The document provides information about implementing literature circles in the classroom. It discusses the benefits of literature circles, including choice, collaboration, differentiation, and developing lifelong readers. It outlines how literature circles work, such as students choosing their own books in small groups, meeting regularly to discuss their reading, and using role sheets to guide discussions. The document also provides examples of literature circle roles, mini-lessons to prepare students, and ways to assess literature circles. It emphasizes the importance of modeling discussions, establishing expectations, and facilitating initial meetings before allowing students to meet independently.

1. Literature Circles in the Classroom:
What? Why? and How?

2. Why Literature Circles?
• Choice, independence, personal investment
• Collaborative learning
• Differentiation, independent reading levels
• Lifelong readers
• Empowered and literate citizens
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 3

4. Literature Circles 101
• Students choose their own reading materials
• Small groups (3-6 students) are formed, based
upon book choice
Note: 4-5 students per group is ideal
• Grouping is by text choices, not by “ability” or
other tracking
• Different groups choose and read different books
• Groups meet on a regular, predictable schedule
to discuss their reading
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, pp. 3-4

5. Literature Circles 101
• Students write notes that help guide both
their reading and discussion
• Discussion questions come from the students,
not teachers or textbooks
• Personal responses, connections, and
questions are the starting-point of discussion
• A spirit of playfulness and sharing pervades
the room
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 4

6. Literature Circles 101
• Teacher-led mini-lessons serve as bookends,
before and after literature circle meetings
• The teacher does not lead any group; s/he is a
facilitator, fellow reader, and observer
• When books are finished, groups share highlights
of their reading with the classmates through
presentations, reviews, dramatizations, book
chats, or other media
• Assessment is by teacher observation and
student self-evaluation
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 4

7. Preparing Students for
Literature Circles

8. Practice Asking Good Questions and
Discussing Texts
• Read “Eleven” by Sandra Cisneros
• Jot down 2 or 3 questions that would be
interesting to discuss with your partner
• Write each question on a separate sticky note
and place on text where you thought of it
• Create a T-chart for Lead Questions and
Follow-Up Questions
• Trade T-chart papers with your partner
Adapted from Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, pp. 130-131

9. Important Tip: Demo these next
steps for your students!

10. Practicing Asking Lead and
Follow-Up Questions
1. Partner A reads his/her question aloud and hands the
sticky note to partner B who places it in the Lead
Questions column
2. Partner B answers the question
3. Based on partner B’s answer, partner A asks a follow-up
question
4. Before answering, partner B writes the follow-up question
in the Follow-Up Questions column next to the sticky note
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 two or three more times
6. Switch roles so that Partner B starts the next round with a
Lead Question
7. Repeat until all Lead Questions have been asked and
discussed
Adapted from Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, pp. 130-131

11. What Kinds of Questions Work Best?
• With your partner, identify the lead question
that produced the most extended and
interesting discussion
• Share your best questions
• Discuss: What kinds of questions work best?
Adapted from Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, pp. 130-131

12. Your Turn:
What Kinds of Questions Work Best?
• Open-ended
• Related to our personal lives, experiences
• Makes connections to rest of text, between
elements of the text
• Examines author’s purpose or elements of style
• Makes predictions, draws conclusion, inference
• Could be directly found in the text

13. What Kinds of Questions Work Best?
• They make you think.
• There’s more than one possible answer.
• It makes you fill in details from your
imagination.
• It brings up a controversial idea.
• It makes you notice something you didn’t
before.
• It makes you see something in a different way.
Source: Reading and Writing Together: Collaborative Literacy in Action, “Literature Circles:
Getting Them Started and Keeping Them Going” by Nancy Steineke, p. 131

14. Getting Literature Circles Started

15. Before You Begin
• Choose 5 or 6 titles (have 6 copies of each)
according to a common theme, genre, or author
• Books should be similar in length/number of
chapters
• Books may include various reading levels to meet
the goals of differentiated instruction
• Familiarize students with different roles
• Have students practice asking good questions and
discussing texts

16. Day One
• Teacher presents selected books: book talks,
read alouds
• Students preview books: book pass
• Students fill out choice slips with 1st, 2nd, 3rd
choices
• Arrange groups, prepare role sheets, assign
roles for day two

17. Day Two
• Assign groups and roles in each group
• Discuss what will be done each day:
– Students should come prepared with reading and
completed role sheets
– Groups will meet and discuss – led by discussion
director
– Questions?
• Give students schedule of reading assignments
• Students spend rest of class reading silently

18. Day Three
• Review what will be done each day
• Groups meet to discuss and share their roles
• Students come together as a whole class;
discussion directors share short summary of
something significant that was discussed
• Teacher reviews reading and role assignments
for the next day

19. Day Four
• Questions, concerns, clarifications?
• Repeat process from Day Three
• Following days are same as Day Four

22. Literature Circle Roles
• Discussion Director/Discussion Leader
• Illustrator/Sketcher
• Summarizer
• Connector/Conflict Connector
• Investigator/Fact Finder
• Wordsmith/Word Wizard/Word Master/Word
Finder/Word Watcher/Vocabulary Enricher/Vocab
Detective
• Illuminator/Literary Luminary/
Passage Master/Quotation Seeker
• Geographer/Travel Tracer/Story Mapper

24. Literature Circle Roles
Role
• Discussion Director
• Connector
• Illustrator
• Vocabulary Enricher
• Literary Luminary
Reading Strategy
• Asking questions
• Making connections
• Visualizing
• Determining importance
• Noticing author’s craft

25. Class Schedule for Literature Circles
• 5-10 minutes Opening/Mini-Lesson
• 20-25 minutes Groups Meet to Discuss
• 5-10 minutes Debrief/Closing
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 12

26. Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles
• Role Sheets
• Reading Logs/Journals
• Post-Its
• Bookmarks
• Coding/Annotating the text
• Written Conversation
• Exit Slips
• Save the Last Word for
Me (works well for
Literary Luminary,
Vocabulary Enricher,
and Illustrator)

27. Save the Last Word for Me
Preparation
• Underline or highlight a line in the text that
stands out to you
• Jot down a comment or two about the text
your highlighted

28. Save the Last Word for Me
Discussion
• When it is your turn to share, tell your group
where your selection can be found (page,
paragraph number), then read the text aloud
• Don’t comment yet! – Listen to the others
respond to the text you read aloud
• You have the “last word” to respond – You can
either connect with what others said or just
share your initial thoughts

29. Keeping Literature Circles Going

30. Troubleshooting Literature Circles
• Create norms/establish ground rules
• Create anchor charts and/or table cards for
discussion skills (looks like, sounds like)
• Collaboratively write advice for other students
on how to be successful with literature circles
• Have students reflect and set goals
• Celebrate positive behaviors and growth!

31. Your Turn:
An Ideal Literature Circle Discussion
Looks Like
• Eye contact
• Text in front of them
• Student-created questions
• Students have supplies
• All students looking at text or
person speaking
• All members of the group present
whole time
• Taking turns speaking
• Nodding agreement
• Students have journals, taking
notes
• Smiling
Sounds Like
• Using names
• One person speaking at a time
• Conversation is on topic
• Quality questions: academic vocabulary,
Bloom’s, text support
• Complimenting each other
• Disagreeing respectfully (I look at it
differently, I believe, another way to
think about it)
• Fun – laughter, excited voices,
enthusiasm
• Conversational tone – small group
volume
• Many voices – one person at each
group is talking

32. Literature Circle Skills
• Asking follow-up questions so
that people explain their answers
in more detail
• Being friendly
• Staying focused on the group
• Listening to everyone’s ideas
• Keeping everyone in the group
involved
• Recognizing members’ good ideas
• Welcoming diverse viewpoints
• Disagreeing constructively, with
confidence and enthusiasm
• Extending discussion on a topic
• Paraphrasing
• Attentive listening
• Building on one another’s ideas
(piggybacking)
• Directing the group’s work
• Using the text to support an idea
• Asking clarifying questions when
confused
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 54

33. Literature Circle Skills
• Take turns
• Listen actively
• Make eye contact
• Lean forward
• Nod, confirm, respond
• Share air time
• Include everybody
• Don’t dominate
• Pull other people in
• Don’t interrupt
• Speak directly to each other
• Trust each other
• Receive others’ ideas
• Be tolerant
• Honor people’s ideas
• Piggyback on ideas of others
• Speak up when you disagree
• Respect differences
• Disagree constructively
• Don’t attack
• Stay focused, on task
• Be responsible to the group
• Support your views with the
text
Source: Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, p. 8

34. Assessment of Literature Circles
• Preparation (role sheets)
• Participation (observations)
• Reading Responses (journals)
• Final Project
• Self evaluation
• Folders/portfolios
• Rubrics

35. Joining Groups to Observe
• When I sit down in your group, continue what
you are doing. You don’t need to look at me or
acknowledge my arrival.
• I may just observe the group and move on. If I
have something to say, I will say it at the
appropriate moment.
• Please don’t ask me to give you answers or settle
debates.
• As I leave, I may or may not give you a suggestion
or idea to pursue.

36. Self Assessment Ideas
Performance Assessment – Have students
generate the criteria, such as:
• Do the reading
• Listen to other people
• Have good ideas
• Ask people questions
• Stick to the book

38. Your Turn:
Implementing Literature Circles
Do’s
• Be prepared!
• Practice each role all
together (with short stories)
• Enlist/expect students to
help “make it work”
• Provide scaffolding (e.g.,
question stems)
• Model discussion etiquette
• Make it fun!
Don’ts
• Underestimate students
• Take over the discussion
• Be afraid to keep trying
• Give up
• Interfere, provide answers

39. References