Literature Circles

Introduction to Literature Circles
In the Classroom
Current Titles
Take A Look

Welcome! This page will attempt to explain a bit more to you about what Literature Circles are and what their purpose is for, within my classroom, and then within the reading curriculum for the Omaha Public Schools. I will place links and information on this page so that it hopefully is helpful to you as parents. You can always feel free to email me more questions.

What IS a Literature Circle?
    A Literature Circle is a small group of students actively engaged in reading the same novel, which is chosen by the student in a preferred order from a group of 3-5 novels. This is referred to as a "Silent Shop" in my room. The students rank their 3 top choices and then I assign them to a group I feel will work best for them. The pacing of the group is determined by the teacher, with help from the students.   The group meets 2-3 times a week to discuss their progress and understanding of the book. In my room, each student is assigned a role to be completed on the next meeting day. These roles include Discussion Director, Cool Connector, Scene Sketcher, and Wacky Word Finder. They also have a writing prompt to respond to each time.
    Literature Circles are part of the Balanced Literacy and Guided Reading Instructional approach that Omaha Public Schools (OPS) has adopted as of this school year.

What IS Guided Reading?
    Guided Reading is a part of an overall approach to reading called Balanced Literacy.   These sets of instructional practices involve a balanced approach between teaching the phonics structure of letters and words (what words and letters sound like) with the whole language approach (reading text as a story and developing letter and word sounds from this) of reading words for meaning. Guided Reading has been adopted into the OPS reading curriculum core as it encourages students to go from dependent readers to independent readers who comprehend what they are reading and are able to be involved in conversations about the text. There are many parts of a Guided Reading lesson; one of the parts involved is the idea of gradual release of responsibility to independent readers. Literature Circles are one way of releasing practiced strategies to students to apply on their own with supervision.
    Guided Reading looks different in every grade level; the philosophy behind Guided Reading is to promote this gradual release for students to assist them in the quest to become confident readers. See here for a link to OPS's expectations for reading curriculum across the grade levels.

How does the teacher match the novel with the student's ability?
     The reading curriculum provided to all teachers & schools within the Omaha Public Schools strives to match instruction with individualized reading levels. We achieve this by having students read out loud periodically throughout the school year. While the student is reading, notations are made to show difficulties or strengths of the reader. Not only are we listening for fluency, and word decoding skills, we also ask the student questions to assess whether they are comprehending what they are reading. This process is called Benchmarking and there are kits provided at every grade level. This is NOT a graded assessment-it's a progress assessment. Benchmarking is a useful tool as we attempt to meet every student at their independent and instructional reading level.
    Benchmarking also allows me to choose leveled novels based upon the same levels that I assess the students at. This way, the novels they read match their independent reading level.

Why do all the reading within classroom time?
    I choose to have the Literature Circles supplement my reading instruction on a daily basis. This means that the Literature Circles do not function as an extracurricular activity; if I expect the students to read the assignments, I expect myself, as the teacher, to provide time within class to complete their assignments. I also want to monitor their reading and watch their involvement level as they read. I carefully chose the books according to levels, but I want to make sure the students find success with their Literature Circle experience.
    The books also belong to Columbian, as they are part of the Book Room, purchased by our gracious PTO or from my personal library. Most of the novels are paperbacks, and special care needs to be given to these books so they will last for years to come! The Book Room (which is located in our portable) is a vital component of this Guided Reading approach; the books within the Book Room are all leveled and ready for classroom teachers, like myself, to use to bolster our reading curriculum.

How does a Literature Circle work in the classroom?

    I use the Literature Circles in addition to my regular, text-book based instruction. I do my best to teach the weekly skills through lessons incorporated into the Literature Circle books, as the students tend to see the connections better.

    For example, if I am to teach the skill of Steps in a Process, I will use the Literature Circle books to teach this lesson, in addition with the third grade reading text books. This system allows me to use what students are interested in with what skills need to be mastered; the perfect recipe to ensure that students are engaged in what they are learning! (see the Literature Circle photos!!)

What does Literature Circle meeting look like?

    The students sit together according to the book they are reading. They are each responsible for a certain "role" to be completed after reading the commitment.(assigned chapters) Each student is expected to complete their "job assignment."
    On days when an assignment is due, the groups meet to discuss the commitment and then their individual roles. The group meets for anywhere from 25-30 minutes, and students engage in discussion during this time. These groups are teacher facilitated, but student led, and all groups are discussing their roles at the same time. This sounds chaotic, but the students are so focused on their discussions that there is little interaction between the groups. As the teacher facilitator, I float from group to group and add tidbits of discussion if needed, or additional questions to think about. Towards the end of the time together, students will decide on the next commitment and rotate roles.

    During the days when I have the groups meet for work time and discussion, but there isn't an assignment due, the students have an opportunity to ask questions and clarify ideas with their group members. This time is also spent reading, as books aren't to go home unless their is a special circumstance. The books belong to our Book Room, and Columbian PTO purchased these books; they are meant to last a long time!