LITERATURE CIRCLES:

A Collaborative Reading/Writing Activity

Literature Circles are a powerful structure for reading and discussing fiction or non-
fiction texts at all grade levels. Sometimes called “book clubs” or “reading discussion
groups,” LitCircles combine two very important educational ideas: collaborative
learning and independent reading. Simply defined, Literature Circles are small, peer-
led discussion groups whose members have chosen to read the same article, book, or
novel. These groups can be organized in a wide variety of ways, but the consistent
elements are:
 Students choose their own reading materials
 Small groups (3-6 students) are formed, based upon book choice
 Grouping is by text choices, not by "ability" or other tracking
 Different groups choose and read different books
 Groups meet on a regular, predictable schedule to discuss their reading
 Kids write notes which help guide both their reading and discussion
 Discussion questions come from the students, not teachers or textbooks
 Personal responses, connections, and questions are the starting-point of discussion
 A spirit of playfulness and sharing pervades the room
 The teacher does not lead any group; s/he is a facilitator, fellow reader, and observer
 When books are finished, groups share highlights of their reading with the classmates
through presentations, reviews, dramatizations, book chats, or other media
 New groups form around new reading choices, and another cycle begins
 Evaluation is by teacher observation and student self-evaluation

READINGS ON LITERATURE CIRCLES / BOOK CLUBS

Daniels, Harvey. Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups,
Second Edition. (Stenhouse, 2002)
Daniels, Harvey and Marilyn Bizar. Methods that Matter: Six Structures for Best Practice
Classrooms. (Stenhouse, 1998)
Hill, Bonnie Campbell, Nancy Johnson, and Katherine Schlick Noe. Literature Circles Resource
Guide. (Christopher-Gordon, 2000)
Hill, Bonnie Campbell, Nancy Johnson, and Katherine Schlick Noe. Literature Circles and
Response., (Christopher-Gordon, 1995)
Samway, Katherine Davies, and Gail Whang, Literature Study Circles in a Multicultural
Classroom. (Stenhouse, 1996)
Schlick-Noe, Katherine and Barbara Johnson, Getting Started with Literature Circles.
(Christopher-Gordon, 1999)
McMahon, Susan and Taffy Raphael. The Book Club Connection. (Teachers College, 1997)
But Does it Work? Recent Research on Literature Circles

A 1998 study of fourth graders by Klinger, Vaugn, and Schumm found that students in
peer-led groups made greater gains than controls in reading comprehension and equal
gains in content knowledge after a reading and discussing social studies material in peer-
led groups. This effect was confirmed through a standardized reading test, a social studies
unit test, and audiotapes of group work. Interestingly, the researchers found that students
small-group talk was 65% academic and content-related, 25% procedural, 8% feedback,
with only 2% off-task.
Martinez-Roldan and Lopez-Robertson looked at the effect of literature circles in a
first-grade bilingual classroom. They found that “young bilingual children, no matter
what their linguistic background, are able to have rich discussions if they have regular
opportunities to engage with books.” Interestingly, they found that many of the Spanish-
dominant children were more eager and ready to make personal connections with stories
than the English speakers, who tended to stick closer to the text on the page. The
Hispanic children manifested their connections through the telling of extended stories, a
style of response which the English speaking kids rarely utilized.
Dana Grisham of San Diego State University has been an indefatigable recorder of
emerging literature circle research, and also organized the first panel at the American
Educational Research Association to focus on literature circles. Grisham has catalogued
literature circle research documenting benefits for inner-city students (Pardo, 1992);
incarcerated adolescents (Hill and Van Horn, 1995); “resistant” learners (Hauschildt &
McMahon, 1996); homeless children and children living in poverty (Hanning, 1998);
second-language learners (MacGillivray, 1995); and English as a Foreign Language
(EFL) learners (Dupuy, 1997). Various versions of book clubs and literature study circles
have been found to increase student enjoyment of and engagement in reading (Fox and
Wilkinson, 1997); to expand children’s discourse opportunities (Kaufmann, et al, 1997;
Scharer, 1996); to increase multicultural awareness (Hansen-Krening, 1997); to promote
other perspectives on social issues (Noll, 1994); to provide social outlets for students
(Alvermann et al, 1977); and to promote gender equity (Evans, Alverman, and Anders,
1998). Excerpt from Daniels, 2002

A Staff Development Resource

on Literature Circles, Literacy, Authentic An On-Line Resource
Instruction, and School Restructuring for teachers and kids exploring LitCircles in
The Walloon Institute their classrooms
July 11-15, 2004 www.literaturecircles.com
Lake Geneva, WI Book reviews
800-541-2086, ext. 1151 Articles and book excerpts.
www.walloon.com Personal coaching from veteran teachers
Kids’ section
Will it work in Primary? Teachers often ask if you can do literature circles with
primary grade children. Sure – with a few key adaptations.

• The books are appropriate for younger readers—which means picture books, wordless
books, big books, kid-made books. Like all other primary-grade reading activities,
literature circles require lots of books, because the little ones burn through books fast!

• To make sure that everyone understands the story, the books are often read aloud to the
children, either by the teacher, by other kids, by upper-grade children, by parents at
home, or through tape recordings in the listening center. Obviously, the teacher needs to
do some careful orchestrating to make sure everyone in a circle is ready to meet—but not
let responses go “stale” while kids are waiting for a meeting.

• The children typically read the whole book before coming to a group discussion, rather
than reading sections of the text and having several meetings, like the older kids reading
chapter books. This is mainly because of the nature of the books, which are designed to
be one-sitting reads.

• During or after reading, kids record their responses in drawing or writing at their own
level. For the youngest kids this often means simply drawing a picture of “something
they thought of” during the reading, and bring this drawing with them to the group as one
cue for sharing. Or they may dictate their response to the teacher, aide, parent helper, or
another child. For older primary children, a reading log, perhaps mixing writing and
drawing, can be used to record impressions and ideas for sharing.

• Even if they have drawn a picture or jotted in a log, young children often need extra
help remembering what they want to share in the literature circle. So some teachers
provide large Post-it notes for kids to mark their favorite parts of a book, encouraging
them to put some words or pictures on the note to represent the response they wanted to
share.

• Though it is not necessary, many primary teachers organize literature circles in which
kids read different books instead of the same titles. This way, the job of a group member
is to give others a taste of the flavor of his or her book, perhaps helping them decide
whether they would enjoy reading it.

• When heterogeneous readings are being used, the group meeting has two phases:
sharing and discussion. Imagine, for example, that each child in a group has been read a
different picture book at home the night before. When the literature circle convenes, kids
first need to take turns offering some kind of summary, retelling, or read-aloud highlights
from their book. Then, discussion can open up in which kids ask one another questions,
compare books, and just talk about authors, illustrators, characters, problems,
connections, feelings, and ideas.
• Because books (and attention spans) at this level are short, primary literature circles are
typically a one-meeting event: a group of kids gathering together on a single occasion to
talk about one set of books. The new groups are then formed around another set of
readings.

• The teacher may be present in primary literature circles. While young children can
supervise themselves just fine in well-structured pair activities (buddy and partner
reading, peer response to writing), some teachers find that more elaborate, larger-group
activities like literature circles require more guidance—especially when they are just
beginning.
MODELS

Kindergarten
Mary Ann Pegura, Deer Path School, Cary IL
– no need to read; interrupted read-aloud
– book clubs: “consensus predictions”
– share predictions, ending & discussion

1st Grade
Lynn Cherkasky, Foundations School, Chicago
– choices by ballot; same and hetero sets
– bag with letter & Post-Its; read at home; make notes
– groups meet serially with teacher Monday & Tuesday

1st Grade
Norma Rocha-Cardenas, Seward School, Chicago
– choices by ballot; bag to home with book & instructions
– read with family; preguntas (donde, que, porque, que passaria si)
– meet simultaneously Monday; teacher roams
– leer el cuento (todos, solitus, or campaniero)
– discuss las preguntas

2nd Grade
Angie Bynum, Jenner School, Chicago
– pick books & negotiate groups
– check in and select roles
– read aloud; write; discuss; return books

Kindergarten & Third Grade

Debbie Gurvitz, Lyon School, Glenview, IL
– 3rd graders do “inservice;” teacher shows roles
– each 3rd grader pairs with a kindergartner
– pairs read story, prepare for meeting
– book clubs meet & talk (groups of 8)
 Waiting by Peggy McNally
from MicroFiction, edited by Jerome Stern

Five days a week the lowest paid substitute teacher in the

district drives her father’s used Mercury to Hough and 79th,
where she eases it, mud flaps and all, down the ramp into the
garage of Patrick Henry Junior High, a school where she’ll teach
back-to- back classes without so much as a coffee break and all
of this depressing her until she remembers her date last night,
and hopes it might lead to bigger things, maybe love, so she
quickens her pace towards the main office to pick up her class
lists with the names of students she’ll never know as well as she
has come to know the specials in the cafeteria, where she hopes
the coffee will be perking and someone will have brought in
those doughnuts she’s come to love so much, loves more than
the idea of teaching seventh-graders the meaning of a poem,
because after all she’s a sub who’ll finish her day, head south to
her father’s house, and at dinner he’ll ask her how her job is
going, and she’ll say okay, and he’ll remind her that it might
lead to a full-time position with benefits but she knows what
teaching in that school is like, and her date from last night calls
to ask if she’s busy and she says yes because she’s promised her
father she’d wash his car and promises to her father are sacred
since her mother died, besides it’s the least she can do now that
he lets her drive his car five days a week towards the big lake, to
the NE corner of Hough and 79th and you know the rest.