Transcript Literature Circles: Read, Think, Discuss, Collaborate

LITERATURE CIRCLES:
READ, THINK, DISCUSS,
COLLABORATE
Mary Anne Peters, Mohawk College
Julianne Burgess, Mohawk College
Copyright Mary Anne Peters and Julianne Burgess, 2010. This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is
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Outcomes

Understand the value of Literature Circles in ESL
classes:
 extensive
reading
 critical thinking
 group work

Identify strategies for making Literature Circles
succeed in your teaching environment
Overview


What are Literature Circles?
Why are they effective? (theory and evidence)
Benefits of extensive reading
 Choice
 Independence
 Group work


How can they work?
What we’ve done at Mohawk
 Other models
 Your context


Questions and answers
What are Literature Circles?
Students:
choose a book
make a group with others who chose the
same book
meet regularly and talk about the book

Key Ingredients

Choice


choice of book (which determines groups)
Voice
discussion topics come from the students
 open, natural discussions  personal connections and
digressions are fine!


Independence


teacher is a facilitator
Fun

like adult book clubs (without the wine)
How do students benefit?

read extensively
read better
→ improve all language skills
→ learn to enjoy reading
→
think about ideas in books
 practice speaking
 collaborate

Extensive Reading
= quickly reading book after book for
ordinary, real-world purposes of
pleasure and information
Characteristics of Extensive Reading
Students read lots of material that is easy (not
many unknown words)
 Students choose what they want to read from a
wide variety of material
 Reading is its own reward: no exercises or
follow-up activities

(Day and Bamford, 1998)
Cognitive Basis for Extensive Reading

builds reading speed and comprehension
“sight vocabulary”  fast, automatic
recognition of words so the brain can do the
other processes of reading
 builds a wide general vocabulary
 builds knowledge of the target language, the
world and text types
 builds
(Day and Bamford, 1998)
Affective Basis for Extensive Reading
How to overcome fear and dislike of reading
and build a positive attitude and motivation?
 easy books  success
 book choice  more interest
 choice of when and where to read  control
 emphasis on personal reaction to reading 
less fear of judgment
(Day and Bamford, 1998)
Evidence that Extensive Reading Works
Day and Bamford (1998) cite 11 studies
showing significant gains
 Bell (2001) compared two groups of learners:

1.
2.

intensive reading program
extensive reading program
approximately same number of hours
Extensive reading group did significantly
better on reading speed and comprehension.
Extensive Reading and Literature
Circles

extensive reading: LARGE volume needed
for benefit
(Horst 2005)
Literature Circles alone are not enough
 BUT can open the door to reading in
English

Think
“reader response” literary criticism
 proficient readers respond in many ways BUT
many of our students need training in how to
respond

 modelling:
teacher-led discussions of short stories or
class novels
 discussing ways of responding
 role sheets or “quote, question, comment”
Critical Thinking

reading a lot helps build critical
thinking:
information base  can make
non-obvious connections  speculative
thinking
builds
(Day and Bamford, 1998)
Discuss
regular meetings
 establish guidelines
 self-evaluate group process
 whole class debrief after discussion:

 start
with the books
 then talk about process
Collaborate

characteristics of collaborative learning:
“student-initiated inquiry, choice, self-direction,
mutual interdependence, face-to-face
interaction, and self- and group assessment”
(Daniels, 2002, p. 35)

students need training, practice, reflection
Strategies tried at Mohawk
LINC 3-7 classes do Literature/Reading
Circles on the same day
 Building library of graded readers
choice
 Role sheets versus other ways of
responding and preparing for discussion

Successes and Challenges

most students love them:
 reading
and sharing
 interested by all the different interpretations

BUT some problems with:
 irregular
attendance
 poor preparation
 lack of buy-in
In other contexts

Literature Circles are widely used in
elementary and secondary schools
How much, how often?

Daniels (2002) advocates that Lit Circles
run continuously throughout the year
 can
build on learning
 “Lit circles hit their stride when everyone has
internalized the norms and warmed up as
readers.” (p. 21)
Responding and Preparing for
Discussions

debate over Role Sheets
feel like busywork  mechanical approach
 should treat them like “training wheels”
 can

other options:
 open-ended
reading response logs (loose paper or
notebooks)
 sticky notes

discussion topics come from students  should feel
free to discuss any kind of response
(Daniels, 2002)
In class or homework?
public schools: DEAR (Drop Everything and
Read) or SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) 
message that reading is valuable
 start with more time in class, move towards
more as homework

Conclusions
worth doing
 many different approaches
 key elements:

 choice
in books
 student-led discussion
 keep it natural
Resources


sample role sheets in Daniels 2002
many different styles available on the internet (e.g.
www.superteacherworksheets.com/reading.html)
References
Bell, T. (2001). Extensive Reading: Speed and comprehension.
The Reading Matrix (April 2001): 1(1). Retrieved
September 6, 2010 from
http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/bell/
Daniels, H. (2002). Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book
Clubs and Reading Groups. Markham: Pembroke
Publishers.
Day, R. and J. Bamford. (1998). Extensive Reading in the
Second Language Classroom. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
Horst, M. (2005). Learning L2 Vocabulary through Extensive
Reading: A Measurement Study. The Canadian Modern
Language Review (March 2005), 61 (3), pg. 355-382
Contact Us
Mary Anne Peters
Mohawk College
905-575-1212 x3414
[email protected]
Julianne Burgess
Mohawk College
905-575-1212 x3417
[email protected]