Word Wall: People

Word Wall: People 

1. List all of the characters below, followed by some page numbers they are described on and a physical description including age, hair color, etc.

2. Hold a note-card vertically and place the name (1/2” thick or so) on top

3. Go through magazines and tear/cut out pictures of people you think would represent those characters appropriately.

4. Glue these pictures on the middle of the card

5. On the bottom of the card, write a brief description of the character’s role in the story. A sample will be passed around

"The Sixth Sense" Handout

The Sixth Sense

Hear/ Do you hear a brook?  Can you make a soundtrack?

See/ What can you visualize about the story? 

Taste/Is the character’s mouth dry?  Can you taste a kiss?           

Smell/Is something cooking?  Does someone need a mint?  

Touch/ What solid objects surround the character? What does the clothing feel like? 

Literature Circles Quick Check

For a quick in-class assessment with multiple groups and only one teacher, I use this quick-assessment for immediate feedback so the students can understand how I think they are doing in the class during that day's group/individual discussion.  The other fifty points are for their summary/reaction and the sheet is handed back for the full literature circle grade.

Name: _________________  Date: __________ (front)

Book: ___________  Chapter: ___     Pages ___-___

Homework (Group Grade)

Reaction:                         _____/5

Summary:                        _____/5

Literary Luminary:          _____/5

Scene Setter:                 _____/5

Notes                              _____/5
              Total _____/25

              Class Participation (Individual Grade)

Used Notes:                   _____/5

Raised Hand:                  _____/5

Took notes/discussion   _____/5

Participated                    _____/10

             Total _____/25

______________ (back) ______________ 

Summary:  

What did you discuss in today's literature circle? (25 points):

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

Reaction:  

What do you think you could do next time to make the discussion more effective? (25 points):

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

_______________________________________

Literature Circles II Organization

I use this handout to keep track of who is doing what in a literature circle. It uses a basic word-based cell, so if you cut/paste, and insert a row, it should automatically update the information for a fifth group member; the same works for deleting.

As far as categorizing, I use the categories I found in Harvey Daniels' books; I believe the information can also be found on his website:

http://www.literaturecircles.com/

Although I could outline the jobs using my own variation of the terminology, I find it to be more effective if the classroom or curriculum rubric delineates the job.  I would suggest either a handout or notes be brought to class on the day of the lit circle so that the students can reference their information for discussion purposes.  

The goal of a literature circle is discussion; if there isn't a ton of talking, I hype-up the job so that they (at minimum) read from the sheet.  I find that more advanced discussions have less specifications on the student jobs.

Again, the method I found most helpful was the Harvey Daniels samples.  I've loved his books and found his website to be a great resource.  (He also tends to answer rogue emails and shakes your hand with sincerity.)  Information for the book and an image of the author can be found at the bottom of this worksheet.

Jobs and Dates Organizer

1:         Leader                        Summarizer                 Connector (Text to: Self/World/Text).

2:                                             Questioner                  Researcher

3:                                             Scene Setter                 Illustrator

4:                                             Word Wizard              Lit Luminary

Due Dates:	Job #1	Job #2	Job #3	Job #4

Skills	Group Members Names				Total
Total

Mini-lessons for Literature Circles

Harvey Daniels , Nancy Steineke

Pub Date: 7/14/2004 
Product Type: Paperback 

Grade: 6th - 12th