Understandings
“When we invite readers’ minds to meet books in our classrooms, we invite the messiness of human response- personal prejudices, personal tastes, personal habits, personal experience. But we also invite personal meaning.” -Atwell, 1987 (Day, 2002, p. 63)
In 1993, a group of K-8 school teachers working in suburban Chicago gathered to discuss their excitement for literature circles, a strategy used to develop reading skills. These teachers worked together to create a variety of structures that can be used at all grade levels to implement literature circles in the classroom. Their common vision was to create an environment where students read good books, thought deeply about them, wrote notes and journal entries, and participated in lively literature discussions (Daniels, 2002). In the last 15 years teachers around the world have joined this movement and have begun using literature circles in their classrooms. In an effort to join these teachers, I have chosen to conduct an in-depth action research project entitled “How do literature circles influence the enjoyment, engagement, and achievement of young readers?” This is a very studied topic but I thought that my French immersion classroom might add some new dimensions.
Fountas and Pinnell define literature circles as a strategy that involves four key elements: 1. Reading and thinking about works of literature. 2. Collaborating with others to reflect on, analyze, and criticize literature. 3. Developing and sharing aesthetic responses to literature. 4. Extending understanding through talk and/or writing (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001). In literature circles, students work with a variety of different books as well as a variety of different students throughout the year. Students are not assigned to a group based on their reading level but instead are grouped based on a common book choice. These small heterogeneous groups are designed to promote discussion by giving more opportunity for each person to talk, providing a natural context for conversation, and encouraging responsibility. Teachers commonly prefer to use literature circles once a week for a 60-minute period during Language Arts time. Although there are many different structures for literature circles, a common one-hour structure may consist of a short strategy lesson from the teacher, followed by group discussion, journal writing time, and a whole group debriefing session (Day, 2002). Each group member is expected to read the agreed upon amount of the book and complete a journal entry before the literature circle time. The actual reading of the book may take place during independent reading time in the classroom or outside of school as homework.
Grouping Students
Most research suggests that grouping students heterogeneously is preferred. This means that students are not grouped based on their reading level. Noe comments, “Even students who have difficulty reading every word of a book can learn a great deal from that book when given the opportunity to share insights in a group. The collaboration of the group can be a powerful part of the comprehension process” (Noe; as cited in Literature Circles Build Excitement for Books!, 2004). The goal is to form small functional groups of students reading the same book, which tends to be 4-5 students (Daniels, 2002). These groups are often naturally formed based on their book selection following a short book talk given by the teacher about each text. In order to ensure each text is accessible to students, an adult or older student may assist in the reading or an audio version could be used.
By using literature circles in a classroom teachers hope to increase students’ enjoyment of reading, allow time for meaningful discussion with peers, expose students to a variety of genres of books, demonstrate new ways of interpreting and analyzing text, and to foster critical thinking (Fountas & Pinnell, 2001). Day states, “Literature circles are not unstructured talk time, but, rather, focused discussion on characters and events, personal experiences that relate to the text, and observations of the writer’s craft” (2002, p.12). By giving students this opportunity, students may remember character, plot, setting and theme better; they may appreciate literacy devices, make connections across texts, make connection to their own lives, and evaluate the text (Day, 2002).
Picking the Right Book
Text selection is very important if students are to remain engaged and enjoy the process of literature circles. Hoffman and Schallert state, “The nature of text is as critical to a reader as the nature of a mountain to a mountain climber” (2004, p. 4). Choosing books that will engage students can lead to changes in how the students view books and themselves as a reader (Samway & Wang, 1996). Picking books for students to read in literature circles can be very overwhelming. Samway and Wang suggest answering a few questions to help decide if the book will be a good fit.
These questions are:
1. Is the book likely to be of interest to the students?
2. Is the book likely to lead to a good discussion?
3. Does the book seem manageable to the students?
4. Does the teacher know the book?
5. Does the book relate to other topics of study?” (Samway & Wang, 1996)
A book that is likely to lead to a good discussion is a book that has rich language, an interesting plot, and richly developed characters. Books that ask questions about life, human relationships, and social issues always make for a good choice. Literature circle time is an excellent place to introduce students to authors and books they may not have come across otherwise.
After selecting the texts for the students to read, the next challenge becomes locating the books. As a teacher begins to implement literature circles within the classroom, finding enough copies of the books can be very difficult. One suggestion to eliminate this problem is to talk with colleagues to see if they have the book you are looking for. Samway and Whang, suggest sending a letter home asking parents for a donation of specific titles. This letter maybe be attached to a book order form and donations can be acknowledged with a bookplate attached to the inside cover of the book, indicating the donor and the date of the donation (1996, p.33). For the enterprising teacher it is also possible to write and obtain grant money in order to purchase books.
Benefits for All Students
Literature circles can also have a very positive effect on students learning a second language and special education students. In addition to multiple benefits that all students receive, these students also gain the opportunity to develop other important skills. Students who are learning a second language often lack common conversation practices and literature circles give these students a lot of talk time. This discussion time gives second language students practice in expressing their personal experiences and opinions. Struggling readers or special education students will have time to engage in complex thinking that goes beyond the literal interpretation of books. These students may often fail to take an active role in understanding books and sometimes struggle to relate them to their own lives. The skills that are gained through literature circle discussions are also those that often times increase reading comprehension. Through group discussion, a special education student may develop a clearer understanding of the characters, plot, and theme and may also be able to relate the book to their own life. With the development of these new skills, readers who often looked at reading as a chore may begin to become more engaged in reading. For all students working in these small groups they will be exposed to a variety of different opinions. These opportunities will give the students a chance to gain acceptance for others’ values and opinions (Day, 2002).
The Challenges
Despite all the potential benefits of using literature circles, school is school and things don’t always go as planned. A teacher’s patience may be one of the first things tested. As with any new strategy that is introduced, it often takes time to see the benefits. Teachers may become impatient, wanting to see results quickly. Since no change is instantaneous, it is important to wait and continue to work with the students. Additionally, some student groups could also experience difficulties. When students are working in student run groups, it is possible for groups to get off-task and become distracted, off topic, or stray far of the book. The root of this problem may come from poor book choices on the part of the teacher. It is essential that he or she choose books that are worth reading and talking about in order for student motivation to remain high. It is possible that other groups may stay more on topic, but conversations may be shallow or superficial and relay heavily on facts and lower level thinking skills. Another common challenge can be that groups may become mechanical with members taking turns rigidly with limited interactions. Groups may also become unequal in the distribution of responsibility and ideas. This could mean that only a few students are dominating and doing all the work while others are contributing little or none (Daniels, 2002). Bonnie Hill suggests using the “fishbowl” method in order to model the desired group behavior. This means that a group of 4-5 students sit in the front of the class while the others gather around to listen and observe. After the discussion, the class identifies and lists the components of a good discussion (Hill, 2006). If literature circles are new to the students, it is absolutely necessary to do a number of modeling lessons or even complete a literature circle as a whole group, so students have a clear picture of expected behavior. Although it is important that the groups are student run, the teacher needs to take an active role to know exactly what is happening in each group so that any problems encountered can be quickly solved (Daniels, 2002).
In school, many students either love to read or hate to read. Usually the students that do not like reading tend to be shy and have low self-esteem in the area of reading. With the introduction of literature circles I hoped that these struggling readers developed a new view of reading. By understanding students’ attitudes toward reading through surveys and interviews I have sought to find new ways of improving our classroom environment. In addition to following students’ views of themselves I assessed student work during literature circle time. I was particularly drawn to a self-reflection on Laura Candler’s web site (http://www.lauracandler.com/). This self-reflection asks students to indicate what they learned and contributed to the group at the meeting. I have taken many ideas from Laura Candler’s reflection but changed it a bit to better suit my classroom (Appendix 1). Students will be assessed through these reflections, end of book projects, and teacher observation to ensure a high quality of work is preserved.
Through the implementation of literature circles in my classroom, I hoped that my students would become more thoughtful and engaged readers. I wanted them to be able to think critically about a text, relate the text to their life or another book they have read, and discuss their findings with their peers. By working with a variety of students, I hoped my students would accept other’s opinions and enjoy reading more.
