Literature Circle Jobs

Your job is to select 3 passages (preferably powerful quotes spoken by someone) from the reading selection that you think are worthy of being read aloud and discussed with your group members. They are not to be any lines from the section, but instead ones that had you react in some way or left you with something to think about. In essence, they must be something of significance or importance. Once the 3 passages are selected, you must write down the passage (word for word in quotation marks) and cite the page number. Place in parentheses at the end of the passage. Below each passage, in approximately words, explain the quote, how it impacts the story and why you picked it.

Your job is to find connections between the book you are reading and the outside world. This means connecting what you read with your own life, to what happens at school, home, or in the community, to similar events at other times and places, or to other people or problems. Your role will often use phrases like, “This reminds me of…” or “This event was similar to …” You are to create 2 connections, each in a separate paragraph. The connection section must be at least a minimum of 200 words.

Your job is to generate a list of 5 words from the selected reading passage that you feel are worth knowing/ sharing. The words you pick should be unfamiliar to you. For each word, the following must be included in your description: 1) The line from the book with quotation marks and the page # following in parentheses 2) The part of speech in reference to how it is used in the passage 3) An easy to understand (denotative) dictionary meaning

4) Your own personal (connotative) definition 5) The word’s charge : +, -, or = (positive, negative or neutral depending on how it is used) For example, the word Holocaust would have a negative charge, but the word miracle would have a positive charge and the word cosmetic might have a neutral charge. 6) 3 other words that are similar to the denotative (dictionary) meaning - use a thesaurus as a guide. 7) A small graphic illustration (can be computer generated) to help you remember the word/and its meaning)

Your job is to make a list of at least 2 “thinking” questions that can prompt a discussion among your group. The questions should be a reflection of what issues are occurring in the novel at the time. They are NOT fact based questions. Instead, they should be questions that evoke personal opinions from the other group members and not ones they can go back to the book to get answers. The questions should encourage discussion or even disagreement among your group. With each question, you are to provide the answer (as you see it) in approximately 1-2 paragraphs. The answer you provide should really give an in-depth view of how you perceived the situation/event/character/plot …

Your job is to graphically represent aspects of the selected Passage. You may choose an important object, a character, or even a scene that stood out to you. There are to be a minimum of 2 images. With each representation, you are to provide a written response. The response must clearly indicate what prompted you to create this image, why this particular section of the reading was important enough to graphically represent, and a clear description of the image (what is it?) The written response for each image must be a minimum of 100 words. The illustration may be hand generated, consist of magazine cutouts, internet images, or images that have been photo shopped. Be creative.

Your job is to provide a summary of the week’s reading. Think about what details, characters, or events are the most important in this section. Be able to clearly distinguish what is “trivial” detail and what is “important” detail. You should always keep this in the back of your mind when doing the summary – what are the most important events in the section I read? What makes them important? What effects do these have on the characters or plot? If you keep these thoughts in mind, then you will be able to distinguish between what to include and what to leave out of your summary. The layout should be in a timeline or in a point form bullet format. Remember to be concise, yet informative. The entire summary should be around the word mark.