We sunk our teeth into Lit Circles today.  Here’s how it happened:

Your Novel Study Experiences

I started with a prior knowledge piece (mental set) on the sorts of experiences you’d had working with novels in your K – 12 and Higher Ed career as a student.  Strangely, no one mentioned being so engrossed in a book that they couldn’t put it down even when driving 75 miles/hour on the freeway like this guy:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EWGpZwwoM8[/youtube]

The Shape of Lit Circles

After that I outlined the shape of a Lit Circle unit:

• Pre-LC prep with “Say Something”
• Reading
• Discussion Groups
• Working with the Books
• Response Journals
• Comprehension Strategies
• Celebration

The Research Says…

In hindsight, I wished I’d introduced this part of the lesson with a Family Feud type of voice, like Richard Dawson’s.  Check out how he deals with this family of dummies:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdVuEpD9_IY[/youtube]

We examined the research basis for Lit Circles as outlined on pages 79 – 82 of Student Diversity. The four classroom conditions that enable students to develop as proficient readers – according to Richard Allington, President of the International Reading Association – are:

1. Reading Volume
2. High-Success Reading Opportunities
3. Engaging in Literate Conversations
4. Useful, Explicit Strategy Instruction

We considered how these conditions fit with those you had identified in the previous class (they fit very well, by the way) and how the Lit Circles strategy advocated by Brownlie, Schnellert, and Feniak addresses these 4 conditions.  In processing this content we used a Bruce Wellman strategy, Paired Verbal Fluency.  The details of that tactic can be found in this handout:

Strategies for Making Learning Active – Bruce Wellman

Assignment #4: Children’s Literature Task

I handed out the task sheet and we took some time to write a double-entry journal piece related to 2 items we’d done to this point in learning about Lit Circles:

• Book Talks
• Time to Read Your Lit Circles Book
• Sticky Notes

Here’s an model of this task:

MODEL Lit Circles Task

Here’s the task handout:

Children’s Literature Task

The Literature Circles Process – Say Something

I reckoned it would be a good idea to get the L.C. lowdown from the source, so I showed a webcast presented by Faye Brownlie.  It is one of many webcasts put on by the Ministry of Education.  The supporting handouts, more details, and links to watch the webcasts on your computer can be accessed via this link to the BC Ministry of Education Webcast index.  The specific L.C. materials we worked with in this class can be found using the Literacy in the Middle Years – Part 2 link found on the aforementioned page.  We watched the “Introduction to Literature Circles” webcast.

After a brief into to the L.C. process, Faye walked us through the Say Something strategy using the poem, My Relatives by Mary Blakeslee.  The timecode for this section of the video is 0:00 to about 13:45.

Here’s the resource package that supports the webcast and includes the My Relatives poem:

Brownlie Lit Circle Webcast Resources

The PPT presentation that supports the webcast and includes details on the Say Something strategy and all other topics referenced in the webcast (including lists of books that work well for Lit Circles) is here:

Brownlie Lit Circle Webcast PPT

The Literature Circles Process – Discussion Groups

After hearing Faye describe the discussion group process (timecode: 41:30 to 48:30), and modeling it for the class with the Persepolis group, we had a go at it as a whole class.  In each group, one person shared the excerpt they had “Sticky Noted” and the other group members “Said Something” about the excerpt.  Where time allowed, the steps were repeated.

Double-Entry Journal… Take Two

We ended class by considering the Lit Circle events and ideas in today’s class and sharing your thinking on 2 items in your double-entry journal.

That’s all for today.

– Lawrence