Chapter 13

Encouraging Response to Literature:

Literary Discussions

What is a Literature Circle?

Vehicle for organizing literature discussion in classrooms

Interpretive community - share impressions, wonder together, challenge ideas, and explore together.

Grand Conversations - as contrasted with gentle inquisitions

Organizing Literature Circles

Selecting books Group size Length and frequency of sessions Discussion leader Free or guided responses

Selecting Books

Differences in books account for the quality of discussions

Need high quality literature Must have issues that interest students Thematic, Story Line, Craft, Across

Curriculum, and Genre Allow students to help select books

Forming Literature Circles

There is no “best” size Depends on children’s previous

experience Can start with whole group and move to

smaller groups Can be as few as two people Depends on whether or not all students

are reading the same book.

Length and Frequency

Start with 10 to 15 minutes As students become more adept,

lengthen the time up to 30 or 40 minutes

Typical session is 20 minutes Set up reading times for students

Role of the Teacher

Model response-based discussion Help children learn new discussion roles Move discussion forward Support literary learning as

opportunities arise

Help Children Learn New Roles

Sit in circle Only one person talks at a time Listen to each other Stay on topic

Preparing

Have some planned questions Not all student responses are equally

valid Require students to defend and support

their ideas based on the text Maintain your own response journal Reflect on literary elements pg. 484

Journals as Response Strategies

Free Response Journals– Take time to think about and reflect– Effective with read alouds– Serve as conversation starters– Could also be used as visual responses

where the student creates a picture

Prompted Response Journals– Teacher provides the prompt– Good for students who are unfamiliar with

journaling– Particularly good to elicit personal

interpretations– Often provide more critical reflections

Literary Journals– Students assume the persona of one of the

characters in the story and write journal entries as that character

– More appropriate for older students

Dialogue Journals– A student and teacher or another student

maintain a written dialogue about the story– Used to extend the conversation beyond

the literature circle– Allows students to deepen their

understandings– Allows teachers to gain further insights

about students

Open-Ended Discussion Questions Invite students to share

– Observations– Unanswered questions or wonderings– Anything they were reminded of by the

story

Pose Literary Questions

Ask questions that go beyond the story Ask questions that help the reader

better understand the story Ask questions that have at least two

good answers Ask questions that raise issues Ask questions that deal with craft

Webs and Charts

Help students identify important issues in stories

Focus attention on connections Help understand how literary and artistic

elements work Explore genre characteristics Explore literary devices - metaphors