Literature Circles or Book Clubs Overview
What are Literature Circles or Book Clubs?
Literature Circles (aka Book Clubs) are small groups that meet to discuss quality literature and apply comprehension strategies. Students independently read an agreed-upon portion of the text before each literature circle meeting, and come prepared to discuss the text and their thinking with their peers. The process is similar to that of an adult reader’s book club—it cultivates a deep appreciation for literature and builds academic vocabulary while also enhancing understanding of the text through rich, literary discourse.
Interactive Read Aloud and reading partnerships during Readers’ Workshop provide many opportunities for students to practice thoughtful literary response and conversational skills. When students meet with peers in Literature Circles, they will use many of these same strategies for thinking, talking, listening, citing evidence, and growing conversations. When Literature Circles are new, the teacher often sits in to model and scaffold conversational moves. Ultimately, the goal is for students to do all this on their own, with little or no teacher support.
Getting Started with Literature Circles or Book Clubs
Option A: Small Group Lessons → Book Clubs
1. Introduce the concept of a book club to the group: I have brought you together as a group called a Book Club (or Literature Circle). A Book Club is a small group that reads and discusses their reading together. Just like we develop theories about text during Interactive Read Aloud and sometimes even in your partnerships, you will develop theories and ask questions while you read in this Book Club. Then you will share your thinking and discuss it with each other when you meet.
2. Introduce the text and facilitate a pre-reading discussion (similar to the kind the class might engage in at the beginning of an Interactive Read Aloud). Explain to the group that they will need to make a decision about how much they will read before their next meeting. (The first day Book Clubs are launched, you may want to have students read a small portion of the text and then come back as a group to discuss all within one reading workshop session. On subsequent days, they will read a larger portion of the text and launch right into discussion at the beginning of the Independent Reading time.)
3. Remind students that, when they meet as a group, they should be prepared to share a reaction, question, or idea.
4. When the group reassembles, join them and invite students to share their thinking and reactions to what they have read.
5. Play an active role as a member of the Book Club. Model how to be an active listener and thinker. Be sure to acknowledge the ideas and the thinking of all group members. Help students learn to lead the group discussion themselves.
6. Encourage students to reflect on the group’s work: What worked? What could have been better?
7. Determine the next meeting, what is to be read, and how to prepare.
8. Stay involved with the Book Club until students demonstrate that they can engage in meaningful discussions without your support. (Gradually move away from the Book Club, sitting close to—but not in—the circle as the group talks, so you can observe and take notes without participating in the actual discussion.)
9. Continue to use daily Interactive Read Aloud to model and teach comprehension strategies, active listening, and oral discourse. Remind students that they will use these same strategies in their Book Clubs.
10. This group could serve as a model for the entire class, so that other students learn what to do during Book Clubs.
Option B: Interactive Read Aloud → Partnerships → Book Clubs
The teacher begins the year with whole-class Interactive Read Aloud in which students learn Accountable Talk and active reading strategies. Students also work in partnerships to grow lines of thinking. As the students gain mastery, the teacher makes a decision to release them into small groups (“circles of talk”) called Book Clubs or Literature Circles. Option B is a natural next step if a class has been immersed in Interactive Read Aloud and partnership discussions. You will know the students are ready when they can lead and continue a discussion in the large group and in partnerships with little or no teacher support.
Literature Circle Teaching Tips
What is the role of the teacher a few weeks into Literature Circles?
- Observe Literature Circle meetings to assess and document student progress in reading, comprehension, discussion, and group participation. Use information to plan focus lessons and reading conferences.
- Check in with students who are preparing for their group meeting, and offer assistance and support as needed.
- Join the Literature Circle for a very brief period of time to “lift the level” of discussion, model a conversational move, or invite more active participation from quieter students. Move out of the group as quickly as possible so they can continue to work on their own.
What can students do when they finish reading their literature circle book?
- Read independent reading books.
- Plan a brief celebration to share with the rest of the class.
- Complete an evaluation rubric.
- Reflect: What are my goals as a reader?
- Begin another Literature Circle.
Focus Lessons to Help Students Actively Participate in Literature Circles
- Tools for Organizing Your Thinking
- Coming Prepared for Discussion
- Staying on One Topic (until it’s exhausted)
- Using Evidence to Support Thinking
- Inviting Other People into the Conversation
- Getting the Discussion Started
- How to Disagree Politely
- Setting Goals for Quantity of Reading
To improve the quality of thinking and discussion during Literature Circles, teach focus lessons that help students learn to be thoughtful, accountable, and contributing group members.
Writing in Response to Reading Overview
What is Writing in Response to Reading?
Students write in response to reading in order to demonstrate a deep understanding of a text they read or a text that is read to them during Read Aloud. This writing may occur while they are reading and/or after they complete a text. The written response may be informal or formal and may be part of a discussion with peers. Talking often precedes the writing. Students respond in authentic and purposeful ways, recording their ideas and interpretations on Post-It notes, in their reading log, in reading response journals, and occasionally in a more formal literary response during Writers’ Workshop (e.g., through units of study on literary essays or book reviews).
What is essential about writing in response to reading?
AUTHENTIC FORMS OF RESPONSE
Students write in order to express authentic thinking about the text. Authentic tasks are those that adult readers use to share and reflect on reading. Journal entries, book club discussions, and book reviews are examples of authentic responses. Book reports, lists of comprehension questions, packets of worksheets, and dioramas (models in shoe boxes) are not authentic because adult readers do not respond to their reading using these kinds of materials.
IF YOU CAN TALK IT, YOU CAN WRITE IT!
In order to write well about their thinking, students must be immersed in talking about books through Interactive Read Aloud, partnerships, and small groups. Through Interactive Read Aloud, students learn to linger on a topic, to return to the text to support their ideas, and to express their thoughts clearly. Talking provides repeated opportunities to manipulate and craft ideas, and to practice the language and discipline of sophisticated literary response. This oral practice leads to higher quality written responses.
CHOICE
Students have choice; they usually free-write responses based on organic responses to the text. In a free-write, students have freedom over the topic and form. However, it is imperative that they ground their thinking and ideas in the text.
EVIDENCE FROM THE TEXT
Students support their thinking and analysis with evidence from the text. They practice this during Interactive Read Aloud and in their partnerships and book clubs. During Focus Lessons and Close Reading sessions, teachers model how to cite the text when writing a response to reading.
What are the goals of writing in response to reading?
- Students learn to think deeply and inquire about their reading.
- Students learn to explain their thinking through talking and writing.
- Students respond to their reading in a variety of ways.
- Students understand that literature affects us and impacts our lives.
- Students develop metacognitive thinking about their reading process.
- Students go back into the text to use evidence that supports their thinking.
- Students connect reading and writing as they analyze and reflect on authors and their craft.
- Students learn to prepare for deeper discussion by jotting down notes and questions to ponder.
- Students view themselves as “members of the Literacy Club” (Frank Smith) who interact with others in literate ways. They see themselves as part of a literate community.
- Students demonstrate their comprehension and interpretation of text, which can then be used for assessment purposes during and at the end of a unit of study.
Reading Response Journals
Getting Started with Reading Response Journals
1. Begin talking about books during Interactive Read Aloud.
- Model how to ponder one topic for a while, and how to use evidence from the text to support your thinking. Teach students how to listen and talk in accountable ways.
2. Set up a clear and simple management system.
- Determine how you want the journal organized (e.g., first ten pages to record titles, authors, and genres; next section to record books that the student would like to read; third section for written responses, etc.) Provide tabs to mark off sections.
- Date all entries.
- Number all pages.
- Decide how often you want students to write. In grades 3 and up, students may pass in one response per week, and also be encouraged to write or jot down notes as they read throughout the week. In primary grades, they may write less frequently.
- Stagger the due dates in manageable groups to give yourself time to respond (recommendation: read about 5 response journals per day).
- Post a chart informing students of the weekly due date for their response entries.
3. Teach and establish clear expectations for quality responses.
- Model how to write a response using a familiar text. Analyze the response as a class in order to teach students about the characteristics of a proper reading response journal entry.
- Students are expected to share opinions and feelings and to provide evidence from the text.
- While reading, students may record their thinking on Post-It notes and later use these notes to construct their reading response entry.
- Although this is first draft work, students are expected to write legibly.
- Students are expected to use conventions of mechanics and spelling to the best of their ability.
- Continue to add essential characteristics to a classroom anchor chart.
4. Model various formats for responses through Shared Writing after reading a common text.
Written responses to reading could include one or more of the following:
- Brainstorming
- Webbing
- Sketching
- Recording metacognitive thinking
- Listing questions
- Writing a letter
- Two- and three-column entries
- Graphic organizers
5. Read and respond to the students’ journal entries in a way that lifts the quality of student thinking.
- Respond to students so they begin to see themselves as members of a community who engage in literary thinking.
- Ask questions to clarify confusions, to get more detail, and to encourage students to think at a deeper level.
- Acknowledge how literature affects our lives and changes us as people.
- Share your own ideas.
- Require students to use evidence from the text.
- Link students’ responses to other texts, previous responses, and class discussions.
- Comment on the use of metacognitive comprehension strategy.
6. Analyze student responses and plan upcoming Focus Lessons and/or Small Group instruction.
Launching Readers’ Workshop Overview
“Launching” means getting started. Experienced teachers know that the first few weeks of school set the tone for the entire year, so we want to take this precious time seriously!
The most important part of the launch is to set the tone and create a community of readers. Being a reader yourself and sharing your triumphs and struggles is powerful teaching. Listen to your students and encourage conversation. Let your conversations, observations, and thinking guide your instruction.
The goals for launching Readers’ Workshop are to build a strong community of readers; to get children excited about books, reading, and learning; and to assess and teach reading strategies in order to “get them all going.” It is also essential to teach students the procedures and routines needed to function independently in the workshop.
Possible Focus Lessons for Launching Independent Reading
The following lessons are frequently taught during the Launch unit of study in order to build community, establish routines and procedures, and get students started with reading strategies.