Literature Circles: Synchronous Learners

Literature CIrcles

In your Guided Classroom

Description

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

What is your biggest worry for Lit Circles? What is your biggest excitement?

Share those both in the chat or on the mic

Breakdown by grade

Explore

On your own click through your grade level to review objectives for your unit and projects Share any notices and wonders in the chat or on the mic

6th grade

8th grade

7th grade

Several Options

50-Minute Lesson Mapping

Traditional Practices

Additional Ideas

Flipped Classroom

tried and true

add some spice

ways you can structure that are more creative

But what about live classes?

Padlet Sandbox

Let's brainstorm

Frequently Asked Questions/Concerns

If I say breakout room, the learners flee

• Give them options. Tell them they can either go into a breakout for their book of choice or they can hang out in the main room while you read this specific book.

How do I know the learners are on task in Breakout Rooms?

• Rotate through if you don't have a main room group.
• Set norms and expectations at the beginning of class and remind them each class.
• Give them something to complete while in breakout rooms.

Freebies

Book trailers for each grade level, already prepared and ready to use to get the learners excited about choosing their book!

Ready-made presentations for your unit.

Padlet: Day 1 Overview

Padlet: Day 1 Reading and Discussion

Additional Thoughts

There has been some pushback from families regarding certain novels. There is, so far, no one who 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

• 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.

• 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.

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.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Use this side of the card to provide more information about a topic. Focus on one concept. Make learning and communication more efficient.

Honors and Supplemental Note

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.

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 are a lower reading level for yours. If you need help sourcing additonal reading, reach out to Jenn Lehman or Lea Vozella It is okay if every single learner is reading a different book, discussions can still be done!

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

What if they can't read these books?

What if they don't read enough?

The learners are behind!

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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.

6th grade reading guide

Write a brief description here

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Write a brief description here

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7th grade reading guide

8th grade reading guide

Do you have questions?

We are here to help you. If anything was unclear or you want to explore a topic further, feel free to contact us. Your curiosity is also part of the learning process.

Jenn Lehman Instructional Coach

Lea Vozzella Learning Department Specialist

Bookings Page

Bookings Page

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

6th Grade Objectives

Assignment 1:

• 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.

Assignment 2

• 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

VS

Flipped Classroom

Here is one possible way to flip the classroom during literature circles, letting learners read outside of class and focusing class time on the discussion instead

Role-Based Rotations with Mini-Workshops

Inquiry-Based

• Focus: Student-driven exploration of themes, questions, and connections.
• Structure:
• Students generate their own questions before reading (e.g., “What does justice look like in this story?”).
• During class, they explore these questions in small groups.
• Teacher acts as a facilitator, guiding deeper inquiry and helping students connect ideas across texts.

• Focus: Skill-building and collaborative analysis.
• Structure:
• Divide the class into rotating stations:
• Station 1: Vocabulary & Literary Devices
• Station 2: Character & Plot Analysis
• Station 3: Theme & Author’s Purpose
• Station 4: Creative Response (e.g., sketch, poem, alternate ending)
• Teacher leads one station as a mini-workshop while others work independently or in groups.

Project-Based Literature Circles

Gamified Literature Circles

• Focus: Creative synthesis and real-world connections.
• Structure:
• Students read and discuss in groups, then work toward a culminating project (e.g., podcast episode, digital storyboard, mock trial, thematic collage).
• Class time is used for collaboration, planning, and feedback.
• Encourages deeper engagement and cross-disciplinary thinking.

• Focus: Motivation and engagement through game elements.
• Structure:
• Students earn points or badges for completing roles, contributing to discussion, or making insightful connections.
• Use breakout rooms for “quests” (e.g., solve a mystery using clues from the text).
• Leaderboards or team challenges can add excitement.

Want to try one of these but unsure of how to structure it in your class? Reach out, I would love to work with you to try something new!

Block Schedule Literature Circle

How to set up your classroom for maximum achievement

• 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

7th Grade Objectives

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

VS

Additional Thought

• 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

8th Grade Objectives

Assignment: 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 Projects

VS

Ready to spice it up? Check out this-> A1945946 (Historical)

Credit: Laurel Ramos