Jennings, 2011). When modeling effective
literature circles, “Teach stems for responding
to texts that may include ‘I noticed..., I
wondered..., I felt...’”(Mills & Jennings, 2011, p.
596).
In my own classroom, I have used literature
circles for grades 10th through 12th with
limited success. The small group concept is
useful, and I love to hear what my students are
saying about a book, but there are certain
aspects that make literature circles different
and more challenging than having students do
typical group work. The first is selection;
students must be given a selection on what text
they read and discuss. In this way, the students
already have a common denominator linking all
of them to a common cause and helping them
have a foundation to build. If they all selected
the same novel to read, then they must have
something in common, which they can build
from when discussing the book. Another
important component is modeling appropriate
circle behavior. I found that this must be done
often as two to three times a week with
students in literature circles in the beginning. If
students do not know what is expected of them
they flounder in the deep end of the discussion
pool. I have had some students who understood
the concept of literature circles, but I had more
that did not, which required me to model the
type of discussion I wanted to hear, while also
being a constant monitor of their progress.
Also, the concept of roles was not received
well in my classroom. High school students did
not want to have roles assigned or volunteer for
these jobs. They wanted each participant to be
equal, which is why I believe Daniels (2002)
encouraged teachers to vary the roles often or
throw out the role sheets all together. My
students all wanted to be part of the discussion
and not be labeled as the vocabulary enricher
or time tracer.
I did find that literature circles allow
students to ask questions of their peers in a
smaller setting where they may feel more
comfortable to ask the dumb questions that
may seem ignorant in the larger, teacher-led
classroom setting. My students also needed
guidance about how to ask higher-order
questions and understand what level I was
looking for. I found that asking them to write
questions while they read helped their
comprehension and it also generated more
productive discussions.
My high school students also needed a
strict reading deadline so they would stay on
task during the 55-minute hour instead of
rushing through the novel and not
understanding what they read. I recommend
having students read a portion of the text at
home and then discuss in class for a 15-20
minute session. I did this due to the amount of
time it took for some of my students to read the
sometimes complex text. I also allowed my
students to read aloud within their groups and
then discuss while they read. It took quite a bit
of time for them and then they were too
mentally drained to [