Literature Circles with an Aboriginal Perspective

St.  James-­‐Assiniboia  Oct  7,  2014  

Faye  Brownlie    

yesterday’s song -Duncan Mercredi, 1997

i wish i could slip into muskeg and spruce encircling myself with northern lights wolfsongs and nighthawks rustling the underbrush catching the smells of the past still on me even though my feet are concrete hardened and my spirit tells stories of neon and blues i am the son of muskeg and spruce i still dance to the music of yesterday

Books used:

Strong Readers – Set B Strong Nations Publishing

•  www.strongna?ons.com  

•  6  packs  •  New  this  year:    Set  B,  levels  11-­‐20  

Portage  and  Main  Press  978-­‐1-­‐55379-­‐392-­‐2  

•  Begin  aNer  spring  break  (term  1  and  2  guided  reading)  

•  Pre-­‐teaching,  modeling  and  prac?ce  takes  ?me  

•  Three  ?mes  a  week  for  45  minutes  

•  Use  resource  support  to  support  emergent  readers  

Set  Up  

•  Teacher  reads  with  one  group  while  other  groups  read.  

•  Students  use  s?cky  notes  to  mark  a  place  in  the  book  they  want  to  discuss.  

•  Discussions  are  focused  on  ques?ons,  connec?ons  and  inferences.      

•  Students  also  rate  the  book  and  give  reasons  why.  

Possible  Format  1  

•  Opening:    Review  criteria  for  discussion.  •  Everyone  reads  at  the  same  ?me  (20  minutes).  

•  During  reading,  teacher  reads  with  students  to  give  feedback  and  no?ce  areas  of  growth.  

•  Everyone  discusses  books  at  the  same  ?me.  

•  Closure:  How  did  it  go  today?  Reflect  on  our  discussions.  

Possible  Format  2  

•  Create  an  anchor  chart  about  literature  circles.  

•  What  does  literature  circle  discussions  look  like?  

•  What  does  literature  circle  discussions  sound  like?  

•  Refer  to  chart  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  sessions.  

Create  Criteria  Together  

Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels

Tales    

•  My  name  is  Olemaun  Pokiak  –  that’s  OO-­‐lee-­‐mawn  -­‐  but  some  of  my  classmates  used  to  call  me  “Faay  Legs”.    They  called  me  that  because  a  wicked  nun  forced  me  to  wear  a  pair  of  red  stockings  that  made  my  legs  look  enormous.    But  I  put  an  end  to  it.    How?    Well,  I  am  going  to  let  you  in  on  a  secret  that  I  have  kept  for  more  than  60  years:  the  secret  of  how  I  made  those  stockings  disappear.  

Grand  Conversa?ons,  Thoughful  Responses  -­‐  a  unique  approach  to  literature  circles  -­‐  Faye  Brownlie  

     Portage  and  Main  Press,  2004  

Student  Diversity,  2nd  ed  -­‐  Brownlie,  Feniak  and  Schnellert        Pembroke  Publishers,  2005  

It’s  All  About  Thinking  –  in  English,  Social  Studies  and  Humani?es  –  Brownlie  and  Schnellert,  P  &  M  Press,  2009  

Pulling  Together  –  Schnellert,  Datoo,  Ediger,  Panas    Pembroke,  2009