Literature Circles

8th Grade Language Arts

Purpose• analyze what you read in an

in-depth way

• respect others’ opinions about literature

• listen and learn

• speak and communicate

Elements of Literature Circles• Respect• Reading• Speaking• Listening• Writing• Illustrating• Decision Making• Cooperation• Responsibility

What to do and

when to do it!

After a piece of literature has been read, you will get into your literature circles.

I. Individually work on your task

II. Participate in your group’s discussion

III. Participate in the whole-class discussion

Four (7) Roles in Literature Circles

4 Roles in Literature Circles

• Discussion Facilitator• Passage Picker• Connector • Illustrator• Word Master• Recorder• Summarizer

Task of the Discussion Facilitator

• Generates (creates) “4” questions that will lead the group to analyze the “big ideas” of the reading

• Leads the discussion with the four questions

• Models listening

Task of the Passage Picker• Locates “4” special parts of

the selection that impacts the plot, theme, action, or character development

• Justifies (gives reasons why) the 4 choices

• Selects members of group to read each passage aloud

Task of the Connector• Identifies “4”

connections you have made between the reading and the real world (TT) (TL) (TS) (TW)

• Records the event in the literature with which you made a connection to the event in your real life

• Shares the connections

Illustrator• Selects a scene from the

assigned pages that made an impression on you

• Illustrates that scene with details so others will recognize the impact (Must display in-depth thinking)

• Creates a clever caption for your illustration

Summarizer

Your job is to write a brief summary of the story. That means that you are retelling the key points in a shorter version. Include the main ideas, but leave out small details.

Word Finder

Write down any words you don’t know. Also write down words the author used that you think are especially interesting or vivid. Use a dictionary to find word meanings. When your group meets, help your group members talk about the words you have chosen.

Recorder

• Your role is to record the main points of today’s discussion. Your notes may be in point form. Try to respond the key point that each speaker makes. You will be asked to share your record of the discussion at the end of today’s Literature Circle.

ADVANCED: Character Analyzer

Your job is to choose a character and write a response about him/her. Does this character remind you of anyone? What is your opinion of the character? What does he look like, and what does he do? Identify some of the character’s traits and give evidence from the story to support your ideas.

• Literature Elements

• Story Elements

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry/Sound of the Trees: Mildred

Taylor• http://www.msu.edu/~wohltjes/WebQuest/task.ht

m

• http://jimcrowhistory.org/resources/pdf/amlit_lp_roll_of_thunder.pdf

• http://teach.fcps.net/trt8/Rolling%20Thunder/ThunderWebQuest.htm

• http://www.woostersch.org/library/WebQuests/WQrollofthunder.htm

• http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~elbond/thunder.htm

Sounder

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sounder

• http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1936.html

• http://www.sesdweb.net/37557132219357/lib/37557132219357/African_American_History_Unit.html

VIDEO

• http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/search/assetDetail.cfm?guidAssetID=25832F53-4D5F-44E9-AC38-C1CC5E0C4892

Are you ready to begin?

What concerns or questions do you

have?