain. Their explanation for this oversight was that they have little experience in teaching manual skills within the college level. However, there have been at least three psychomotor models created by other researchers.

Their compilation divides the three domains into subdivisions, starting from the simplest cognitive process or behavior to the most complex. The divisions outlined are not absolutes and there are other systems or hierarchies that have been devised, such as the Structure of Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO). However, Bloom's taxonomy is easily understood and is probably the most widely applied one in use today.

Cognitive Domain

The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills (Bloom, 1956). This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. There are six major categories of cognitive an processes, starting from the simplest to the most complex (see the table below for an in-depth coverage of each category):

The categories can be thought of as degrees of difficulties. That is, the first ones must normally be mastered before the next one can take place.

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

Lorin Anderson, a former student of Bloom, and David Krathwohl revisited the cognitive domain in the mid-nineties and made some changes, with perhaps the three most prominent ones being (Anderson, Krathwohl, Airasian, Cruikshank, Mayer, Pintrich, Raths, Wittrock, 2000):

The chart shown below compares the original taxonomy with the revised one:

This new taxonomy reflects a more active form of thinking and is perhaps more accurate. The new version of Bloom's Taxonomy, with examples and keywords is shown below, while the old version may be found here

Table of the Revised Cognitive Domain

Cognitive Processes and Levels of Knowledge Matrix

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy not only improved the usability of it by using action words, but added a cognitive and knowledge matrix.

While Bloom's original cognitive taxonomy did mention three levels of knowledge or products that could be processed, they were not discussed very much and remained one-dimensional:

Factual - The basic elements students must know to be acquainted with a discipline or solve problems.

Conceptual - The interrelationships among the basic elements within a larger structure that enable them to function together.

Procedural - How to do something, methods of inquiry, and criteria for using skills, algorithms, techniques, and methods.

In Krathwohl and Anderson's revised version, the authors combine the cognitive processes with the above three levels of knowledge to form a matrix. In addition, they added another level of knowledge - metacognition:

Metacognitive - Knowledge of cognition in general, as well as awareness and knowledge of one's own cognition.

When the cognitive and knowledge dimensions are arranged in a matrix, as shown below, it makes a nice performance aid for creating performance objectives:

The Cognitive Dimension

However, others have identified five contents or artifacts (Clark, Chopeta, 2004; Clark, Mayer, 2007):

Facts - Specific and unique data or instance.

Concepts - A class of items, words, or ideas that are known by a common name, includes multiple specific examples, shares common features. There are two types of concepts: concrete and abstract.

Processes - A flow of events or activities that describe how things work rather than how to do things. There are normally two types: business processes that describe work flows and technical processes that describe how things work in equipment or nature. They may be thought of as the big picture, of how something works.

Procedures - A series of step-by-step actions and decisions that result in the achievement of a task. There are two types of actions: linear and branched.

Principles - Guidelines, rules, and parameters that govern. It includes not only what should be done, but also what should not be done. Principles allow one to make predictions and draw implications. Given an effect, one can infer the cause of a phenomena. Principles are the basic building blocks of causal models or theoretical models (theories).

Thus, the new matrix would look similar to this:

The Cognitive Dimension

An example matrix that has been filled in might look something like this:

Next Steps

Review

Useful Links

References

Anderson, L.W., Krathwohl, D.R., Airasian, P.W., Cruikshank, K.A., Mayer, R.E., Pintrich, P.R., Raths, J., Wittrock, M.C. (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Pearson, Allyn & Bacon.

Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). Engelhart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., Krathwohl, D.R. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I: The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.

Clark, R., Chopeta, L. (2004). Graphics for Learning : Proven Guidelines for Planning, Designing, and Evaluating Visuals in Training Materials . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer.

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Bloom's Taxonomy was created under the leadership of Benjamin Bloom in order to promote higher forms of thinking in learning and education, such as analyzing and evaluating, rather than just remembering facts.

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Scholastic info

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From Unit Plan: Literature Circles for High School Reluctant Readers

Check out the professional resources for more background information and research on the effectiveness of using Literature Circles in your classroom. The Suggested Titles section contains some of the titles I use, but let your students and your curriculum be the guide to selecting books for Literature Circles.

Professional Resources

This teacher-friendly resource has many reproducible forms and sheets that will make Literature Circles run smoothly. Some of the options are more geared for younger students, but this book contains plenty of material for teachers of any age group who wish to implement Literature Circles in their classrooms.

Classroom Tip: I used several of the role sheets in this book as inspiration for my students in our Literature Circles.

This classic resource taught many of us the importance of using Literature Circles and how powerful this can be for students of all ages and all reading abilities.

Classroom Tip: I guess I would call Daniels the "father of Literature Circles" and I recommend all of his work as good professional reading.

Moving Forward With Literature Circles
by Dixie Lee Spiegel, Jeni Pollack Day, Janet McLellan, Valerie B. Brown

Another professional resource that makes this model very teacher friendly. This book gives suggestions on everything from organizing your groups to possible mini-lessons to teach within Literature Circles.

Classroom Tip: Although it states that it is geared for teachers of grades 3-6, there is much that secondary teachers can pull to organize and manage Literature Circles.

Suggested Titles for First-Time Literature Circles

This Scholastic Action Classic retains the play format and students enjoy sharing the parts to read in their Literature Circles.

Classroom Tip: The book features a pronunciation guide to help with the Greek names and a cast of characters (a feature of all the Scholastic Action books) that students can refer back to as they read. I always ask the Literature Circle who chooses this book to discuss the question, "What is worth dying for?"

This Scholastic Action Classic tells the essence of Pip's quest to become a gentleman and win Estella's love.

Classroom Tip: This book prompts debate within a Literature Circle as students always hotly debate whether changing oneself for love would work.

Hamlet (Based on the play by William Shakespeare)
adapted by Neil Novelli and Kathleen Forrest

A Scholastic Action Classic that gives an overview of the story in a narrative format while retaining the drama of Hamlet's plight.

Classroom Tip: This is one of the most popular selections for Literature Circles each year and I am always impressed with the enthusiasm it sparks for the original play and for Shakespeare in general.

Pride and Prejudice (Based on the novel by Jane Austen)
adapted by Laura Pritchett

Students are always surprised at the question of this book on whether to marry for love or money. The Bennet sisters find their mates despite several classic misunderstandings in this Scholastic Action Classic.

Classroom Tip: I usually ask students to compare this story to a soap opera or modern romance novel with great response.

The Scarlet Letter (Based on the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne)
adapted by Carol Ghiglieri

A Scholastic Action Classic that lays the groundwork for my students to read the original in American Literature. Students often tell me how much help these overviews are to them in later English classes. In this story, Hester refuses to reveal the name of her companion in crime and he provides a study of the effects of guilt.

Classroom Tip: Students love to be the first in their Literature Circle to figure out the identity of the two mysterious characters in the story, but are always shocked at the way Dimmesdale marks his guilt.

Current Literature Circle Favorites

Wonderful book about a girl who must leave her privileged background and survive a Mexican work camp during the Great Depression.

Classroom Tip: I love this book and keep buying more copies so that all who want to read it can choose it for a Literature Circle. There are usually several groups of students that choose this book and love it.

This award-winning book is gritty and tough in presenting the issue of child abuse, but my students find it realistic and gripping. I never have to encourage them to keep reading; they insist on it.

Classroom Tip: Before using this title in a Literature Circle, read a bit yourself and warn students that it tackles a difficult topic and never looks through "rose-colored glasses."

This Newbery Honor Book offers a lovely story of someone who takes what life dishes out and turns it around.

Classroom Tip: A popular Literature Circle choice for girls, but a few guys read it too.

A high school basketball player has trouble with his grades and has to face the prospect that basketball may not carry him through life.

Classroom Tip: My students love Myers's work, so one of his books always seems to be a choice during Literature Circles.

A great story of "boy meets girl," but he worries more about what others think than he should.

Classroom Tip: I use this story to have the group discuss individuality and at what price does conforming to your peers come. It always spreads into a whole class debate!

A freak accident ruins two lives and readers are caught in the tale of the accident's aftermath.

Classroom Tip: I had several more students request this for Literature Circles than I had copies, so this is one of which I'll need to buy more.

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Resources for Using Literature Circles in Your Classroom | Scholastic

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From Unit Plan: Literature Circles for High School Reluctant Readers Check out the professional resources for more background information and research on the effectiveness of using Literature Circles in your classroom. The Suggested Titles section contains some of the titles I use, but let your students and your curriculum be the guide to selecting books for Literature Circles.

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Do they work?

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rd grade, 9% in 6th grade, and 10% in 8th grade. In writing, they topped citywide gains by 25% in grade 3, 8% in grade 6, and 27% in grade 8. Now there was a lot of good work going on in these schools, and it is never possible to tell exactly what treatments caused what gains.

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My six-year-old son has finally, really started reading. It's thrilling to watch him grab book after book off his overflowing shelves and read stories he's been hearing for years. Now he wants to take books to school so that during recess, he can entice his friends to sit together and read. He says it will be called the "Reading Club."

"I was in a book club once," I said, explaining how a group of friends read the same novel and then discussed it over dinner. My son loved the idea and immediately started brainstorming who he'd invite, when they'd meet, what they'd read, and what they'd eat.

But the rabbit hole of nostalgia that I tumbled into was of my experience as a teacher facilitating literature circles. I get kind of giddy and dreamy-eyed when I remember what it felt like to circulate through a class of seventh graders meeting in lit circles, when I remember their arguments about a character's actions, or the post-its covered in notes that stuck out of the pages, or the pleas for a few more minutes when I'd say we were out of time. During literature circle meetings my classroom vibrated with learning, passion, and joy.

Why Literature Circles?

I promise to provide practical resources on the how, when, where, what of lit circles, but let me first make a case for why every K-12 classroom should institute some version of literature circles.

Reason #1: Literature circles can be a place for cooperative learning. Students help each other understand a text and make sense of it. Lit circles teach kids how to use each other as resources and become independent learners. Of course, in order for them to be an effective structure for cooperative learning, the teacher needs to intentionally develop them as such. Without guidance, modeling and support, they aren't automatically places of collaboration.

Reason #2: Literature circles allow students to make choices about their learning. Students are usually given the opportunity to select one of several books that they'd like to read. They can also have a say about who to be with in a book group. All children desperately need more opportunities to make choices in school. Choice leads to deeper engagement, increased intrinsic motivation, and an opportunity for guided-decision making.

Reason #3: Literature circles are fun, in part because they are social experiences. Students are expected to talk a lot, (in contrast to the rest of their time at school) to debate and argue their ideas. Students are invited to bring their experiences and feelings into the classroom and to share them. Reading has to be fun some of the time; if we don't make the experience enjoyable, our students are not likely to continue it once they're released from our grip.

Furthermore, when we experience joy or pleasure, we feel more connected to a place, and to the people in that place. It was an imperative that my middle school students felt connected to school and had positive academic interactions with their classmates. As in many urban districts, the drop out rate in Oakland, California is terribly high; research reveals that students drop out primarily because they don't feel connected to a place or its people.

Therefore I'll argue that a structure like literature circles, when functioning as a place of connection and fun, can serve to anchor our kids in school. Our students will not master standards and perform on exams if we cannot keep them in our classrooms; lit circles can help do that.

Reason #4: Finally, because they are fun, because students have choice, and because they are a cooperative learning structure, literature circles are powerful experiences for reluctant and/or struggling readers. Literature circles have to be differentiated; by nature each group will read books at different levels on different topics. Struggling readers can select a text at their level; the teacher can provide direct support to that group or can include a couple of higher-readers.

One important note (now moving into the details): students should be offered many genres -- "literature circles" does not imply only fiction. My struggling readers (often boys) wanted mostly non-fiction. (A fascinating book on this topic is Reading Don't Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men.)

Resources for the "Who, What, When, and Where"

Of course, in order for lit circles to be fun places where students learn cooperatively, there's a lot that a teacher needs to do. Fortunately, there are many resources for creating high-functioning literature circles. To start with, try checking out these resources:

Readers: I'd love to hear about your experiences with literature circles. Why and how have you established them in your class? What happened? What were some challenges? There's so much more to say on this topic (perhaps in a future blog post!)

In the meantime, I'm off to cook up some green soup for my son's first book club meeting. They're starting with a classic: Green Eggs and Ham. My son plans to debate the ethics of eating animals. I can't wait to hide in the hallway and listen.

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The Power of Literature Circles in the Classroom | Edutopia

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My six-year-old son has finally, really started reading. It's thrilling to watch him grab book after book off his overflowing shelves and read stories he's been hearing for years. Now he wants to take books to school so that during recess, he can entice his friends to sit together and read.

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3rd grade lit circles

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ERIC - Using Literature Circles to Increase Reading Comprehension in Third Grade Elementary Students, Online Submission, 2010-Jul

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Reading comprehension strategies are important skills for a child to learn. Good strategies support struggling students to be more successful in all subjects at school as reading is the basis for subsequent mastery of most subjects (Bender & Larkin, 2003). This action research project examined the use of literature circles in a third grade class.

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Common Core Standards McGraw Hill

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Lit. circle tips

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Do you belong to a book club? I never understood the true value of a lively book discussion until I joined a book club as an adult. I am an avid reader, so when I was invited to join a book club, I jumped in with both feet! I gained so much knowledge by debating and discussing the merits of a book and wanted to share this experience with my students.

There are a couple of key points I try to remember when I organize literature circles.

Mix up your students, personalities and interests will make for livelier discussions. Talk to your students about how to object or give a dissenting opinion in a respectful manner.

Although everyone has genres that we naturally gravitate towards, it's important for readers to stretch themselves. One of the book clubs I belonged to, read a book from a different genre each month. I don't necessarily enjoy every genre, but because of this experience, I discovered a couple of new ones to love. Sometimes it's a matter of reading the right book! Focus on two genres when you organize literature circles. Organized this way, you can let students meet with groups of the same book and groups of the same genre. For a whole group lesson, compare and contrast the two genres with a venn diagram.

The great thing about Literature Circles is that it can be used with such a wide range of age levels. When I taught first grade, two of my reading groups were reading G.E. 2.5 or higher. I still met with these groups for skill work, plus I gave them time to meet as a Literature Circle for enrichment. This is also a good way to differentiate if you teach older students. I've been helping my daughter's 6th grade teacher, Sandy, set up Literature Circles for her classroom. (the pictures are from her classroom) When you have 30 students for half a day, time is a valuable commodity. Differentiating with young students is hard, but half a day with 30 students is a greater challenge. It took the two or us working together three days to put 60 kids in 22 groups! Yes, you heard me right . . . 22 groups. Putting a 1st grade class in literature circles and a 6th grade class in literature circles has similarities, but also some differences. In 6th grade you see a greater difference with fluency rates. Sandy's wanted her students to finish their book in 6 weeks. Fluency rate and ability level were the first two things we considered when putting them in groups. Then we looked at personalities. Some students work well in large group, others do better in small groups. Our largest group has 4 students and our smallest has 2. I will never complain about meeting with 4 or 5 reading groups again.

Here are the tubs, ready to begin the first rotation on Monday. Each folder has a blue note attached with the students' names and title of book they will read. Behind the folder are their books.

Inside the folders I attached page protectors to the prongs to hold the necessary assignments. In the past, I had a tub of files folders that held the assignments. But, I hated the long lines. Although this took more time to put together, I believe in the "pay it forward" philosophy. The student who is the C.E.O. of the group will be in charge of getting their group's folder from the tub. Since each folder has assignments for 5 jobs and only one student will get it, that means 4 students or 80% less students standing in line.

Here is the bulletin board where the students find out their job assignment. The orange and yellow wheels are the job wheels. The green notes are the charts showing the groups.

To save time and space, you can put two groups on one wheel. I typed up even numbered groups in red and odd numbered groups in blue. I can use the same wheel each year. Just put a new label over the top!

There are many wonderful literature circle printables on the internet. There were a couple of specific things I was looking for, so I tweaked the forms and made my own. My jobs are:

C.E.O.: This is the boss of the group. The C.E.O. is in charge of getting the folder, handing out assignments, and leading the discussion. The C.E.O. also has an assignment to do. The C.E.O. will complete a connection assignment. It can be connection to self, world, or text. He or she will draw a picture with at least 5 different colors and write at least 3 sentences.

The Dictionary Director will find 3 words from the reading assignment. The words will be whatever our current grammar/writing focus is during our lessons. I.E. If we are studying adjectives, the D.D. will find 3 interesting adjectives from the reading assignments. The D.D. can look up the words in a dictionary or can use the computers or iPads.

The Map maker has a choice of 3 assignments. He or she may complete a character map, venn diagram, or story element chart.

The Newscaster is looking for the main ideas in the reading assignment. He or she will take notes of important characters and events and give a "newscast" when the group meets.

The Quiz Whiz is in charge of testing the group's knowledge. No basic knowledge questions are allowed! Questions should either be predictions, explain: how/why's, connections/comparisons, or opinion questions.

Looking for more ideas?

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Do you belong to a book club? I never understood the true value of a lively book discussion until I joined a book club as an adult. I am an avid reader, so when I was invited to join a book club, I jumped in with both feet!

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Lit. circles

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Lit. circles misc.

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A few years back I decided I would try out Literature Circles in my classroom. As someone already involved in Guided Reading/Balanced Literacy, I wasn't sure how I could implement Literature Circles into Guided Reading.
Then....it hit me: I could use Literature Circle work for my students to do while I meet with groups at the horseshoe table in the back.

It was perfect because I could use Literature Circle Roles endlessly because they are designed to work with any piece of literature.

While I am reading and working with my guided reading group, the rest of my class is reading books (about 4 different books/groups) and working on their Literature Circle work.
Once a week I have my groups meet in their Literature Circles and I circulate to assess their group dynamics and listen in on their conversations. This is all after I have introduced each role one-by-one and then had each Literature Circle meet individually. During their individual meeting time, I sit just outside of the circle to listen, take notes, record important questions, and provide feedback.

With the implementation of the Common Core Standards I have begun to question how appropriate the Literature Circle jobs I have are. Upon researching I found that (with a bit of tweaking) I could align my Literature Circle roles with the Common Core Standards. Of course, nothing is better than a teacher led activity or lesson to teach the standards and I don't believe that these sheets can be your only means of teaching the CCLS but they are a good tool to have.

They are on sale on Teachers Pay Teachers right now. They are perfect for anyone looking to incorporate Literature Circle into their Common Core reading time.

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A few years back I decided I would try out Literature Circles in my classroom. As someone already involved in Guided Reading/Balanced Literacy, I wasn't sure how I could implement Literature Circles into Guided Reading. Then....it hit me: I could use Literature Circle work for my students to do while I meet with groups at the horseshoe table in the back.

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iPad lit. circles

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While we debate the sanctity of the printed word versus the technological advances of electronic reading, our students are busy scrolling through pages of digital text. We assume that our rich...

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Instructional strategies

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Using lit. circles to engage students

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Literature circles can be effective ways for educators to assess abilities and meet the needs of students while giving them more responsibility and active roles to play in their education.

The circles are small temporary groups of students that assemble at regularly scheduled times to analyze and discuss assigned texts. Skills developed in the process can vary from circle to circle and text to text.

A key aim of such circles is to help teachers assess students' comprehension through their responses to literature. Pupils develop the ability to discuss, define and explore a text, and they learn to make predictions using prior knowledge or supporting details from it. The circles encourage students to identify unfamiliar words, ask relevant and focused questions and clarify their understanding while teachers gauge students' comprehension based on their contributions to the discussion.

Such groups can help students and teachers meet the new state Common Core Standards by differentiating with nonfiction for variety. Most importantly, students engage in accountable talk, group discussion, paraphrasing and summarizing, which help develop their critical thinking skills.

The literature circle is usually introduced by teachers via a mini-lesson to make sure participants know what is expected of them. There are several roles within the circle, and the teacher can explain what each role entails.

The roles can include a manager who brings the group together and checks to make sure all of the books and materials are available. A group leader begins the discussion and makes sure others take turns getting involved. A timer tracks how long the circle runs and ensures that all participants stay focused on the task. A supporter offers supportive comments to those who speak, and a summarizer wraps up the discussion.

It is the students' responsibility to carry out their respective roles during the circle. You can have as few as four roles in a literature circle or as many as 10. The teacher is not part of the circle; rather he or she is a facilitator. As the group matures, the students can begin to facilitate among themselves.

The aim is building comprehension skills using a motivating and engaging method. It is also an excellent way to build vocabulary and help students develop strong listening and verbal skills. This strategy provides a venue for students to have fun sharing their experiences.

Literature circles are structured and fun ways to get students reading. The selection of texts helps educators determine if crucial curriculum areas are being targeted. Nonfiction books, including science and social studies texts, can be selected to help meet those standards.

Today literature circles have evolved into reading, study and discussion groups. Students are placed into small groups to read and discuss a selected book. They are given the opportunity to reflect on what they are reading by discussing content with their peers.

These discussions help students reframe their thinking and increase their understanding through constructive exchanges as a single group. This interaction can also further students' understanding of subject matter through facilitated discussion, which increases their potential for improved written and artistic responses. As an added result, students develop a love of reading and additional skills and strategies found among good readers.

Having had the opportunity to conduct literature circles in my classroom, I was able to see how the interaction among students occurred. At first the students needed a gentle reminder to remember their roles, but then their take-charge attitude kicked in and the endeavor proved to be refreshing compared to the daily routine of turn-to-your-partner engagements.

Students were able to articulate their own ideas and build upon the thoughts of others using accountable talk. As time progressed, they were able to respond to the reading and they enjoyed doing so.

The final assessment came when the students began to express their excitement about the next text they would tackle in this manner. Their enjoyment and enthusiasm, as well as their accurate text-to-self connections, were substantial enough to make me realize that this particular strategy can be extremely useful and fun to utilize more regularly in the classroom.

It is important to understand that although this teaching strategy takes a bit of strategic planning, patience and practice, once the students are in the habit of working in this way, the opportunity to offer differentiated instruction can increase dramatically, thereby allowing teachers to reach a greater number of children. Some websites that offer resources to help get you started are www.abcteach.org and www.litcircles.org.

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Using literature circles to engage students

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Literature circles can be effective ways for educators to assess abilities and meet the needs of students while giving them more responsibility and active roles to play in their education. The circles are small temporary groups of students that assemble at regularly scheduled times to analyze and discuss assigned texts.

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Lit. circles motivate students

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News, email and search are just the beginning. Discover more every day. Find your yodel.

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Lit. circles and the Common Core

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Literature Review Harvey Daniels was one of the first to coin the phrase "literature circles." He defines them as "small student- directed groups where students agree to read the same story,...

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WOW- Padlet is so cool!