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literature circles
Classroom organizational strategy designed to facilitate in-depth conversations about literature among students. Literature circles are characterized by student-centered responses to literature, collaborative exploration of a text’s themes, and higher-order thinking as students pursue and explore questions and insights about literature.
Additional information
Literature circles are student-led book discussion groups, in which students choose their own reading material. Students rotate through predefined roles within small, temporary groups such as:
- discussion director
- literary luminary
- artful artist
- capable connector
- word wizard
This is a sample list of common roles used in literature circles. Teachers should feel at liberty to create additional or alternative roles for their students.
Examples and resources
Education World features an article, Literature Circles Build Excitement for Books! that provides more information about literature circles and explains the teacher’s role, addresses grouping strategies, and highlights benefits for at-risk studnets.
Alta Allen’s article Real-world approaches to reading contains a section devoted to literature circles.
Find lesson plans that utilize some aspects of literary circles as a teaching strategy.
