Introduction to Literature Circles! January/February 2013 English III Mrs. Casey

Literature Circles Goal By the end of this unit, you will be able to: Write a well-organized paragraph Identify and prove theme from literature Be able to define vocabulary in context Identify and analyze author’s style- diction & sentence structure Master SAT questions and analysis

End Products You will collect all of your Bell Ringers and TOD’s from the unit! Your group will create a Marketing Product based on the theme of your book! Choose: An amusement park A major film A restaurant chain A living/vacation community You will create a PowerPoint and a written portfolio to pitch your idea! A class vote will decide who will get $10 million in funding (really it is a homework pass, which is priceless!)

English Standards After this unit, you will know how to: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text Determine two or more central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text; author’s rhetoric Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

Discussion Director Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book and direct the discussion by asking each member for their input based on their current role. Don't worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the "big ideas" in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings and concerns as you read, which you can list below, during or after your reading.

Summarizer Your job is to prepare a brief summary of today's reading. Your group discussion will start with your 1-2 minute statement that covers the key points, main highlights, general idea and essence of today's reading assignment.

Literary Luminary Your job is to choose a paragraph or sentences from the book to discuss with your group. Your purpose is to help other students by spotlighting something interesting, powerful, funny, puzzling, or important from the text. Include your reasons for picking the paragraphs or section you did. Remember to record page number!

Travel Tracer In a book where characters move around a lot and the scenes change frequently, it is important for everyone in your group to know where things are happening and how the setting may have changed. Even if the scenery doesn’t change much, the setting is still a very important part of the story. Your job is to track where the action takes place. Describe each setting in detail, either in words or with a picture map that you can show and discuss with your group. Be sure to givethe page numbers.

Vocabulary Enricher Your job is to look for a few important words in your reading. If you find words that are puzzling or unfamiliar, mark them down on this page while you are reading. You may also find words in the reading that are significant to the story. Mark these words too, and be ready to point them out to the group. When your circle meets, help members find words in the text.

Lit Circle Protocol Everyone will be in charge of completing a different role sheet per day. (10 points each) On Day 1, you will assign roles per day we meet. The sheet will be posted in the class. One person must be in charge of a summary every day. You will then discuss the book using role sheets. At the end of each day, you will have time to work on your writing analysis or read. Anything else is not acceptable. Bring headphones if you are easily distracted.

Structure First minutes: Writing Workshop You will create a Bell Ringer sheet that will be collected at the end of this unit. Write the date, question and answer for full credit. Have Lit Circle work out to be checked. Next 45 minutes: Lit Circles! 1.Director 2.Summarizer 3.Lit Illuminary 4.Travel Tracer 5.Vocab Enricher Next 15minutes: TOD- based on Writing Workshop learning. This will be turned in at the end of class each day. Last 15 minutes: Silent reading, writing analysis, group marketing. No other work will be allowed.