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Integrating Reading Power into
Novel Studies and Literature
Circles
Adrienne Gear
IMPORTANT:
•
This is an opportunity for students to APPLY their understanding of
the Reading Power strategies to the books they are reading
THEREFORE direct instruction in the Reading Power strategies FIRST is
critical for success.
PLANNING MY YEAR: Suggestion
TERM ONE:
• Reading Power strategies are taught (or reviewed) using picture
books
TERM TWO:
• Whole class novel – Teacher guides students through format
• Students still meet in small groups weekly, but all are discussing the
same book.
• Teacher provides “mini lessons” for each additional activity
TERM THREE:
• Lit. Circles – students are grouped according to reading level, each
group has a different book
• If possible, chose books connected to a similar theme – ie. Children
in War; Social Justice; Overcoming Adversity
• Students work more independently because they are more familiar
with the format and activities
GETTING STARTED:
•
•
•
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Group your class into three or four ability groups, based on reading
assessment (R.A.D., D.A.R.T., D.R.A., Whole Class Reading
Assessment, etc.)
If possible, arrange with your resource teacher or T.L. to be involved
(take one of your groups)
Block off two 1hr. Blocks in your weekly schedule for Lit. Circle
Select appropriate leveled novel for each group (read them!)
Divide each novel into 6-8 (depending on how long you wish to
spend) even sections (note page numbers) to ensure everyone
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finishes their book at the same time. Some books divide by
chapters, others by pages.
ie:
Lemonade War
Week 1 – pages 3-15
Week 2 - pages 16-28
Week 3 – pages 29-36.
Recommendation: Ideally, Lit. Circle groups should have between 5-7 students
in them. Depending on your class size, it is recommended that you have a
maximum of 5 groups.
Weekly Reading Schedule
Divide each novel into 8 (or 6) sections. Record the pages for each
section and give this schedule to each Lit circle group to copy.
NOTE: This schedule is based on an 8 week Lit. Circle study. In addition to
the 8 weeks of reading, you should allow one week for an introduction to
the unit, and one week at the end for the students to complete all the
activities. This equals 10 weeks (approximately one term). If you wish to
make your unit shorter, then divide the weekly schedule (above) into SIX
weeks rather than EIGHT.
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Lit Circle Groups
Group 1 (high level)
Title: __________________________
Students:
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Group 3 (Mid level)
Title: __________________________
Students:
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Group 2 (mid-high level)
Title: __________________________
Students:
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Group 4 (mid – low level)
Title: __________________________
Students:
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Group 5 (low level)
Title: __________________________
Students:
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Group 6 (
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Title: __________________________
Students:
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Title: ____________________________________
Group 1
Week 1
Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8
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Group 2
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Group 3
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Group 4
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Title: ____________________________________
Group 5
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8
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Title: ____________________________________ Group 6
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Lit. Circle Lessons
LESSON One
•
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Each student receives Lit. Circle booklet, small stack of post-it notes.
Teacher explains format of literature circles and explains expectations:
Weekly assignments for students:
1) Read assigned pages of your novel according to your weekly
schedule.
2) While reading, pay attention to your thinking (connections,
questions, etc.) Using a post-it note, mark one passage where you
found yourself thinking about the story. You may want to jot down a
few ideas on the post it note that you will be sharing during Lit. Circle
discussion time.
3) Complete one “Weekly Thinking Page” from your Lit. Circle
Package
4) Add 1-3 new words to vocabulary page
5) Work to complete one additional activity per week
Assessment will be based on:
1) Weekly written work and Lit. Circle booklets (teacher marks)
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2) Preparation and discussion during Lit. Circles (teacher keeps track
of student progress on Lit. Circle Discussion Record)
•
•
Students receive their novels and complete page one of booklet: Question/
Prediction page
Students record their weekly reading assignments on their sheet.
ADDITIONAL Lit. Circle ACTIVITIES (Introduce one new activity per week)
•
Characters I Will Meet – as new characters are introduced, students
record their names, who they are, a picture and personality traits
describing them.
•
Character VENN – students compare themselves with the main
character. Words should include both descriptors of themselves – ie: girl,
student, only child, plays hockey AND personality traits – ie: brave, funny,
kind, determined.
•
Setting Map – students draw, label and color a map of the setting of the
book. Students brainstorm places in the story to include on their maps
first, ie: school, house, park, store, church, friend’s house. This should be
done as a semi-bird’s eye view. (teacher can model)
•
Photo Album – “You are the illustrator of this book. Choose 5
moments/events/images from this book that you would like to capture.
Draw and color your illustrations and include a caption and page number”
•
TRANSFORMING My Thinking – students complete this sheet. They will
need to have had some previous background and practice in this strategy.
Remember to include how their thinking has changed now that they have
finished reading the book.
•
Letter to the Author – students write a letter to the author. The letter
should include – an introductory paragraph introducing themselves to the
author, their response/reaction to the book, the parts they liked and why,
their personal connections. Included should be questions they would like
to ask the author and a closing.
•
Vocabulary page – students record any new words they encounter during
reading. Definitions and sentences for each word should be included.
•
Title Page – create a front cover for their package. Include the title of the
novel (block or 3-d lettering is encouraged), THEIR name, a border and
some colored coloured illustrations. Remind them they are not to copy the
pictures from the original cover of the book.
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Lit. Circle Discussion Record
Student:
NOVEL: ______________________
Date:
TOTAL:
Passage /5
Selection:
Individual /5
Sharing:
Group
/5
Participation:
Comments:
Student:
Date:
Passage /5
Selection:
Individual /5
Sharing:
Group
/5
Participation:
Comments:
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TOTAL:
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Lit. Circle Assessment Rubrics
NAME:
NY A M FM Ex
ComestoLit.Circlepreparedwitha
thoughtfulpassagetoshareandreadily
contributestothegroupdiscussions.
Appliesavarietyofcomprehensionstrategies
whilereadinghis/hernovel,suchasmaking
connections,visualizingandquestioning.
Demonstratesbothaliteral(“re-tell”)and
inferential(“re-think”)understandingoftheir
novel.
Each student in your class will need a Lit Circle Package which
includes all of the weekly activities to go along with their novel.
Pages 10 – 21 are the pages you will need for the Intermediate
Lit Circle Student Package. (The first page of the package is a
blank cover page) When making copies for your class, please note
that you will need to include multiple copies of some of the
templates (see note in top right corner of page)
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Name: ______________________
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Literature Circles
Name: __________________________ Grade: _________
Title: ______________________________________
Author: ____________________________
Number of pages: ____
Publication date: ________
Before you begin your novel, study the cover closely.
Look at the illustration and read the title. What are you
wondering about this book? Record your questions below:
I’m
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
wondering…
__________________________________?
__________________________________?
__________________________________?
__________________________________?
__________________________________?
__________________________________?
__________________________________?
Now choose one of your questions and try to predict the
answer. What do you think?
Question #____
Maybe…
______________________________________
______________________________________
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For each chapter you read, you are
responsible for completing the following…
• One “thinking page” per week
• 1-3 new words added to your vocabulary sheet
• Choose one passage from the chapter where your
thinking voice was loud. Mark it with a post it note
and be ready to share your passage and your
thinking when we meet in our Literature Circles.
Passage selection
Sharing your thinking
Participation in Lit. Circle discussion
/5
/5
/5
Other Activities:
Weekly Activity
Characters I Will Meet
NM
M
FM
New Words
Character Venn
Setting Map
Photo Album
Letter to the Author
Transforming My Thinking
Title Page
Before and After Thinking
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Ex
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Weekly Thinking Page
Chapter: _____________
Pages: _____
( X 6 or 8 copies)
So far…
(tell briefly what happened in this
This reminds me of… (tell about any
connections you have to the story or character)
chapter)
I’m wondering…
(write 3-4 deep-thinking
Maybe…
(answer one or two of your
questions you have about this chapter)
questions by inferring or predicting)
My strongest image:
I think…
(sketch one image
and label or write a sentence telling about it.
(make a prediction of what you
think might happen in the next chapter.
Explain why you think this)
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Characters I Will Meet
Name of character:
Draw and color a picture
______________
of this character:
( X 2 copies)
Who is he/she?
__________________
Personality traits:
(describe what this
character is like)
__________________
__________________
__________________
Name of character:
Draw and color a picture
______________
of this character:
Who is he/she?
__________________
Personality traits:
(describe what this
character is like)
__________________
__________________
__________________
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Character Trait Word List
Positive Traits
artistic
athletic
ambitious
beautiful
brave
bold
capable
calm
caring
cautious
clever
charming
carefree
courageous
confident
creative
curious
determined
easy-going
empathetic
friendly
funny
gentle
good worker
good friend
happy
hard working
helpful
honest
hopeful
humorous
imaginative
independent
insightful
intuitive
kind
level-headed
likeable
loyal
mysterious
mischievous
motherly
optimistic
organized
out-going
out-spoken
passionate
persuasive
pleasant
polite
practical
proud
resourceful
respectful
responsible
reasonable
self-reliant
shrewd
sensitive
sensible
skilled
thoughtful
thorough
thrifty
tireless
tough
trustworthy
wise
Negative Traits
aggressive
aloof
angry
argumentative
arrogant
awkward
belligerent
bitter
boring
boastful
bossy
clumsy
cold
confused
cowardly
cranky
cruel
dependent
devious
dishonest
disorganized
evil
follower
foolish
fussy
gloomy
grouchy
hateful
helpless
hesitant
jealous
lazy
liar
lonely
mean
miserable
moody
nervous
nuisance
obstinate
obnoxious
outspoken
pessimistic
quick tempered
repulsive
reckless
rude
ruthless
sad
sassy
shrewd
shy
sly
sneaky
snobbish
spoiled
solemn
stubborn
stupid
talkative
thoughtless
tough
unfriendly
unforgiving
violent
wicked
weak
worried
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( X 4-6 copies)
NEW WORDS
Title: _________________ Author: _________
New word: ___________________________ page: ________
Definition: ________________________________________
Sentence: _________________________________________
New word: ___________________________ page: ________
Definition: ________________________________________
Sentence: _________________________________________
New word: ___________________________ page: ________
Definition: ________________________________________
Sentence: _________________________________________
New word: ___________________________ page: ________
Definition: ________________________________________
Sentence: _________________________________________
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