Living. Writing. Voice.: Literature Circles II Organization

Friday, September 14, 2012

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