Literature Circles
Literature circles are designed to get students reading and discussing the more abstract and complex ideas within a text. As a result of this, I veer away from the traditional roles of a literature circle because the discussions are less authentic and focus more on the ability of the students to cooperate. Please find the strategy for literature circles in 6th grade below:
The Text.
Students will hear book talks, rank the books they want to read, and then get grouped by book. Groups may remain the same while texts alternate. Honors classes will prewrite ideas on Kidblog in order to facilitate more abstract discussions as well as continue discussions outside of class.
The Format.
Keep it simple by writing a paragraph. While it may seem formulaic at first, the organization of this paragraph will provide practice for basic information needed.
- Start with a discussion starter. You can find those here. This will be your claim.
- Infuse your evidence from the text (this could be a quote or a quick summary of an event).
- Explain how your evidence supports your claim.
- Make a connection to the real world via the news, song lyrics, a movie, another text, etc. (just don't do yourself...I'll explain why later)
- Wrap it all up - and not with a bow, but with a statement that captures the meaning of what you're thinking.