Literature Circles in the Classroom: What? Why? and How?

1. Literature Circles in the Classroom:
What? Why? and How?

2. Why Literature Circles?
• Choice, independence, personal investment
• Collaborative learning
• Differentiation, independent reading levels
• Lifelong readers
• Empowered and literate citizens
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 3

4. Literature Circles 101
• Students choose their own reading materials
• Small groups (3-6 students) are formed, based
upon book choice
Note: 4-5 students per group is ideal
• Grouping is by text choices, not by “ability” or
other tracking
• Different groups choose and read different books
• Groups meet on a regular, predictable schedule
to discuss their reading
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, pp. 3-4

5. Literature Circles 101
• Students write notes that help guide both
their reading and discussion
• Discussion questions come from the students,
not teachers or textbooks
• Personal responses, connections, and
questions are the starting-point of discussion
• A spirit of playfulness and sharing pervades
the room
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 4

6. Literature Circles 101
• Teacher-led mini-lessons serve as bookends,
before and after literature circle meetings
• The teacher does not lead any group; s/he is a
facilitator, fellow reader, and observer
• When books are finished, groups share highlights
of their reading with the classmates through
presentations, reviews, dramatizations, book
chats, or other media
• Assessment is by teacher observation and
student self-evaluation
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 4

7. Preparing Students for
Literature Circles

8. Practice Asking Good Questions and
Discussing Texts
• Read “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
• Jot down 2 or 3 questions that would be
interesting to discuss with your partner
• Write each question on a separate sticky note
and place on text where you thought of it
• Create a T-chart for Lead Questions and
Follow-Up Questions
• Trade T-chart papers with your partner
Adapted from Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, pp. 130-131

9. Important Tip: Demo these next
steps for your students!

10. Practicing Asking Lead and
Follow-Up Questions
1. Partner A reads his/her question aloud and hands the
sticky note to partner B who places it in the Lead
Questions column
2. Partner B answers the question
3. Based on partner B’s answer, partner A asks a follow-up
question
4. Before answering, partner B writes the follow-up question
in the Follow-Up Questions column next to the sticky note
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 two or three more times
6. Switch roles so that Partner B starts the next round with a
Lead Question
7. Repeat until all Lead Questions have been asked and
discussed
Adapted from Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, pp. 130-131

11. What Kinds of Questions Work Best?
• With your partner, identify the lead question
that produced the most extended and
interesting discussion
• Share your best questions
• Discuss: What kinds of questions work best?
Adapted from Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, pp. 130-131

12. Your Turn:
What Kinds of Questions Work Best?
• Open-ended
• Related to our personal lives, experiences
• Makes connections to rest of text, between
elements of the text
• Examines author’s purpose or elements of style
• Makes predictions, draws conclusion, inference
• Could be directly found in the text

13. What Kinds of Questions Work Best?
• They make you think.
• There’s more than one possible answer.
• It makes you fill in details from your
imagination.
• It brings up a controversial idea.
• It makes you notice something you didn’t
before.
• It makes you see something in a different way.
Source: Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, p. 131

14. Getting Literature Circles Started

15. Before You Begin
• Choose 5 or 6 titles (have 6 copies of each)
according to a common theme, genre, or author
• Books should be similar in length/number of
chapters
• Books may include various reading levels to meet
the goals of differentiated instruction
• Familiarize students with different roles
• Have students practice asking good questions and
discussing texts

16. Day One
• Teacher presents selected books: book talks,
read alouds
• Students preview books: book pass
• Students fill out choice slips with 1st, 2nd, 3rd
choices
• Arrange groups, prepare role sheets, assign
roles for day two

17. Day Two
• Assign groups and roles in each group
• Discuss what will be done each day:
– Students should come prepared with reading and
completed role sheets
– Groups will meet and discuss – led by discussion
director
– Questions?
• Give students schedule of reading assignments
• Students spend rest of class reading silently

18. Day Three
• Review what will be done each day
• Groups meet to discuss and share their roles
• Students come together as a whole class;
discussion directors share short summary of
something significant that was discussed
• Teacher reviews reading and role assignments
for the next day

19. Day Four
• Questions, concerns, clarifications?
• Repeat process from Day Three
• Following days are same as Day Four

22. Literature Circle Roles
• Discussion Director/Discussion Leader
• Illustrator/Sketcher
• Summarizer
• Connector/Conflict Connector
• Investigator/Fact Finder
• Wordsmith/Word Wizard/Word Master/Word
Finder/Word Watcher/Vocabulary Enricher/Vocab
Detective
• Illuminator/Literary Luminary/
Passage Master/Quotation Seeker
• Geographer/Travel Tracer/Story Mapper

24. Literature Circle Roles
Role
• Discussion Director
• Connector
• Illustrator
• Vocabulary Enricher
• Literary Luminary
Reading Strategy
• Asking questions
• Making connections
• Visualizing
• Determining importance
• Noticing author’s craft

25. Class Schedule for Literature Circles
• 5-10 minutes Opening/Mini-Lesson
• 20-25 minutes Groups Meet to Discuss
• 5-10 minutes Debrief/Closing
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 12

26. Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles
• Role Sheets
• Reading Logs/Journals
• Post-Its
• Bookmarks
• Coding/Annotating the text
• Written Conversation
• Exit Slips
• Save the Last Word for
Me (works well for
Literary Luminary,
Vocabulary Enricher,
and Illustrator)

27. Save the Last Word for Me
Preparation
• Underline or highlight a line in the text that
stands out to you
• Jot down a comment or two about the text
your highlighted

28. Save the Last Word for Me
Discussion
• When it is your turn to share, tell your group
where your selection can be found (page,
paragraph number), then read the text aloud
• Don’t comment yet! – Listen to the others
respond to the text you read aloud
• You have the “last word” to respond – You can
either connect with what others said or just
share your initial thoughts

29. Keeping Literature Circles Going

30. Troubleshooting Literature Circles
• Create norms/establish ground rules
• Create anchor charts and/or table cards for
discussion skills (looks like, sounds like)
• Collaboratively write advice for other students
on how to be successful with literature circles
• Have students reflect and set goals
• Celebrate positive behaviors and growth!

31. Your Turn:
An Ideal Literature Circle Discussion
Looks Like
• Eye contact
• Text in front of them
• Student-created questions
• Students have supplies
• All students looking at text or
person speaking
• All members of the group present
whole time
• Taking turns speaking
• Nodding agreement
• Students have journals, taking
notes
• Smiling
Sounds Like
• Using names
• One person speaking at a time
• Conversation is on topic
• Quality questions: academic vocabulary,
Bloom’s, text support
• Complimenting each other
• Disagreeing respectfully (I look at it
differently, I believe, another way to
think about it)
• Fun – laughter, excited voices,
enthusiasm
• Conversational tone – small group
volume
• Many voices – one person at each
group is talking

32. Literature Circle Skills
• Asking follow-up questions so
that people explain their answers
in more detail
• Being friendly
• Staying focused on the group
• Listening to everyone’s ideas
• Keeping everyone in the group
involved
• Recognizing members’ good ideas
• Welcoming diverse viewpoints
• Disagreeing constructively, with
confidence and enthusiasm
• Extending discussion on a topic
• Paraphrasing
• Attentive listening
• Building on one another’s ideas
(piggybacking)
• Directing the group’s work
• Using the text to support an idea
• Asking clarifying questions when
confused
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 54

33. Literature Circle Skills
• Take turns
• Listen actively
• Make eye contact
• Lean forward
• Nod, confirm, respond
• Share air time
• Include everybody
• Don’t dominate
• Pull other people in
• Don’t interrupt
• Speak directly to each other
• Trust each other
• Receive others’ ideas
• Be tolerant
• Honor people’s ideas
• Piggyback on ideas of others
• Speak up when you disagree
• Respect differences
• Disagree constructively
• Don’t attack
• Stay focused, on task
• Be responsible to the group
• Support your views with the
text
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 8

34. Assessment of Literature Circles
• Preparation (role sheets)
• Participation (observations)
• Reading Responses (journals)
• Final Project
• Self evaluation
• Folders/portfolios
• Rubrics

35. Joining Groups to Observe
• When I sit down in your group, continue what
you are doing. You don’t need to look at me or
acknowledge my arrival.
• I may just observe the group and move on. If I
have something to say, I will say it at the
appropriate moment.
• Please don’t ask me to give you answers or settle
debates.
• As I leave, I may or may not give you a suggestion
or idea to pursue.

36. Self Assessment Ideas
Performance Assessment – Have students
generate the criteria, such as:
• Do the reading
• Listen to other people
• Have good ideas
• Ask people questions
• Stick to the book

38. Your Turn:
Implementing Literature Circles
Do’s
• Be prepared!
• Practice each role all
together (with short stories)
• Enlist/expect students to
help “make it work”
• Provide scaffolding (e.g.,
question stems)
• Model discussion etiquette
• Make it fun!
Don’ts
• Underestimate students
• Take over the discussion
• Be afraid to keep trying
• Give up
• Interfere, provide answers

39. References