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Literature Circles and Technology: Explore the Possibilities Susan Silverman GaETC 2006 16 November 2006 Known By Many Names The Reading Experts • • • • • Literature Study: Fountas and Pinnell Literature Circles: Harvey Daniels Book Clubs: Lucy Calkins Book Clubs: Keene and Zimmerman Literature Discussion Groups: Leu and Kinzer Just to Name a Few! Definition Students meet regularly in small groups to deepen their understanding of literature. Literature Circles • Students • Choose Books • Groups Are Small (Heterogeneous or Homogeneous) Based on Student Needs • Groups Meet Regularly • Teacher is a Facilitator • Evaluation by Student Self Assessment and Teacher Observation • Extensions Activities • Everybody Has Fun The Benefits • • • • • • • • Fit into a balanced literacy program Improve student achievement Foster student enjoyment of reading Multicultural Awareness Provide social outlets Improve communication Higher level of engagement with text Endorsed by The National Literacy Standards (NCTE and IRA) Role Sheets or Response Logs? Role Sheets Tools to help students work in a peer-led discussion group. Response Logs Students record their feelings, insights, and factual evidence. Response logs are shared in the literature circle discussion. Word Wizard • Identify and study new and interesting words. Computer Resources Dictionary.Com Visual Thesaurus Phil’s ESL Resource Pages Discussion Director • Ask open ended questions to promote thoughtful discussion among group members and the global community. A Few Online Discussion Resources Nicenet Blackboard eBoard Blogger Wiki • Ms. Kreul’s Class Blog • Wringer • The Polar Express Blog • Mrs. Richardson’s Literature Circles Summarizer • Represent the major events in the text in any format. – Timelines • ReadWriteThink Timeline Click on Student Materials • Tom Snyder Timeliner – Slide Shows • MaxShow (Power Point) • Kid Pix Researcher • Investigate interesting aspects of the story such as setting, author, historical context. Illustrator • Express your perspective of the text through any medium. Passage Master • Identify and interpret memorable, special and important sections of the text through any medium. • Internet Resources – Online Photographs – Clip Art – Sounds Passage Master Connector • Represent connections between the text and personal or life experiences of people you know. • Internet Resources: Primary Documents – Diaries – Photographs – Essays – Videos Assessment • Student Self Evaluation • Informal Assessment: Teacher Observation-Not Testing! Would YOU join a book club if you were getting a grade? • Group Assessment Helping Struggling Readers • • • • • • • Adult volunteers read with student Student reads with a partner Shorter and easier books Create audiotapes of the book Mini-Lessons-Direct Instruction E-Books Software Low Auditory Learners http://www.tomsnyder.com Extension Projects • Extension projects are not art activities for their own sake. A good extension project will keep the thinking and response alive even after students have finished a book. The goal is to lure students back into the book to cement, enhance, and even reinvent what they gained from their first visit.”¹ ¹http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/kschlnoe/LitCircles/Extension/extension.html, Katherine L. Schlick Noe, 2004. Comparing Book Reports and Extension Projects • • • • • • Book Reports Offers readers a chance to pause and reflect once initial reading is over Develop from a book alone Are crafted independently Rarely involve draft work, planning or rereading Have a limited audience: the teacher Can be done without reading the book • • • • • • Extension Projects Offers readers a chance to pause and reflect once initial reading is over Develop from a book read and discussed with others Can be crafted independently or collaboratively Often require drafting of ideas or rereading Have an extended audience: global community Require reading, rereading, and even discussing with others to complete project Getting Started With Literature Circles (Schlick Noe et al.,1999) Focus Lesson: Extension Project Guiding Questions • Will the audience learn something about your book from your project? • Does your project show what you have learned by reading the book? • Did you reflect and reread part of the book in order to get your ideas across? Computers Generated Extension Projects • • • • • • • Collage ABC Book CD Cover Commemorative Stamp Time Line Computer Graphic Book Cover Example Commemorative Stamp CD Cover Story Quilt Persuasive Writing Dear Justice Strauss, I am writing to you on behalf of my play The Marvelous Marriage. I think your skills and knowledge on being a judge would be perfect for a part in my play. In addition, your eyes are beautiful, because they are perfect in color. Your hair is radiant because it shimmers in the daylight like golden hay. Moreover, your body shows nothing but true elegance. Even the scent of you as you pass reminds me of wildflowers. Extension Project Assessments • Extension Project Evaluation Forms The recommended way to assess extension projects is by listening to conversations and taking notes. Of course, your students can create their own rubrics. • Rubi Star You’re Invited to Join comsewogue.org/~ssilverman/litcircles/index.htm Getting Started • Devote Time-Nothing in this model is outside of what your students need to know • Explain Activities • Concrete Examples-Videotapes • Student Assessment: Successes and Opportunities • Is scaffolding in order? Mini-Lessons are the answer! • Laura Candler’s Resources Choose Carefully-Different Variations! Literature Circle Resources • Dreadful Online Resources • Resources Recommended Books • Campbell Hill, Bonnie, Johnson, Nancy, and Schlick Noe, Katherine. (Ed) (1995) Literature Circle and Response. Christopher-Gordon Publishers:Norwood, MA., USA. • Daniels, Harvey. (2002). Literature Circles Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups. Pembroke Publishers Limited:Markam, Ontario • Schlick Noe, Katherine L.and Johnson, Nancy.(1999) Getting Strated with Literature Circles. Christopher-Gordon Publishers:Norwood, MA. USA. • Pollack Day, Jeni, Spiegel, Dixie Lee, McLellan, Janet and Brown, Valerie. (2002) Moving Forward with Literature Circles. Scholastic: NY., USA • Cavanaugh, Terence. (2006). Literature Circles through Technology. Linworth Publishing, Inc., Worthington, Ohio Happy Reading! [email protected] susansilverman.com