LM_NET: Library Media Networking
There were some member who gave me some very helpful
information about Literature Circles. I will copy and
paste some verbatim and I will synthesize others. This
may get long and for that I apologize. At the same
time, I wish to thank all of you who responded and beg
your pardon for the delay.
***********************************
Literature circles work great
if you organize them properly. I start early in the
year using the Shared Inquiry Method to help my kids
understand how to discuss literature. We actually
only
did lit. circles for one six-week period each year
because of other obligations to take care of and
because
any longer and we all drive each other crazy. I found
that 4-5 kids per group seems to be optimal; fewer and
you run the risk of too many absences on any day or
larger and it's hard to keep them on topic. I tried
assigning each group member a particular
responsibility,
but since we are on the A/B block schedule and you
never
know who might be out I chunked this for a modified
version. Each person in the group was required to
keep
a journal and come up with at least one question or
comment on each day's reading. The question or
insight
had to be incorporated into each discussion. They
also
had to journal about their discussion. Some days I
would have a generic question about the plot(how it
relates to them personally) or a character that they
would have to discuss in their group. We also did
Internet scavenger hunts where they had to identify or
locate information about their book or about a topic
in
the book. That seemed to help break up the day-to-day
grind they seemed to fall into. The kids really liked
lit. circles because they got to choose their book
from
a list of books. At the end they constructed novel
cubes and shared them with members of other groups.
Many students then wanted to read one of the books
they
had heard about. There's not much better than one
kid "selling" another kid on a good book!
******************************************
To answer a few of your questions:
1. Lit circles are best at 4-6 students. The students
enjoy rotating
through the "roles", but once they get the hang of it,
they may
decide to do away with them. The idea is to let them
do most of the
talking.
2. The circles revolved around a particular book that
the students
wanted to read. I sometimes did booktalks on a few and
then let them
choose. You can have multiple groups going at one
time, or offer one
occasionally. (I did mine during winter noon
recesses.)
3. I would assume if you are working with Lang. Arts
teachers that
you would facilitate your own group. I have done them
with kids as
young as second grade and up to grade 5 (we are a K-5
school), but
would love to do them with high school students too.
For instance,
I've always thought that H.S. kids might relate to
Into the Wild.
I am still hoping to someday get a Mother-Daughter
Book Club going
too, but it may require moving to a different
district.
4. It isn't much different than an adult book club.
You just have to
get the students to keep up with the reading and be
active participants
in the discussion. It just occurred to me that most of
my groups were
not mixed, probably because girls preferred fiction
and the boys were
more inclined to non-fiction.
****************************************
Many people recommended Harvey Daniels's book,
"Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the
Student-Centered Classroom." This title and author
came up time after time in the posts of response.
*******************************************
Advice I received regarding the role of the Library
Media Specialist in conducting Literature Circles
reminded me of my job as a literature specialist and
curriculum developer, which is exactly what seems to
be happening. I am gathering a variety of books for
young adults that are high-interest, can be enjoyed by
students who read with varying levels of expertise,
and which I have enough copies of to go around! One
person reminded me that I don't have to steer the
boat, just help paddle it. That is very close to the
philosophy behind Literature Circles: the teacher
doesn't own the project--the kids do.
******************************************
The most
important thing I've found when using lit. circles is
that kids must be taught how to discuss a book. They
know how to provide summaries of what they've read
from
doing book reports, but very few understand how to dig
into a book.
*********************************************
One more to come......
=====
Jan Birney, Library Media Specialist
Jockey Hollow Middle School
Monroe, Connecticut 06468
stmark6614@yahoo.com
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger
http://phonecard.yahoo.com/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law.
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST, etc.) send email to:
listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv.
For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml
See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors:
http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
LM_NET
Mailing List Home