lit circles: rebooted for ccss and the 4cs
TRANSCRIPT
LIT CIRCLES Rebooted
ForThe 4Câs And
The SEVEN Demands of Comprehension
These kinds of activities are
not rich enough to provide the 7 skills
The RICHNESS of Lit Circles
LIT CIRCLE PITFALLS
HOW TO NOT BREAK LIT CIRCLES
Do: Make all the kids do all the jobs, collaboratively
Do: Give work that is academic and skill based
Don’t split up the jobs
Don’t give unfocused, artsy jobs
Do: Refresh the form every 4-6 weeksDon’t keep the same form all year
Don’t make kids read the entire book before beginning any work Do: Have kids discuss where they are “so far”
LIT CIRCLE PITFALLS
Is it academic? Is it creative?
Is it interesting? Does it make kids better readers?
Do they enjoy the process?
Put your parent hat on, if your own child brought this lit circle home…..
Heed Mushashi’s words:
“The Way is in the
Training”
Or heed Gladwell:
Students will cheat if they don’t know
how to do the given task - Paraphrased
Or heed Marzano:
Great tasks in Lit Circles
The Training.
Kids do not have to read an entire book to begin
Keep the training fun - use pop culture items
Practice lit circles in class BEFORE letting them go home
Lots of 5 and 10 minute segments
WHY Statements rule: They have to explain WHY
Multiple defensible answers are required
Fast Reps.Picture Storybooks.
Commercials on
32 Pages
30 Seconds
The Training.
Use this form daily.
Watch the video or read the picture
book whole class
(Full size form on the next slide) Students work in groups of four
to do ONE quadrant at a time
All the students provided detailed,
written answers
The group then shares to the class
DIVERGENT answers are highly regarded
Summarize Characterize
Conflict Wishes
Somebody Wanted But So Then
Char vs Char
Char vs Self
Char vs Nature
Char vs Machine
Char vs Society
Description Actions Dialogue Interior Monologue How Society sees them
What 3 wishes would the character make? Tell why for each 1. Why: 2. Why? 3. Why?
The Quadrants. Summarizing.
Summarizing made easy.
1. Somebody: Who is the main character (protagonist)
2. Wanted: What does the main character want or need?
3. But: What gets in the way of the main character?
4. So: What does the main character do about it?
5. Then: What was the resolution of the story?
The Quadrants.
Summarizing made easy.
Char vs Char - Buzz LightYear vs Emperor Zurg
Char vs Self - Is Buzz a toy? Or not?
Char vs Nature - Buzz and Woody vs Scud (Sid’s Dog)
Char vs Machine - Buzz in the garbage machine
Char vs Society - The toys blame Woody for Buzz leaving
The Quadrants. Conflict.
Have students identify types of conflict as many as possible.
Pushing the definitions and trying is more important than being exactly correct.
The Quadrants. Conflict.
Great Examples!
TV Commercials. Conflict in 30 Sec.
Characterize.
Characterize. Characters DRIVE the story.
Description - MULTIPLE and UNIQUE qualities. (“brown hair and a smile” will not get it done) Actions - MULTIPLE and UNIQUE actions (“he’s nice”, “she helps people” = too generic) Dialogue - KEY things the character says + catchphrases (“Good morning”, “hello” = not rich enough0 Interior Monologue - What the character thinks about the problem OR other characters and their actions. (The character should think about the conflicts) How Society sees them - The key= NOT what you THINK (Number one error? What YOU think of the character)
Comprehension suffers without knowing characters
Characterize. Student Made Examples
Characterize. Student Made Examples
NEEDS MORE DETAILS
Characterize. Student Made Examples
Characterize. Student Made Examples
those were good, but they lacked WHY statements….
The bonus: Wishes
What 3 wishes would the character make? Tell why for each
1. Why: 2. Why? 3. Why?
The wishes need to be relevant!
Divergence is encouraged
Full Bore Creativity
The bonus: Wishes
What 3 wishes would the character make? Tell why for each
1. Why: 2. Why? 3. Why?
THE WHY STATEMENTS ARE THE KINGS OF THIS WORK -
KIDS SHOULD PROVIDE REASONING IN A SENTENCE
Full Bore Creativity
The Training. Play 30 second commercials
Find commercials on
The Training. Play 30 second commercials
The Training. Play 30 second commercials
The Training. Play 30 second commercials
The Training. Play 30 second commercials
The Training. Play 30 second commercials
Download off YouTube. Optional
BUY-IN.
YOUR STUDENTS WILL ASK TO WATCH AND ANALYZE VIDEOS
OVER AND OVER
Note: This is “close watching” as opposed to “close reading” - but the skills gained are the same
Workflow. Getting kids working
The power of Lit Circles is kids talking about
literature, in small groups and sharing their observations
by recording them.
Workflow. Getting kids working
One
Two Three
Four
Five
Groups can all work on the same aspect and then share out to the whole group
Workflow. Getting kids working
One
Two Three
Four
Or, one person in each group can work on the same aspect and then share out to the whole group
Workflow. Getting kids working
Have strict timeframes.
Two to Five minutes.
Workflow. Getting kids working
Timeframes create intensity.
Text. Translating the skills
Have students read short passages and do the Lit Circles in class, in a controlled setting.
Text. Translating the skills
After they have had success in class - they can begin self-selecting books
to read independently
Building TEXT-TO-SELF Connections
Read a random article - find a:family, story, friend,movie, book connection
Text. Translating the skillsA key thing to teach for independent reading
TEXT TO SELF CONNECTIONSWe need to get kids connecting to books, not just reading what we tell them to read.
Give 6-8 students books to skim at their desks. Have them open a random page and find something, anything they
can relate to in the passage. Connections can be Text to Self, Text to Text or Text to World.
Then, they can write down their one thing and share it with their table group. Repeat a couple times.
This activity helps build text-to-self connections.
Activity:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
The schedule.
Thursday
Friday
10 Minutes of group time - work on Characters SO FAR
10 Minutes of group time - work on Summary SO FAR
10 Minutes of group time - work on CONFLICT SO FAR
40 Minutes of group time - Share/Compare all categories
20 Minutes of whole class share and discussion
How do I know if they are reading the book?
Bad news: They aren’t
But you can fix that with “Why” questions
and Lit Circles
QUICK:
Define Anadiplosis
Anadiplosis
QUICK:
Write three sentences using Anadiplosis
Lit Log Name ___________________ Number________
Book Name__________________________________ Author________________________
Other Books by this author (series)______________________________________________
Publisher __________________________________ City___________ Copyright _________
Year ___________Number of Pages_____ Library of Congress Number_____________
Bibl iography
Literary Devices - find a quote, passage or paragraph which
i l lustrates 1 of each of the following:
Characterization- List 1 Example of each for the Protagonist(///Actions)
1Monologue___________________________________________________________________
2Description__________________________________________________________________
3Dialogue ____________________________________________________________________
4 Actions_____________________________________________________________________
Analogy - A resemblance between similar things - Kitchen=Galley, car key is like a light switch , Babe Ruth
was the Michael Jordan of baseball (metaphor does not use like or as)
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Theme - The simplified message of the story: Star Wars- the Jedi battle the Sith, Sandlot- Boys growing up
loving baseball.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Stereotype - Judging things by their looks - sometimes it is true and sometimes it is wrong.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Foreshadowing - the author gives you hint that something good or bad is going to happen - not just repeating
something, but a hint about the action to come....
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
• Total Pages Read This Week _________________ Parent Signature _______________________
Genre of the book: Fiction Nonfiction Hist Fiction Humor Science Fiction Other ______________
Characterization- List 1 Example of each for the Antagonist
1Monologue___________________________________________________________________
2Description__________________________________________________________________
3Dialogue ____________________________________________________________________
4 Actions_____________________________________________________________________ in use since 1999
in use since 1999
Lit Log/Devices Name ________________ Number_______
Book Name_____________________________________ Author________________________
Other Books by this author (series)_________________________________________________
Publisher __________________________________ City___________ Copyright ___________
Year ___________Number of Pages_____ Library of Congress or ISBN Number_____________
Bibliography
Literary Devices:
Tools for authors and readers to be expert in story telling and reading.
Retell them or copy a sentence from your story that is an example of these devices:
Foreshadowing: A hint or bit of information that allows you to predict an ending. JAWS (dun,dun,dun...)
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Irony: Something that works out to be unexpected. Slow guy wins a race. Smalls doesn’t know who Babe is and
spends the rest of the story trying to get the Babe Ruth ball back. Babe the pig is the best sheep dog.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Theme: The main idea of a story. Sometimes has a lesson or moral to it. Babe’s theme is to be nice and you’ll
be okay. Dances can have themes, like 50’s or disco.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
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Subplot: An extra story in a story. It is an extra thing that adds to a story, but isn’t always necessary.
Ferdinand wants to be a rooster. Rex in Toy Story wants to be scary, Buzz helps him.
__________________________________________________________________
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__________________________________________________________________
Personification: Giving nonhuman things (toys, animals, a storm, a train) human qualities like speech
(talking pigs?), feelings (angry storms?), and so on.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
• Total Pages Read This Week _________________ Parent Signature _______________________
Genre of the book: Fiction Nonfiction Hist Fiction Humor Science Fiction Other ______________
in use since 1999
Lit Log/Devices Name ________________ Number_______
Book Name_____________________________________ Author________________________
Other Books by this author (series)_________________________________________________
Publisher __________________________________ City___________ Copyright ___________
Year ___________Number of Pages_____ Library of Congress or ISBN Number_____________
Bibliography
Literary Devices:
Tools for authors and readers to be expert in story telling and reading.
Retell them or copy a sentence from your story that is an example of these devices:
Cliche- An overused idea, expression or word- Wazzup, Big alien fortress is destroyed by ragtag band of
rebels, anything by a boy band of 3 or more singers........
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Hyperbole-A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a
year or This book weighs a ton.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Theme: The main idea of a story. Sometimes has a lesson or moral to it. Babe’s theme is to be nice and you’ll
be okay. Dances can have themes, like 50’s or disco.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Point of View: 1st Person (Uses I to describe the character)Use a sentence from the story here.
__________________________________________________________________
P.O.V. : 3rd Person (Uses he/she or they, them, it to describe the character)Use a sentence from the story
here. _____________________________________________________________
Personification: Giving nonhuman things (toys, animals, a storm, a train) human qualities like speech
(talking pigs?), feelings (angry storms?), and so on.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Pages read this week _____________
Building the forms
Floating TextGoogle Draw
Building the forms
Floating TextDraw tools
The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they called 'Gitche Gumee' The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead When the skies of November turn gloomy With a load of iron ore twenty-six thousand tons more Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty. That good ship and crew was a bone to be chewed When the gales of November came early.
The ship was the pride of the American side Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin As the big freighters go, it was bigger than most With a crew and good captain well seasoned Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms When they left fully loaded for Cleveland And later that night when the ship's bell rang Could it be the north wind they'd been feelin'?
The wind in the wires made a tattle-tale sound And a wave broke over the railing And every man knew, as the captain did too, T'was the witch of November come stealin'. The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait When the Gales of November came slashin'. When afternoon came it was freezin' rain In the face of a hurricane west wind. When suppertime came, the old cook came on deck sayin'. Fellas, it's too rough to feed ya.
At seven p.m. a main hatchway caved in, he said Fellas, it's been good t'know ya The captain wired in he had water comin' in And the good ship and crew was in peril. And later that night when his lights went outta sight Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Does any one know where the love of God goes When the waves turn the minutes to hours? The searches all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her. They might have split up or they might have capsized; May have broke deep and took water. And all that remains is the faces and the names Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.
Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings In the rooms of her ice-water mansion. Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams; The islands and bays are for sportsmen. And farther below Lake Ontario Takes in what Lake Erie can send her, And the iron boats go as the mariners all know With the Gales of November remembered.
In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed, In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral. The church bell chimed till it rang twenty-nine times For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald. The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down Of the big lake they call 'Gitche Gumee'. Superior, they said, never gives up her dead When the gales of November come early!
Using the earlier materials, use this song to build a Lit Circle
I knew a man, Bojangles, and he'd dance for you in worn out shoes, with silver hair, a ragged shirt, and baggy pants. He would do the old soft shoe. He could jump so high, jump so high, and then he'd lightly touch down.
I met him in a cell in New Orleans, I was, down and out. He looked to me to be the very eyes of age as the smoke ran out, talked of life, lord that man talked of life, laughed, clicked his heels and stepped.
He said his name was "Bojangles" and he danced a lick right across the cell. He grabbed his pants, took a bitter stance, jumped up high. That's when he clicked his heels. Then he let go a laugh, lord, he'd let go a laugh, shook back his clothes all around.
Mr. Bojangles. Mr. Bojangles. Mr. Bojangles dance.
He told me of the times he worked with minstrel shows, through out The South. He spoke with tears of fifteen years how his dog and he, they travel all about. the dog up and died, dog up and died, and after twenty years he still grieved.
He said "I dance now and every chance a honkey-tonk, for drinks and tips. But most of the time I spend behind these country bars, you see son, I drinks a bit." he shook his head. as he shook his head, I heard someone say please, please, please.
A-Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, Mr. Bojangles, dance.
Using the earlier materials, use this song to build a Lit Circle
Don’t teach books Teach SKILLS
CHOICE is the only
THING
Book levels DO NOT MATTER
Read together Share
Report alone
THIS WILL HAPPEN
Kids will see Irony, Paradox, Poetic Justice,
Foreshadowing and more in REAL LIFE
NOT just books.
THIS PROCESS IS MORE
IMPORTANT THAN
STANDARDIZED SCORES
LIT CIRCLES Rebooted
ForThe 4Câs And