Literature Circles involve small groups of students meeting to discuss books they have read. Each student is assigned a specific role with responsibilities to help facilitate discussion. Roles include Discussion Director, Character Analyzer, Artful Artist, Text Connector, Summarizer, Word Finder, and Passage Picker. Students must complete their assigned jobs and participate effectively to ensure Literature Circles are successful.

2. Literature Circles are small groups of
students who meet together to talk about
books they have read.
• Each member of the group has a job with certain
responsibilities.
• If the group is to work effectively, each person
must do his job.
• Participation and self-control are important
ingredients in successful Literature Circles.

3. Discussion Director
Your job is to develop a list of questions that
your group w w to discuss about the
ill ant
piece. Don’w t orry about the sm details;
all
your job is to help people talk over the big
ideas in the reading and share feelings.
Usually the best questions com from your
e
ow thoughts and ideas as you read.
n

4. Sample Questions
•What was going through your mind as
you read this piece?
•What was the topic or theme?
•Did anything surprise you?
•How did you feel about
the characters?

5. Character Analyzer
Your job is to choose a character and w a
rite
response about him /her. Does this character
rem you of anyone? W is your opinion
ind hat
of the character? W does he look like,
hat
and w does he do? Identify som of the
hat e
character’ traits and give evidence from the
s
story to support your ideas.

6. A rtfu A rtis
l t
Your job is to draw anything about the piece
you liked. You may also draw something as a
response to the reading.
-Character
-Setting
-Problem
-Exciting Part
-Surprising Part
When your group meets, don’t say what your
drawing is. Let them guess and talk about it.
Then you can tell them about it.

7. Text Connector
Your job is to connect
the text to something
in life or to another
text. Does this story
remind you of
anything? Identify
whether your
connection is text to
text(TT) or text to life
(TL).

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. Passage Picker
Y o u r jo b is t o p ic k p a r t s o f
t h e p ie c e t h a t y o u w a n t t o
r e a d a lo u d t o y o u r g r o u p .
Y o u m ig h t c h o o s e a :
- G o o d P a rt -
In t e r e s t in g P a r t
- C o n f u s in g P a r t - Fu n n y
P a rt
- Im p o r t a n t P a r t -

11. Re e b r:
mm e
• Do your job with
excellence!
• Do your part to enable
your group to have a
meaningful conversation
about your book.
• Stay on topic as you talk.
• Share your ideas and enjoy