Real Books that Change Your Life!

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Real Books that Change Your Life!

• Real books are wonderful. . . Real books rest
  beside your bed, clutter the coffee table, and
  stand on shelves at the ready - waiting to be
  lifted, opened, and brought to life by your
  reading. Real booksare written by authors who
  know how to unlock the world with words and to
  open our eyes and our hearts. Each real book has
  its own voice - a singular clear voice-and each
  speaks words that move us towards increased
  consciousness.
• Peterson Eeds , Grand Conversations. 2007

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Why Literature Circles?

• Studies have shown that when students are
  involved in authentic conversation about
  literature, they are more engaged in their
  reading (Alpert, 1987 Enciso, 1996) and they
  take more risks (Eeds Wells, 1989).
• Literature circles also promote students
  motivation to read and have been shown to improve
  students reading levels and performance on tests
  (Davis, Resta, Davis, Camacho, 2001).
• Student-Centered Reading A Review of Research
  on Literature Circles EPS Tanya Auger 2003

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• Thinking Together Arthur L. Costa
• Learning is a reciprocal process the individual
  influences the groups thinking, and the group
  influences the individuals thinking.
• Instructional techniques that encourage group
  activities help students construct both their own
  and shared knowledge.

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As we construct meaning using Thinking Maps in
our Literature Circles we meet the National
Standards for Language Arts.

• Students read a wide range of print and nonprint
  texts
• to build an understanding of texts, of
  themselves, and of the cultures of the United
  States and the world
• to acquire new information
• to respond to the needs and demands of society
  and the workplace and for personal fulfillment.
• Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction,
  classic and contemporary works.

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As we construct meaning using Thinking Maps in
our Literature Circles we meet the National
Standards for Language Arts.

• Students apply a wide range of strategies to
  comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate
  texts.
• They draw on their prior experience, their
  interactions with other readers and writers,
  their knowledge of word meaning and of other
  texts, their word identification strategies, and
  their understanding of textual features.

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As we construct meaning using Thinking Maps in
our Literature Circles we meet the National
Standards for Language Arts.

• Students develop an understanding of and respect
  for diversity in language use, patterns, and
  dialects across cultures, ethnic groups,
  geographic regions, and social roles.
• Students participate as knowledgeable,
  reflective, creative, and critical members of a
  variety of literacy communities.

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English Language Learners

• According to Peralt-Nash Dutch (2000),
  literature circles provide a low-risk environment
  for children who are learning English as a second
  language.
• Some authors believe that these students are able
  to make use of the linguistic resources and
  knowledge they posses in order to make sense of
  the text, to relate it to their life experience,
  and to participate in the group discussion in
  meaningful and functional ways (Peralta-Nash
  Dutch 2000).
• ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and
  Communication Digest 173 Chia-Hui Lin (2002)

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Harvey Daniels, Literature Circles Voice and
Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom. 2002
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Harvey Daniels, Literature Circles Voice and
Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom. 2002
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Connector

• Finds text-to-self connections connects to
  events and/or experiences in your own life.
• Finds text-to-text connections similar events in
  other books and stories, other text on the same
  topic, or other text by the same author.
• Finds text-to-world connections similar
  happenings taking place in the school, community,
  or world, similar events in other times or
  places.

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Literary Luminary

• Choose passages that beg to be read aloud to the
  group.
•  Look for passages that are powerful, memorable,
  surprising, or puzzling.
• Justify your reasons for selecting the
  passage/passages

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Set Designer

• Identify the setting and the specific parts of
  the setting.
• Add a Frame of Reference and draw some
  conclusions about why the author chose this
  setting.
• Identify parts of the setting that are not
  specifically described, but that are inferred.
• Illustrate and/or cut out magazine pictures to
  capture the setting described in the text.

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"The land was barren and desolate. He could see a
few rundown buildings and some tents. Farther
away there was a cabin beneath two tall trees.
Those two trees were the only plant life he could
see. There weren't even weeds."
Nearly everything in the room was broken the
TV, the pinball machine, the furniture.
There were seven cots, each one less then two
feet from the one next to it. Seven crates were
stacked in two piles at one side of the tent.
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The barnwas pleasantly cool in summer when the
big doors stood wide open to the breeze. The
barn had stalls on the main floor for the work
horses, tie-ups on the main floor for the cows, a
sheepfold down below for the sheep, a pigpen down
below for Wilbur, and it was full of all sorts of
things that you find in barns
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Character Captain

• Identify the major characters in the piece.
• Describe revealing personality traits.
• Justify those traits with examples of the
  behaviors and/or actions of the
  character/characters
• Show character change over time.
• Compare and contrast the protagonist and
  antagonist.

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• Upset
• Happy
• Angry
• Sad
• Nervous
• Scared

happy
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Summary Expert

• Summarize the passage, chapter, or book.
• Do not retell the entire sequence of events, just
  focus on the important parts.
• Summarize in pictures, phrases or sentences.
• Describe the mood or tone of each event .
• Create a plot line including the climax and
  resolution.

?
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Summary Expert

• Summarize the passage, chapter, or book.
• Do not retell the entire sequence of events, just
  focus on the important parts.
• Summarize in pictures, phrases or sentences.
• Describe the mood or tone of each event .
• Create a plot line including the climax and
  resolution.

?
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Vocabulary Visionary

• Look for memorable language strong verbs,
  figurative language, interesting words/phrases,
  and vivid descriptions
• These examples should be puzzling, funny, vivid,
  unfamiliar, used in an unusual way, repetitive
  and/or important to the story.

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Composer

• Identify the genres of music that would make up
  the soundtrack of this story.
• Choose one scene in the novel that MUST have
  music, choose a specific song and justify the
  reasons for your choice.
• Choose a song for each of the major characters in
  the text and describe the mood that the song
  creates.

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strong
Charlotte Respect
proud
joyous
confident
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Illustrator

• Draw a picture related to the text you have just
  read.
• Draw a picture of something that you were
  reminded of in the story.
• Draw a picture that illustrates a mood or feeling
  you got from the passage.
• Label the parts of your picture.
• Frame your illustration with one of the following
  questions What does the picture mean to you?
  Where did the idea for this picture come from?
  or What does this picture represent to you?

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Discussion Director

• As a group frame your thinking with Ahas, Big
  Ideas, Fat Questions, or Wonderings

How did this story change your thinking about?
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Taking it off the maps

• Posters advertising the book
• TV movie critic-style reviews
• Panel debates
• Diary of a character
• Interview with the author (real or fictionalized)
• A new ending for the book
• Performances of a lost scene from the book
• Family tree of a key character
• ABC Book
• Harvey Daniels, Literature Circles Voice and
  Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom. 2002

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Adaptations for the primary grades (K-2)

• Books appropriate for emergent readers (wordless
  books, picture books, big books etc.)
• Books are often read aloud to the children
• Children typically read entire book prior to
  discussion
• Record responses in drawing or writing at their
  own level.
• Two phases sharing discussion
• Teacher present in meeting
• Bookmarks used to hold special places in the
  story.
• Harvey Daniels, Literature Circles Voice and
  Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom. 2002

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Resources

• Campbell Hill, B., Schlick Noe, K. , Johnson, N.
  (2001). Literature Circles Resource Guide
  Teaching Suggestions, Forms, Sample Book Lists
  and Database. Norwood, Massachusetts
  Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc.
• Daniels, H. (2002). Literature Circles Voice
  and Choice in Book Clubs Reading Groups.
  Portland, Maine Stenhouse Publishers.

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Resources

• Hyerle, D., Yeager, C. (2007). A Language for
  Learning. Cary, North Carolina Thinking Maps,
  Inc.
• Peterson, R., Eeds, M. (2007). Grand
  Conversations Literature Groups in Action. New
  York Scholastic, Inc.
• Rogers, W., Leochko, D. (2002). Literature
  Circles Tools and Techniques to Inspire Reading
  Groups. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada Portage
  Main Press.

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Learning to think begins with recognizing how we
are thinking by listening to ourselves and own
reactions and realizing how our thoughts may
encapsulate us. Arthur L. Costa
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Thinking Maps, Inc. California Consultants Sarah
McNeil smcneil_at_thinkingmaps.com Leanna
Brown leanna_at_thinkingmaps.com