Literature Circles

1. Literature Circles Ideas for sharing tools

2. Sharing Tools • A tool should usually take 20 minutes or less to create • It needs to actively involve all group members. Watch that there isn’t too much “down” time when one player is busy and the others have to sit and wait. • It must require members to engage in high levels of thinking (application level or above). • The tools tend to overlap and may involve many elements. For example, a discussion activity could also involve the use of drama. Visual tools always involve discussion. Crossovers like that are fine!

3. Types of Sharing Tools • Visual Tools – some sort of picture, allows readers to picture scenes/storyline/confusing parts. • Drama Tools – Interact with the text to improve your reading comprehension. What may have happened at this part? If you had seen it, what would you have done? If the story was told from someone else’s point of view, what would change? • Discussion Tools – Discuss what has happened and what could happen – get into the why/why not questions – use higher level thinking!!

4. 1- Visual Master The visual Master is in charge of creating a visual sharing tool for the group meeting. Some ideas are as follows – feel free to come up with your own! This is not a show and tell time for the visual piece you create! Make sure others get to respond to, or even help fill in the tool. If their ideas are different from yours, that is fine. It gives everyone new ways to think about the book. Comparing and contrasting characters, ranking the importance of key conflicts or focusing on the setting are excellent areas to explore visually.

5. Visual Tools: Ideas Box • Charts and Diagrams – T-Charts, Venn Diagrams – these need to have some creative categories! Good ideas are: • Strengths, weaknesses, beliefs, personality, social/cultural background, physical appearance • See your Interactive Reader CD for some good graphic organizers!!

6. Character Bubbles – create a simple sketch of a few key events or conflicts. Make conversation bubbles for each character. In your circle, discuss what the characters were thinking or feeling at that point in the novel. I think he’s dreamy! Really?

7. Graphic Organizers • One idea – Sherlock – • draw the kid, adding the different parts we discussed in class. • Make sure you discuss the following: Thoughts and Feelings, physical characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, wants and needs, the quality of the character’s relationships, unique characteristics.

9. Story Board – Draw a comic strip type overview of what you read. Include questions and activities that raise the group’s level of thinking – perhaps draw the story and have the group fill in what happened during each scene of reading.

10. Symbolism – Draw an object that may be used to symbolize a theme of the novel. Have group members look at the drawing and write down why you may have chosen the object(s) that you chose.

11. 2- Drama Master • Your mission is to use drama as a way to get the other group members actively thinking at high levels about the characters, vocabulary, conflicts and events in the novel. Some students just want to act out scenes from the book. This only requires low-level thinking, so you’ll need to push beyond that.

12. Drama Tools: Idea Box • Sharing Passages – Select passages that are thought provoking, funny, informative, moving descriptive or even confusing. Mark the places with a slip of paper. Have group members read the passages aloud. If a selection includes dialogue, students can play the parts of the different characters.

13. Different Perspectives: Stop and discuss passages from different perspectives. Discuss the inner thoughts and feelings of characters that may not have been directly expressed in the book. Talk about how an event you read relates to your lives or connects to the world

14. Charades Sequence Game – Create 6-8 cards with key conflicts or events from the novel written on them. Players take turns selecting a card and silently acting out the scene while others guess what is going on. Once the right answer is given, place the card face up. As you place the cards, put them in sequential order. In order to heighten the level of thinking, discuss which three had the most significant impact on the main character and why.

15. New Conversations – Use two slips of paper to mark places in the novel where: • You wish you could talk directly to the character or ask him or her questions about their feelings and actions. • You wish the main characters would have a conversation but the author did not include one in the book.

16. Character Resume – Create a resume for a character. Include things that they excel at as well as specifics that you have learned from the book. The group is an interview team as one of your group members is interviewed to play the part. The interview should go above and beyond the black and white – delve into the character’s possible motives and feelings.

17. 3- Discussion Master • Your Job is to create an activity that stimulates high quality thinking and discussion about various aspects of the novel. The tool must actively involve all group members. This is not the place for questions with right or wrong answers!

18. Discussion Tools: Idea Box • Board Game- Create a board game using construction paper. Draw at least 15-20 spaces. Remember the purpose of the game is to stimulate quality discussion. Make cards for conflicts, characters, setting and vocabulary. Label the spaces on the board to match the task cards the players will draw during the game. Tasks should ask for questions at the application level or higher. Use no more than 3 penalty spaces.

19. Mystery Objects – Select 6-8 items that represent some aspect of the novel and place them in a brown lunch bag or a box. These should be symbolic and have more than one possible meaning or interpretation. For example, something as simple as a stick could represent shelter, a weapon, being lost in the woods, or even a character’s growing inner strength. Include items that deal with the characters, conflicts, vocabulary, setting, key events and even the author. Players take turns drawing from the bag and sharing how their object could relate to the novel. Pass objects around the group in order to hear other possible connections.

20. Happy Holidays- Choose two characters from the book. During the next 3 minutes, list four gifts you feel would be suitable for each one. Have each group member share their gift ideas. Others should guess why then think each choice was made. After exploring reasons, each member reveals why he or she selected the gifts they did. Make selections that are symbolic.

21. Happy Holidays!! • The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs • Have a chart for each group member • Play as Scattergories? Kick out repeated answers with a price for most creative?

22. Questionable Affair – Write 13 questions of varying levels of thinking. Answer them as a group.

23. Good Discussion tools do the following: • The tool is filled out by all members of the group. • The tool enabled all circle members to actively participate. • The tool required participants to consistently use medium to high levels of thinking. • The tool was created in 20 minutes or less. • The group worked together effectively to explore the reading assignment.