Lesson Plan:  Introduction to Literature Circles

Focus/Context

            This lesson is the first in a series designed to facilitate students’ involvement in literature circles and ultimately, in an on-line version of these.  It is intended to serve as an introduction to the concept of literature circles and the various discussion roles that students will be expected to use and internalize throughout the coming weeks.

Specific Curriculum Outcomes

1. Students will be expected to use writing and other forms of representation to explore, clarify, and reflect on their thoughts, feelings, experiences, and learnings; and to use their imaginations.

2. Students will be expected to examine others’ ideas and synthesize what is helpful to clarify and extend their own understanding.

3. Students will be expected to respond critically to a range of texts, applying their understanding of language, form and genre.

Activities

·        Students will be introduced to the concept of literature circles at a basic level – prepared overheads (Reproducible Masters #1-6) of some of the various discussion roles will be displayed and discussed with the class.

·        Students will listen and read along as the poem Secretly by Ruth Roston (page 11-12) is read aloud.

·        Guided by the teacher, the class will examine the poem from the perspective of each of the discussion roles (utilizing the prepared overheads as an individual would).*  

*  This is intended to give the students a better understanding of what is expected from them in the various roles and an example of how to fill out the discussion role sheets.

Resources

·        The poem Secretly by Ruth Roston (What a Story: Anthology)

·        Overheads provided by teacher -- taken from Literature Circles:  Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom by Harvey Daniels.  Stenhouse Publishers: York, Maine (1994).

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