Literature Circles & Book Speed

DatingIntro to Lit Circles

What are literature circles?

Students choose their own reading materials

 Small temporary groups are formed, based upon book choice

Different groups read different books

Groups meet on a regular, predictable schedule to discuss their reading

Kids use written or drawn notes to guide both their reading and discussion

Discussion topics come from the students

Group meetings aim to be open, natural conversations about books, so personal connections, digressions, and open-ended questions are welcome

In newly-forming groups, students may play a rotating assortment of task roles

The teacher serves as a facilitator, not a group member or instructor.

What is speed dating?

Multiple singles meet in an organized place.

Each single man/woman spends a very short amount of time talking to another man/woman. When time is called (about 5 minutes), singles switch who they are talking to.

At the end of the event, people get the information of who they are interested in.

What does this have to do with literature

circles? We are going to use speed dating so that

you can get acquainted with your book choices for this semester

We will follow the same process as speed dating

You will rank the books at the end in order of how interested you are in them

I will pair you up with one of your top three choices (hopefully your first)

First Book: Fahrenheit 451

Second Book: Brave New World

Third Book: Never Let Me Go

Fourth Book: Children of Men

Fifth Book: Unwind

Group Number Members Start at. . .

1 Tommy A JennaTommy D KyleNina Jessie

The Book Thief

2 Carter Kailey KMatt CJKaitlyn M Allie MNathan

Absolutely True Diary

3 Jake L Allison Katy P Jake WGillian AshleyLeah

Stolen

4 Hayley SarahMckenzie ErinKaitlyn W HannahMike

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

5 Maddie LaurenMelanie JenniferKaylie Payton

An Abundance of Katherines

Group Number Members Start at. . .

1 Max ChaseJake TaylorBrandon Morgan

The Book Thief

2 Aaron GrantJordan TylerRebekah MattLexi

Absolutely True Diary

3 Avery BrookeMiya AnnaMadisyn Will

Stolen

4 Clay KimSabrina KyleDan KatieMeghan

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

5 Monica Caitlin MAutumn DeannaMitch Zac

An Abundance of Katherines

Lit Circle Discussion Examples

Clip One: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAOd1zXlo30

Clip Two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IgrTtIEq8E

Clip Three: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7f9kD9kik0

Literature Circle Roles

The Connector

The Secretary

The Discussion Liaison

The Quote Connoisseur

The Artist

The Word Whiz

The Connector

This person will be responsible for making three types of connections with the text in preparation for the meeting: Text to Text: comparing the

book you are discussing to another book/story/movie

Text to World: comparing the book you are discussing to a real-world issue

Text to Self: comparing the book you are discussing to your life experiences

The Secretary

This person keeps track of the discussion about the book

Responsible for keeping track of how many times people participate

Responsible for recording the key points talked about during the discussion session

The Discussion Liaison

This person is responsible for initiating discussion

This person will come up with five INSIGHTFUL questions about the part of the book that you were assigned to read

This means questions that require more than a one-word answer!

This person is also responsible for making sure the discussion flows nicely

The Quote Connoisseur

This person is responsible for choosing three quotes that they found interesting while reading the required part of the text

They will explain why these quotes in particular were intriguing/ meaningful

The Artist

This person is (you guessed it) responsible for choosing a key scene from the section that his or her group was required to read and drawing it

They must provide a written explanation for why they chose that particular scene

The Word Whiz

This person is responsible for choosing five words from the required section

The person will list the word, where it is used in the text, and what it means

ALL Members Must Contribute to Discussion to Receive Full

Credit!!!