Literature Circles I ndependent S tudy U nit

1. Literature CirclesIndependent Study Unit Let’s look at the choices!

2. But first… Let’s check out what the formal writing tasks are! Part 1 • formal writing assignment: You have a choice between… News Report (based on an event in your novel) OR Opinion Piece!

3. Part 2 • You and your group (your classmates that are reading the same book as you) will present on your book!You will receive a step-by-step guide when we get closer to the due date! • This will be a power point presentation!

4. Part 3 • Novel Pyramid • Movie Trailer {using the Ipad} • IPod Playlist Each one of these has a written component attached and carry the same weight of work required.

5. Part 4 Literature circle roles • Illuminator • Illustrator • Connector • Word Watcher • Discussion Director • Summerizer You will rotate through these roles as you progress through your book!

6. We will complete several other activities throughout the process so it is imperative that you use every minute of class time wisely. You are not only letting yourself down, but your group members! NOW…Let’s look at the books! {You need to write down your top 3 choices in order of preference!}

7. Getting Over – Garrett Delaney Can a twelve-step program help Sadie kick her unrequited crush for good? Abby McDonald serves up her trademark wit and wisdom in a hilarious new novel.Seventeen-year-old Sadie is in love: epic, heartfelt, and utterly one-sided. The object of her obsession - ahem, affection - is her best friend, Garrett Delaney, who has been oblivious to Sadie's feelings ever since he sauntered into her life and wowed her with his passion for Proust (not to mention his deep-blue eyes). For two long, painful years, Sadie has been Garrett's constant companion, sharing his taste in everything from tragic Russian literature to art films to ''80s indie rock - all to no avail. But when Garrett leaves for a summer literary retreat, Sadie is sure that the absence will make his heart grow fonder - until he calls to say he's fallen in love. With some other girl! A heartbroken Sadie realizes that she's finally had enough. It's time for a total Garrett detox! Aided by a barista job, an eclectic crew of new friends (including the hunky chef, Josh), and a customized self-help guide, Sadie embarks on a summer of personal reinvention full of laughter, mortifying meltdowns, and a double shot of love.

8. Beat the Band – Don Calame Get ready for riffs on hot girls, health class, and social hell! The outrageously funny boys from Swim the Fly return to rock their sophomore year.It's the beginning of the school year, and the tenth-grade health class must work in pairs on semester-long projects. Matt and Sean get partnered up (the jerks), but Coop is matched with the infamous "Hot Dog" Helen for a presentation on safe sex. Everybody's laughing, except for Coop, who's convinced that the only way to escape this social death sentence is to win "The Battle of the Bands" with their group, Arnold Murphy's Bologna Dare. There's just one problem: none of the guys actually plays an instrument. Will Coop regain his "cool" before it's too late? Or will the forced one-on-one time with Helen teach him a lesson about social status he never saw coming? With ribald humor and a few sweet notes, screenwriter-turned-novelist Don Calame once again hits all the right chords.

9. Divergent – Veronica Roth In Beatrice Prior''s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue-Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is-she can''t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself. During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles alongside her fellow initiates to live out the choice they have made. Together they must undergo extreme physical tests of endurance and intense psychological simulations, some with devastating consequences. As initiation transforms them all, Tris must determine who her friends really are-and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes exasperating boy fits into the life she''s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she''s kept hidden from everyone because she''s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers unrest and growing conflict that threaten to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves . . . or it might destroy her. Veronica Roth is the New York Times bestselling author of Divergent, the first in a trilogy of dystopian thrillers filled with electrifying decisions, heartbreaking betrayals, stunning consequences, and unexpected romance.

10. Ashes, Ashes – Jo Treggiari An unbelievable tale of adventure and romance, in the face of the darkest of nightmares. Smallpox epidemics, floods, droughts - for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park, hunting and foraging for food. But when she is rescued from a vicious pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she cannot continue on her own. She joins Aidan''s band of survivors, yet a new danger awaits her: The Sweepers are looking for her, and they''ve laid a trap. There''s something special about Lucy, and the Sweepers will stop at nothing to have her in their clutches.

11. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman It takes a graveyard to raise a child. Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn''t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack-who has already killed Bod''s family.

12. Chance to Dance for You - Ian lives in a suburb where everything's the same. The houses are the same, the cars are the same, and their aspirations are the same. But Ian is different. Openly gay in his bigoted high school, Ian doesn't exactly fit in. But he's not worried - he''s been training in dance for a long time and soon he'll be able to leave town and train to become a professional. Then he falls in love with Jess, the high school quarterback. . .

13. I am Not a Serial Killer – Dan Wells John Wayne Cleaver is dangerous, and he knows it.He's spent his life doing his best not to live up to his potential.He's obsessed with serial killers, but really doesn't want to become one. So for his own sake, and the safety of those around him, he lives by rigid rules he's written for himself, practicing normal life as if it were a private religion that could save him from damnation.Dead bodies are normal to John. He likes them, actually. They don't demand or expect the empathy he's unable to offer. Perhaps that's what gives him the objectivity to recognize that there's something different about the body the police have just found behind the Wash-n-Dry Laundromat---and to appreciate what that difference means.Now, for the first time, John has to confront a danger outside himself, a threat he can't control, a menace to everything and everyone he would love, if only he could.Dan Wells's debut novel is the first volume of a trilogy that will keep you awake and then haunt your dreams.

14. The Fault in Our Stars – John Green Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

15. Tomorrow, When the War Began – John Marsden When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they're leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong--horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured--including their families and all their friends. Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: They can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight.

16. Ok, so now that you have examined the book choices and jotted down your top three in order of preference, hand in your post-it with your name on it! I will do my best to make sure everyone gets their top choices, however, due to limited copies, this will not always be possible.