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LANGUAGE ARTS :: SECONDARY RESOURCES :: RIGHT DIRECTION :: LITERATURE CIRCLES: READING BY CHOICE

LITERATURE CIRCLES: READING BY CHOICE

Description

In this student-centered unit, students choose young adult novels to augment novels deemed part of the "canon" of literature. Students who do not enjoy reading sometimes find it difficult to read literature classics and even might refuse to try. This unit allows for student choice in a curriculum packed with reading and writing activities, and may be altered to fit whatever you choose to do with your students. Students will choose young adult novels to read, discuss these novels in small groups, share thoughts on the novels with their classmates, and create an advertising campaign designed to encourage their classmates to read more of the novels. In addition, as they read, you may choose to have them maintain reflection journals or respond on messageboards via the internet. All parts of the unit combine to create independence for students and a renewed love for reading.

This unit may be adjusted to your schedule, so that you may use class time for your discussions and planning of the culminating projects, or you may choose to take students to the computer lab and have them respond electronically, thus incorporating technology seamlessly into your curriculum. I usually spend 3 to 4 weeks with this unit, but each day is not devoted completely to the unit. In fact, when I work with my higher level students they complete this unit completely independently through messageboards and chat rooms, using class time only for presentations and a one-day wrap-up prior to the culminating presentations. The students I teach who need more structure use class time to work in their groups on presentations and discussion, and turn in their response journals so that I can respond to them regularly and maintain a dialogue that encourages reflection. Regardless of the level of my students, all are working on other subject matter as they complete this unit.

To begin the unit, I determine 7-10 novels that are readily available to me and appropriate to my students and my purpose. Since teachers and school communities differ, be sure to review the material before beginning the project. Some novels that have worked well for me include

Holes by Louis Sachar,
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson,
Monster by Walter Dean Myers,
House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros,
A Separate Peace by John Knowles,
Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo,
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech,
Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone by J.K. Rowling,
Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer
Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez

I introduce students to these novels in class and allow for time in the computer lab so that students can research the novels online. I direct my students to several sites other than major search engines as they research. One site I always use with my students is one that a colleague, Melissa Carper at North Johnston High School, and I developed to help our students choose novels: http://www.virtualcircle.freehomepage.com/novels.html. In addition, we use Amazon.com to show annotations and reader reviews to our students. After researching, students choose two novels of interest and give these to me on an index card.

I match up students and novels based on my knowledge of the novels, the students, and how the students work together. I prefer to keep my circles to a size of four students, to encourage discussion from each student. Sometimes more than one group is reading the same novel.

To organize the unit I give my students a response journal with dates and suggested topics at the front. The dates delineate when response journals will be handed in, when presentations will be made throughout the unit, and when certain parts of the reading must be complete. Student novels can be divided into sections of roughly 10-20 pages a night depending on student reading levels. Students may choose topics to address throughout the reading. Some topics I have adapted with Melissa's help from Jeff Wilhelm's You Gotta Be the Book include

Who is your favorite character in the book? Describe and tell why this character is your favorite.
How is this book different from other books you have read?
Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation?
Describe one character's problem or choice. What advice would you give this character?
Pick an action of one of the characters. Why do you think the character is acting this way?
Copy a provocative, interesting, or important passage and comment on why you picked it.
Would you like to be friends with the main character? Why or why not?
Consider the setting of the story. Would you like to live during this time or at this place? Why or why not?
Do the story events or characters remind you of real events or people? How so?
Add your own ____________________________

Throughout the unit, the students respond reflectively through writing and discussion, and must present their ideas in different written and visual texts to their classmates. Because of these varied responses, students of various abilities and talents all have a place to be successful, and each is allowed the choice of what to read.

Nan Massengill, Johnston County Schools

Activity Description	Approx. Time	Strands	Exp	Info	Arg	Crit	Lit	G/L
Introductory
Show students novels; put in chalk tray on board. Students research texts online; they write two choices on index card and defend why these should be assigned to them. After assigning groups, read through Response Journal assignments; calendar pages, discuss dates for reading assignments.	55 minutes	O M/T	1.02	2.03	3.03
Class brainstorm to create a definition for "Classic Literature" to write on first page of Response Journal--students will later compare this to a definition of "Young Adult Literature" at the end of the unit.	10 mins	O W	1.02			4.02	5.01 5.02	6.01
During
After each reading section is complete, students will choose one journal topic and respond in writing either online or in their response journals to later share with students in their reading groups. Depending on which topic students choose they will be addressing goals 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.		O	1.01 1.02		3.01 3.02 3.03	4.01 4.02	5.01
After first reading assignment is complete, students choose one conversation to re-enact for classmates as a mini-drama, memorize it and act in front of class	At least 45 min	O W	1.02
After second reading assignment is complete, students create setting maps, including cultural contexts, for major settings in novel and present to the class.	At least 45 min	O W	1.02			4.01
After third reading assignment is complete, students identify a conflict and present this conflict to the class visually. (I will usually not allow them to do man vs. man, as it is very easy to dramatize!)	At least 45 min	O W	1.02			4.01
After fourth reading assignment is complete, students create an editorial cartoon depicting a concept found in the novel	At least 45 min	O W	1.02			4.01
After fifth reading assignment is complete, compare the themes, characters, and/or style of this work to another text of students' choice. This can be an essay, a dialogue between characters, a letter, etc.	At least 45 min	O W	1.02			4.01 4.02	5.01 5.02	6.01
I continue in this fashion until we have completed the reading assignments. Other activities I have used include the following: find a poem that speaks to one of your characters; write a letter to one of your characters; have one character write to another character; assign famous people to play the character roles in your novel; rewrite the opening scene in the form of a drama; rewrite the opening scene in the form of a poem; write a newspaper article condensing the events of one of your chapters; pick out scene with a definitive mood from the novel and recreate the mood in a breaking news story.	At least 45 min	O W	1.01 1.02			4.01 4.02	5.01 5.02	6.01
Students evaluate advertising in the media by watching and taking notes on TV ads, bringing in magazine ads, discussing propaganda, and researching one complete advertising campaign.	1-2 days	O W M/T	1.02	2.02 2.03	3.01 3.03	4.01 4.03		6.01
Culminating
Students create an advertising campaign to convince other students to read their novels. The campaign includes magazine, newspaper, radio, TV, ads that must be in publishable format. Students vote for the best advertising campaign through a student-created assessment, and then choose the next novel they will read based on the presentations.	4 days	O W M/T	1.02	2.02	3.01 3.03	4.04	5.02	6.01
Class brainstorm to create a definition for "Young Adult Literature" to write on first page of Response Journals under "Classic Literature" definition. Students compare two definitions to answer the question "What is literature?"	20 mins	O W	1.02			4.01 4.02	5.01 5.02	6.01

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