Literature Circles are small groups of students who meet together to talk about books they have read.

Each member of the group has a job with certain responsibilities.

If the group is to work effectively, each person must do his job. Participation and self-control are important ingredients in successful Literature Circles.

Discussion Director
Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group will want to discuss about the piece. Dont worry about the small details; your job is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share feelings. Usually the best questions come from your own thoughts and ideas as you read.

Sample Questions
What was going through your mind as

you read this piece?

What was the topic or theme?

Did anything surprise you?

How did you feel about

the characters?

Character Analyzer
Your job is to choose a character and write a response about him/her. Does this character remind you of anyone? What is your opinion of the character? What does he look like, and what does he do? Identify some of the characters traits and give evidence from the story to support your ideas.

Artful Artist
Your job is to draw anything about the piece you liked. You may also draw something as a response to the reading.
-Character -Setting -Problem -Exciting Part -Surprising Part

When your group meets, dont say what your drawing is. Let them guess and talk about it. Then you can tell them about it.

Text Connector
Your job is to connect the text to something in life or to another text. Does this story remind you of anything? Identify whether your connection is text to text(TT) or text to life (TL).

Summarizer
Your job is to write a brief summary of the story. That means that you are retelling the key points in a shorter version. Include the main ideas,

Word Finder
Write down any words you dont know. Also write down words the author used that you think are especially interesting or vivid. Use a dictionary to find word meanings. When your group meets, help your group members talk about the words you have chosen.

Passage Picker
Your job is to pick parts of the piece that you want to read aloud to your group. You might choose a: - Good Part - Confusing Part - Important Part - Scary Part - Interesting Part - Funny Part - Surprising Part - Good Description

-Good Writing Sample

Remember:
Do your job with excellence! Do your part to enable your group to have a meaningful conversation about your book. Stay on topic as you talk. Share your ideas and enjoy the conversation.