literature circles

[raya]

I'm new to fifth grade (have been teaching 2nd and 3rd for 5 years) and would like to incorporate lit. circles before the end of the school year. I made use of this activity in the lower grades but imagine it is quite different with this older level. How do you make use of this strategy? Do you assign the books? What roles/jobs do you use? Time frame? Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[musicbug]

Literature ciricles

Lit circles vary depending on the teacher. We have 5 different teachers on the 5th grade team, and 5 different styles. If you want to keep some control, I would suggest selecting the novels ,and reading the first chapter of each,then allow the children to pick their 3 favorites. Ten assign them based on their preferences. Since this is the first time you are doing this, teach the students how each role works and have them practice the jobs with their regular reading texts. I would assign the amount read, so that they all finish reading at the same time. You may also want to only do this 2 days a week to start.
Good luck.

 

[raya]

more info please...

what roles/jobs do you use? do you have activity sheets for students to complete? thanks...

 

[musicbug]

What I do.

I use 6 jobs because I have 4 groups of 6. Summerizer, word wizard, Discussion starter, artful artist, meaning organizer, and Connector.
Summerizer writes a summary of the assigned chapters, the Word Wizard is in charge of selecting vocabulary, images, similies, descriptions and metaphors.The Discussion starter does just that, starts the group with 2 or 3 thought questions. Artful artist still draws a quick picture that goes with the selection. The Meaning person uses a graphic organizer to focus the material, and the connector makes 3 conections between the text and other books, people they know or personal experience. The first session students read and do their job in their reading notebooks. The second session is the actual meeting to discuss the reading. Then I have a reflection session where the students evaluate themselves and their team mates. Written on paper turned into me privately to protect the innocent and guilty. i grade the notebooks every other week. I hope this helps.

 

[raya]

thanks...

for your ideas. I appreciate your input. This sounds close to the format I used at the lower grades-it's good to know it isn't that radically different.