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Literature Circles Logistics

Getting Started

• Pat Elliott's 24-page Hand-Out, a comprehensive guide to getting started. Includes copy-ready role sheets.
• Literature Circle Planning Guide.doc Hand-Out: Instructions for absent students to write a friendly letter to discuss book.
• IR program description.doc One idea for weaving together reading, journaling, discussing, writing: Hand-Out: Describes assignments:  
  Reading Response Journal, Polished Responses, Annotated Bibliography

Selecting Texts

• American History Themed Texts: Nancy Steineke's American History Literature Circle Text Sets

Scheduling

• MappingMini-Lessons.pdf Teacher Model:  Example of planning

  mini-lessons

Using Roles

Cautionary Note: Daniels and others recommend using these sparingly--if at all--to train students in strategies for

reading  deeply and discussing texts. The purpose is to define skills explicitly and give students opportunities to

 practice, not use the role sheets as worksheets.

• LitCircle_Roles.doc Hand-Out:  Assigns roles for LC.

• LC_AlternateAssignment.doc  Hand-out: Student graphic organizer assigning specific reading strategies for journaling
• AP Roles for Nonfiction: Article by Sylvia Sarrett

Reader's Notebook

• DialecticNotes.pdf  Hand-Out:  Model two column notes from The Awakening by Chopin
•  Flickr Photos:  Sample Reading Response Journals written by students