This year, I tried something a little different with my sweets. We tried a few different ways to complete literature circles. Every student read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I gave them chapters to read by a certain date (ex. read chapters 2 and 3 by Thursday the 2nd). In their spare time, during daily five, or after assignments they could read the chapters. We held discussions on Tuesdays or Thursdays (sometimes both) and the students discussed what they read.
Most often, I created a question sheet that the students used to lead their discussion. This was good, but sometimes their discussions weren’t as engaging. Some times, the students had time to write their questions/comments on a note card, and they brought it to their discussion circle. They seemed to like this better, and it was interesting to see what they wrote. 🙂
Discussion circles did change, and every student had time to speak. Sometimes they used these little signs I found in the dollar spot, other times I selected a leader to choose who spoke first.
I was very happy with the outcome of the literature circles. The students begged for more, however I didn’t have another full classroom set of novels. I could see this being used in small groups too, on their levels for differentiation. Maybe each group has a book to read during their literature circle time. I think that will be my next adventure. If you try literature circles, please let me know how they go!
Happy Summer!
