LITERATURE CIRCLES : READ, THINK, DISCUSS, COLLABORATE Copyright Mary Anne Peters and Julianne Burgess, This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors. Mary Anne Peters, Mohawk College Julianne Burgess, Mohawk College

Outcomes  Understand the value of Literature Circles in ESL classes:  extensive reading  critical thinking  group work  Identify strategies for making Literature Circles succeed in your teaching environment

Overview  What are Literature Circles?  Why are they effective? (theory and evidence)  Benefits of extensive reading  Choice  Independence  Group work  How can they work?  What we’ve done at Mohawk  Other models  Your context  Questions and answers

What are Literature Circles? Students:  choose a book  make a group with others who chose the same book  meet regularly and talk about the book

Key Ingredients  Choice  choice of book (which determines groups)  Voice  discussion topics come from the students  open, natural discussions  personal connections and digressions are fine!  Independence  teacher is a facilitator  Fun  like adult book clubs (without the wine)

How do students benefit?  read extensively → read better → improve all language skills → learn to enjoy reading  think about ideas in books  practice speaking  collaborate

Extensive Reading = quickly reading book after book for ordinary, real-world purposes of pleasure and information

Characteristics of Extensive Reading  Students read lots of material that is easy (not many unknown words)  Students choose what they want to read from a wide variety of material  Reading is its own reward: no exercises or follow-up activities (Day and Bamford, 1998)

Cognitive Basis for Extensive Reading  builds reading speed and comprehension  builds “sight vocabulary”  fast, automatic recognition of words so the brain can do the other processes of reading  builds a wide general vocabulary  builds knowledge of the target language, the world and text types (Day and Bamford, 1998)

Affective Basis for Extensive Reading How to overcome fear and dislike of reading and build a positive attitude and motivation?  easy books  success  book choice  more interest  choice of when and where to read  control  emphasis on personal reaction to reading  less fear of judgment (Day and Bamford, 1998)

Evidence that Extensive Reading Works  Day and Bamford (1998) cite 11 studies showing significant gains  Bell (2001) compared two groups of learners: 1. intensive reading program 2. extensive reading program  approximately same number of hours Extensive reading group did significantly better on reading speed and comprehension.

Extensive Reading and Literature Circles  extensive reading: LARGE volume needed for benefit (Horst 2005)  Literature Circles alone are not enough  BUT can open the door to reading in English

Think  “reader response” literary criticism  proficient readers respond in many ways BUT many of our students need training in how to respond  modelling: teacher-led discussions of short stories or class novels  discussing ways of responding  role sheets or “quote, question, comment”

Critical Thinking  reading a lot helps build critical thinking:  builds information base  can make non-obvious connections  speculative thinking (Day and Bamford, 1998)

Discuss  regular meetings  establish guidelines  self-evaluate group process  whole class debrief after discussion:  start with the books  then talk about process

Collaborate  characteristics of collaborative learning: “student-initiated inquiry, choice, self-direction, mutual interdependence, face-to-face interaction, and self- and group assessment” (Daniels, 2002, p. 35)  students need training, practice, reflection

Strategies tried at Mohawk  LINC 3-7 classes do Literature/Reading Circles on the same day  Building library of graded readers  choice  Role sheets versus other ways of responding and preparing for discussion

Successes and Challenges  most students love them:  reading and sharing  interested by all the different interpretations  BUT some problems with:  irregular attendance  poor preparation  lack of buy-in

In other contexts  Literature Circles are widely used in elementary and secondary schools

How much, how often?  Daniels (2002) advocates that Lit Circles run continuously throughout the year  can build on learning  “Lit circles hit their stride when everyone has internalized the norms and warmed up as readers.” (p. 21)

Responding and Preparing for Discussions  debate over Role Sheets  can feel like busywork  mechanical approach  should treat them like “training wheels”  other options:  open-ended reading response logs (loose paper or notebooks)  sticky notes  discussion topics come from students  should feel free to discuss any kind of response (Daniels, 2002)

In class or homework?  public schools: DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) or SSR (Sustained Silent Reading)  message that reading is valuable  start with more time in class, move towards more as homework

Conclusions  worth doing  many different approaches  key elements:  choice in books  student-led discussion  keep it natural

Resources  sample role sheets in Daniels 2002  many different styles available on the internet (e.g.

References Bell, T. (2001). Extensive Reading: Speed and comprehension. The Reading Matrix (April 2001): 1(1). Retrieved September 6, 2010 from Daniels, H. (2002). Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups. Markham: Pembroke Publishers. Day, R. and J. Bamford. (1998). Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom. New York: Cambridge University Press. Horst, M. (2005). Learning L2 Vocabulary through Extensive Reading: A Measurement Study. The Canadian Modern Language Review (March 2005), 61 (3), pg

Contact Us Mary Anne Peters Mohawk College x3414 Julianne Burgess Mohawk College x3417