Transcript Literature Circles

an introduction…
(adapted from Harvey Daniels'
book of the same name)
Holly Dilatush
February 6, 2009
a collaborative way of approaching reading and
learning about what you are reading

useful for any reading groups, study groups or
book clubs
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a way that involves everyone!
literature circles “rotate” (in circles ), with each
person trying each of the roles

Literature circles help readers engage
meaningfully with the texts they are reading!

Literature circles can be used with any
writing sample, from paragraph to news
article to chapter to books (fiction or
nonfiction); Literature circles work with any
written text!

What are the literature circle roles? (see
the next slide!)
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The easiest way to begin to understand the power of literature circles is
to learn and understand the various roles
 discussion director
 creative connector
 vocabulary vitalizer
 idea illustrator
 character captain
 literary luminary
 essence extractor
 rigorous researcher
 travel tracer
Facilitates discussions when group meets; is
responsible for:
 Being sure each person has their turn to
speak, to contribute to the discussion
 Gently reminds that it’s someone else’s turn
when anyone talks tooooo long 
 Guides the conversation from one person to
another, if/as needed
 Might “recap” and repeat outline of what’s
been said (the discussion director is also welcome to share

and contribute their own thoughts to the conversation)
Selects three to five phrases or passages in the
reading that reminded them of something/someone
else and briefly shares the phrase/passage and the
connection.

Example # 1: You are reading about a mother and daughter
relationship and a particular line spoken by the mother
reminds you of a conversation/situation you experienced with
your mother – share your story and talk about your feelings
and how you imagine the character feels at that point of the
story.

Example # 2: The story mentions a particular place and it’s a
place you’ve visited before, talk about that – try to connect
specifics in the reading to your real experience.

Selects ten to twenty vocabulary words or
phrases or idioms:
 Researches their meaning
 Provides the list and definitions/
explanations to the group (may provide photos
or drawings, too)
 Selects three or more from the list and writes
new sentences, using the words or phrases in a
new sentence that illustrates the meaning.
Selects three or more specific passages or themes
from the reading and:
 (in a face-to-face class) Draws pictures or sketches
“webs” (mind-mapping illustrations) that relate to
their thinking.
 In an online class these sketches might be scanned
and shared – or online tools (such as clip art and
Microsoft Office’s Smart Art) might be used.
**Note!** The drawing talents of the idea illustrator
are not important – it’s the connections made that
are important (however, if you are one of those lucky people

with a talent for drawing, here is an opportunity for you to shine! )
Selects one or more characters and develops
detailed descriptions:
 Follows their chosen character(s) through the entire
reading passage and shares their observations
 Example #1: might track a character’s emotions and
list how they change throughout the passage
 Example #2: might compare two characters, noting
similarities and differences that they observe
 Use your imagination and find your own ways to
deepen the understanding of certain characters!
Selects three to five short passages from the
reading – passages which the luminator thinks
are among the most important and/or powerful
– and:
 Reads them aloud to the group (giving page number
location of the passage)
 Explains why they chose them
Tries to capture the major theme or themes of
the reading and describe it in ten words or less.
 Hopefully will encourage response and debate
from others in the circle –
 This may sound like one of the easiest roles,
but can be one of the most difficult! So,
collaborative discussion is especially helpful!
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Place the story in the world!
The travel tracer might:
 draw a map
 might find a map and “trace” the route (or routes) of
the story on that map
 may simply write a list of the places, in the order
they appear in the reading – and provide that list
with a map, pointing to each place as he/she shares
his/her list
The travel tracer begins with the “world” (it
may be outer space, it may be the earth, or a
virtual world) and then “maps” the story in that
world.

Selects one or more topics from the reading to
research in depth.
 Example #1: If the reading references a
language or culture unfamiliar to most of the
group (or unfamiliar to the rigorous researcher),
he/she might learn more about the language or
culture
 Example #2: If the reading references many
names of unfamiliar foods, games, plants,
clothes, music (or other things), the rigorous
researcher might find photos and/or descriptions
of those and share them with the group

Holly will make a schedule with the list of the
roles and ask people to choose a role.
2. Participants in the reading group will promise
to try and prepare for their role.
3. Holly hopes that participants will post their
contributions to the Book Club’s group
discussion forums, too.
4. We’ll meet on Skype (and use “DimDim”
online interactive whiteboards, too)
1.
Welcome everyone!
Q & A (help each other!)
Discussion Director takes the lead and
selects someone (or asks for volunteers) to
start – then makes sure each person has a
turn!
 And then the fun begins!
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continued…
For literature circles to work most effectively, it is very
important that EACH participant takes a turn at
EACH of the different roles.
Helping each other through the process is part of the
fun!
Learning is about growing and reaching for new
experiences.
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http://www.literaturecircles.com/
We will use literature circles to discuss our
reading of the book:
Kite Runner (author Khaled Hosseini)
EnglishCafe ID = Smiling7
Skype ID:
smilin7