Lit Circles 201

Literature Circles 201

Comet Hour

ONCE UPON A TIME...

Objectives:

• How to run Literature Circles in Guided Class
• Student-facing resources to help plan
• Discuss plans, ideas, and thoughts as a group

Chat Alert

prep and plan

Goals

50 minute guided

Zoom Whiteboard Brainstorm

upcoming

Freebies

Grade Level Objectives

but what about...

index

Chat Alert!

Take a minute and write out your biggest excitement for literature circles, as well as your biggest worry.

Our goal

• Understand the explicit instruction at each level
• Prep for teaching

Click the star to see a breakdown of objectives for your grade.

Click the star to see a breakdown of objectives for your grade.

Objectives by grade

6th grade

Click the star to see a breakdown of objectives for your grade.

7th grade

8th grade

50-minute lesson map

10 minutes

opening activity of the day.

30 minutes

15 minutes of reading followed by 15 minutes of discussion

10 minutes

lesson wrap-up, exit tickets, final thoughts

30 minutes

on your own time for journaling, i-ready minutes, small-group work, and/or reading for the next class

Padlet Sandbox

Remember...

Each grade also has 4 live classroom days during this unit to play with. Let's generate some ideas on the Padlet Sandbox for what we can use those days for!

Click Me!

Can I work with a group by reading out loud?

Yes and no, let's talk about it.

8th

7th

Fairy god-coach presents

Ready-made book trailers that you don't need to do anything to. I would suggest sharing these ahead of the unit to get the learners thinking about which book they want to read or doing the overview lesson.

6th

Frequently Brought Up...

They don't want to finish or are reading a different book constantly.

The learners are behind!

They can't read these books!

They aren't reading enough

Let's prepWhat else do you need to be successful? How can I or other teachers help that process? Chat or mic

302

301

Upcoming Meeting

Pick a book and join me in lit circles 301 and 302. you'll get a model of what the overview lesson can look like, some ready-to-go resources, and a small discussion on how lit circles will finish as well!! 302 will focus on day 1 reading and discussion! Please let me know if you need anything additional between meetings.

'When a child feels confident in themselves, they then stop seeking the approval of adults at every step'.

Maria Montessori

You may want to source some upper-level reading materials (honors) to help challenge your learners. Likewise, supplemental, you may want to source some that is a lower reading level for yours. It is okay if every single learner is reading a different book, discussions can still be done!

Honors and Supplemental Note

There has been some pushback from families on some of the novels. There is, so far, no one that cannot read any of them. However, you can encourage anyone who needs to opt out of all of them to: 1. read a book at home 2. find a book on SORA

Strongly dislike this project?Cool, here's the code for lesson 3.1.17, use it, adjust it, or ignore it A1945946

• To wrap up your literature circle journey, you have the option of choosing between two short projects. You can:
• write a book review and rate the book you read; or
• rewrite the ending of your book to something you feel is more fitting (if you did not like the ending as it is).

8th grade project

8th grade objectives

• recognize the role and purpose of a lit circle
• review and practice making an inference
• analyze a lit circle book for instances of foreshadowing
• examine a connection between perspective and plot
• analyze the purpose of dialogue in a story
• identify the connotation of different words
• explore how different word choices influence imagery
• identify examples of figurative language
• analyze the tone of a passage
• review theme and subject

• Plan: Learners will revisit the inquiry question and then review the expectations of the assignment. Learners will write a letter to the author of their book. They will choose a topic that relates to the book and find three facts about that topic. The lesson will also review credible websites. Learners can either write a letter or create an audio recording.
• Learners will be given the assignment expectations. Learners will have to create a theme park based on their literature circle books. They will compete a graphic organizer that highlights the plot, setting, characters, and other important elements. Learners will use that information to create rides, food stands, and souviner shops. Learners will have the majority of the lesson to work on the graphic organizer.

6th grade projects

6th grade objectives

• Recognize the role and purpose of a lit circle
• review annotation techniques
• define inference
• determine positive and negative connotations for different words
• identify the do's and don'ts of an effective summary
• identify examples of figurative language
• identify mood in different examples
• identify examples of foreshadowing
• consider how a character would act in a different setting or story
• review subject and theme

Each grade has this in the lessons to remind learners what an active participant is. I would suggest starting class each day with this reminder.

It's okay. They may not get the full discussion experience, but they can still read, complete a job, respond to a discussion,and comment on someone else's post even months later.

Learner-Paced

8th grade reading guide

7th grade reading guide

6th grade reading guide

• Even if the learner only reads 1 page a day, they can still be successful with this unit.
• The goal is to read for a purpose (reading job) and discuss a book.
• The goal is not for every learner to finish their novel.

They will have a chance to read more of this book for passion project if they want to, we will discuss that more come April.

• Assignment: You will consider one of the character's flaws and:
• what the character’s past self would say about their current behavior;
• what other people say or think about them now; and
• what will happen to them in the future if they do not work to improve their flaw.

• Assignment: The process of selecting songs to represent each part of the story's plot encourages you to think deeply about what happens in the story and the emotions it inspires. Your plot playlist should:
• Describe six plot points (exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution).
• Identify six song titles that represent each plot point. As much as possible, the songs should accurately relate to story events.
• Explain why you selected the song to represent that point in your literature circle story.

7th grade projects

7th grade objectives

• recognize the role and purpose of a lit circle
• review annotation techniques
• use details from a text to make an inference
• identify how to use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words
• identify the traits of an effective summary
• identify examples of figurative language

• recall different types of conflicts common in storytelling
• identify character types
• idenitfy foreshadowing in a text
• identify point of view of a text
• identify a theme of a text

Can we group together?

You want to pick a book and let your class know that you'll be leading a group on the book together in the main room? YES! Want to read it out loud together and work through the discussion together and keep it more explicit? YES! Force everyone into one pathway and make it a novel study? Nope! Give the learners a choice and let them try.

• This first year is new for you and them. The goal is just to be excited about reading, and talking about books. We don't need in depth analysis of these novels, you'll do that with the learners in the other units.

• I would suggest:
• Having a meeting with the learner and learning coach
• Determine why they aren't liking the book
• Help them pick one they will enjoy
• Encourage them to read the new one for the remainder of the unit.
• At the end of the day, as long as they are reading something and completing the discussions, they are talking about their reading with their peers.