|
This was my
first experience with literature circles so I thought I would
share a bit about what worked for me and what didn’t. We read
two novels, Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and The Cay by Theodore
Taylor. Half of the class had already read Hatchet so my groups
were “predetermined.” There were nine in the hatchet group and
eight in the cay group. I felt this was too large and next time
I would break them down to smaller groups of four or five. I say
this because there were a lot of side conversations happening
that could be eliminated if the groups were smaller.
Before we
began we discussed the premise of literature circles and
stressed the importance of active listening and respect. They
understood they had to keep up with the reading assignments so
as to participate in discussions and they had to be disciplined
enough to not read ahead. Indeed, this could be a problem if you
have voracious readers like this group. However, they did a fine
job following these guidelines. Timing was important because
this was just a four week course. Most of the reading occurred
outside of class. We held discussions one to two times a week
with a different person leading the discussion. This worked well
and I observed some amazing group dynamics.
On the days
they weren’t discussing, they were writing response journal
prompts such as letters to the author, diary entries as the main
character, description of their favorite part, etc. We spent the
last week of the course working on our extension projects. I
allowed the students to choose their own project. The hatchet
group created a story quilt and some individual members also
made a board game. The cay group made cd covers, a map, and
collages. Some projects took longer than others so next time I
would ask the students that finished quickly to choose a second
extension project. Maybe I would create another assignment for
them to do.
Overall, it
was an enjoyable experience. The students were excited to have
their work posted on the internet. They worked well together and
found out some things about themselves and each other that they
didn’t already know!
The Cay
Click on the
images for larger pictures
|
CD Coverf |
CD Cover |
CD Cover |
CD Cover |
|
Cay Group |
|
Cay Collage |
Cay Collage |
Cay Collage |
Cay Map |
|
Hatchet
Click on the images for larger pictures
|
|
Hatchet Board Game |
Hatchet Quilt |
Hatchet Quilt |
Hatchet Quilt |
|
Hatchet Group |
|
Hatchet Quilt |
Writing Samples |
Hatchet Quilt |
|
