Classroom Climate and Structure for Lit Circles (Ch. 2 and 3)

In Getting Started with Literature Circles, Schlick Noe and Johnson (1999) give suggestions on how to foster a collaborative environment before lit. circles are introduced to the class. They explain that teachers should aim to create “a natural transition to literature circles” (p. 8). This can be built in the class through positive social interaction. The authors see the lit. circle training process as a broad system that is implemented from day one of the classroom experience because so many aspects that are important to lit. circles are also important for the class in general. Schlick Noe and Johnson (1999) stress that students need the skills to be independent, and lit. circles can help students become responsible for themselves and their thinking and learning – I think we all agree lit. circles can help students become active learners if the circles are used with student choice and student-led discussion.

In terms of selecting books for students to read, Schlick Noe and Johnson (1999) give some ideas about helping students select books that hold their interest, but in general, the ideas discussed in this section are very similar to the main points that we read in Harvey Daniel’s book, such as determining how much students should read before each meeting, structuring time for reading, and giving mini-lessons.

The authors comment on the advantages and disadvantages of the teacher as facilitator, but a great deal of emphasis is placed on the teacher in the roles of facilitator, observer, and guide, since this book is aimed toward K-6 teachers and the authors claim that young students need more guidance from the teacher.

I questioned this area because Schlick Noe and Johnson do not warn a teacher to avoid too much structure in the process. I can see some of the suggestions in this book leading teachers toward management of the whole process of lit. circles, rather than letting the students plan a good deal of the process.

Lit. Circle Problems

I have not yet used literature circles in my classes, so I don’t have particular strengths or weaknesses that I can discuss here. I did find the reading material really helpful though (chapters 12 and 14 of Daniels’ (2002) book and the article on fixing problems in a specific school environment). I think these resources are things that I should save for the time when I am using lit. circles in my classes – they would be good sources to use when a problem arises and also give great ideas about how to structure productive lit. circle environments. In particular, chapter 14 of Daniel’s book has so many helpful ideas about fixing problems in lit. circles, and can see how helpful it would be for a teacher who is encountering problems.

Chapter 12 gave me a lot of ideas for the process of assessment for lit. circles. I think Daniels makes a good point about how adult book club members don’t have to create book projects like the ones we require in school. Though I have not yet used lit. circles in my classes and I don’t have examples of assessment for lit. circles, I have made lit. circle plans for the future that did include book projects. These “hypothetical” projects included some of the examples on the massive list on page 91 – things like posters, presentations, artwork, and diaries from characters. But I really do think that Daniels is right that these projects are not something that adults typically do in book clubs. I think that when I do implement book clubs in my classes, I would like to think about using these “hypothetical” projects in some of my classes while doing other types of assessment (the combination of teacher observation, individual student self-assessment, and small group assessment of a videotaped session) in other classes. Then, I think I will compare the two approaches of assessment and see how these approaches impact students’ engagement with books and discussion. It would be interesting to see what impact these two approaches have on students.

I really like the ideas that Harvey Daniels provides for observation forms for both the teacher and the students. I have used group assessment in other group projects in my classes, and I have found that this type of assessment has been really beneficial because it seems to help students divide tasks and keeps students on track with their groups. (If students know that their group members are able to give me input on student participation, they try harder, even when I am not around.)

The article by Clarke and Holwadel (2007) was somewhat shocking to read. I have not yet been in a school environment that so explicitly negative. When I was a student in elementary/middle school, some of the schools I attended had negative group dynamics, but the tensions were usually not so out in the open; students were negative and cruel in the playgrounds/hallways rather than in the middle of the class in direct view of the teacher. This gives me a great deal of ideas I can use if I am ever in this type of environment. Overall, I really enjoyed our reading this week and I think it will help me in the future.

Literature Circles Process

The Harvey Daniels book has one example of literature circles that are used in the college environment, so I skipped ahead to that section to find an example of how I might use lit. circles in my courses at CNM (a local community college).

Marline Pearson uses lit. circles in her criminology courses at Madison Area Technical College. She uses them to give students the opportunity to have student-led discussions about short nonfiction articles. Here are the steps that she outlines (beginning on pg. 211 of Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs & Reading Groups) along with my ideas of how I might adapt this procedure:

1.   Talk to students about the importance of “student-generated as opposed to teacher-directed discussion” (p. 211) [My thoughts: Maybe I can use the idea of showing a video of a lit circle to the class to explain how the process works. I would need to find this resource somewhere or I might need to videotape sessions that I can use in subsequent semesters]

2.   Thoroughly train students on the process of lit circles during one or two class periods

a.     Give them a two-page article to take home to read and explain that during the next class period, students will begin to use the process of lit circles

b.     Pass out master sheets that describe the roles (connection maker, passage picker, discussion director, and illustrator) [My thoughts: How strictly do I need to stick to these roles? Maybe I can use some of the other examples in the book and make a list of ways that students can respond to give them more choices]

c.      Divide the class into two groups; assign one group the role of passage picker and the other group as connection maker

d.     The teacher goes over these two roles, while also assuming the roles of discussion director and illustrator

e.     Ask the passage pickers to choose two passages that they want to discuss (give them time to do this)

f.      Ask the connection makers to make at least two connections that they can share with class (give them time to do this)

g.     Have a whole class discussion by asking volunteers to share things they wrote down – use this to model a lit. circle discussion. Ask students not to be tied to the roles, but to use the things they have prepared in an order that seems natural – to try to have a natural discussion

3.   After the training session, give the students an article and put them in groups. Let the students decide which roles they will take within each group. [My thoughts: I could also use the essays that we have in our textbook; the essays include issue-based pieces, some of which are personal narratives; maybe I can provide more choice this way by allowing students to choose from several essays. Should I have them list their top two choices to make sure that I assign three to four people to each essay?]

4.   The lit. circles will take place during the next class period. Tell them to prepare using their roles. (They will bring in preparation materials to get homework credit.) [My thoughts: Again, maybe I can make the roles more flexible]

5.   Have students fill out a process checker sheet to write down comments about what worked well in the discussion as well as any problems that occurred

6.   Ask students to self-evaluate (rate themselves on their preparation and discussion) [My thoughts: I think self-evaluation would be helpful for my students. It would also help me to identify problems and provide more guidance]

7.   After students turn in their process checker sheets, read and comment back to the students on the sheets

8.   Use some of the students’ comments (anonymously) to start out the next class to talk about issues

Obstacles/Issues: How can I make my literature circles more aesthetic to help students feel that reading can be for enjoyment? I don’t think my students would necessarily choose to read essays and articles for personal enjoyment, so how can I include more student-chosen texts? I am hesitant to include a full-length novel in my courses because we have a common text that we are supposed to use, and I don’t know the rules on whether or not I can include another text. (Small texts seem all right because they are additional sources, and most instructors use supplemental material.) Maybe I should use short stories. That might be more interesting for my students.

Chapter One

Chapter one of Getting Started with Literature Circles is a very brief section that focuses on how teachers can begin the planning process of literature circles for their classes. This chapter basically serves as a pep rally for teachers who are planning to begin literature circles – the authors seem to say, “You can do it! Don’t worry so much, just get started!”

The authors argue that literature circles need to be part of a “balanced program”, much like Harvey Daniel’s describes in Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs & Reading Groups.  The authors claim that literature circles need to be part of a curriculum with other strategies, such as read aloud, independent reading/writing, shared reading/writing, guided reading/writing, and opportunities for application.

Schlick Noe and Johnson suggest that teachers choose one of two approaches when getting started with literature circles: “Start simply and let your goals grow as you do, or set a goal based on one component” (p. 3). The authors suggest that one goal could be to focus on helping students gain confidence in discussion. Teachers need to let go of “[the] need to delay beginning [literature circles] until you know exactly how you’ll reach your goals” (p. 6). They emphasize that literature circles are part of an ongoing process that is adapted and refined throughout the school year, and they explain that teachers should not expect students (or themselves) to “be good at every aspect of literature circles immediately” (p. 6).

I think this would have been helpful for me when I was teaching 12th grade English. If I had read this chapter back then, I probably would have just tried to use literature circles without worrying so much. This gives me more confidence that I can try using literature circles with short stories when I teach Reading courses. Though this book seems to be aimed toward lower grade levels than I currently teach (first through sixth grades), I hope it can still give me some ideas about how I can create literature circles in an adult remedial reading program.

The Introduction of Getting Started with Literature Circles

The authors claim that the role of the teacher is central to the process of literature circles, and this role is one of the first main areas of focus that are found in this text. Schlick Noe and Johnson explain that literature circles need to include the elements of student responsibility and choice in a setting where students can respond personally to a text, but too much flexibility creates a problematic and less functional literature group. Schlick Noe and Johnson argue that “The paradox is this: Although decidedly student centered, literature circles only work when the teacher provides effective structure and scaffolding” (x). The authors also warn against providing too much structure for literature circles. I think this is a complicated issue – trying to find the balance between setting structure, but not over-emphasizing structure.

There are three underlying assumptions that the authors describe. The authors claim that these three elements will help teachers create successful literature circles:

1.     “My students can learn to love reading and become stronger readers” (x). I think this point relates to something that we have discussed in our LLSS 528 course, the idea that reading can be both enjoyable and constructive.

2.     “My classroom is a safe, respectful, and productive place in which everyone’s view counts” (x). I would agree that this type of safe environment is essential in every classroom in which the teacher wants the students to collaborate, share, and learn. I have also read my classmates’ posts about the importance of community – think it’s great that this theme is emerging in some of our blogs.

3.     “My students can build the structure with me” (x). I think this might be the area that is more difficult for me to incorporate. As a high school teacher, I spent so much time planning out lesson plans for my students, teaching the plans, and then revising them myself. I have done few projects in which I have let students help build the structure of the lesson or activity. I need to think about including students’ ideas in the process of literature circles.

My Background and the Book I Chose

How do I want to structure my classroom and my curriculum? This is a question that I am exploring as a new teacher and also as I start teaching in a new environment--the community college. (And yes, it is as strange as that TV show Community )

I am a very new teacher. I have worked with high school students in theatre for several years, but this is my second year teaching full-time by myself. The continuing processes that I am undergoing while planning units, teaching students, and learning from others has been interesting for me and continues to keep me busy. I am still determining what my roles are as an instructor and how I can best include my students in my curriculum, especially now that I am teaching adults. I know I don't want my class to look like this, though the puppets are definitely entertaining:

I'm sure that my graduate courses and the books that I am reading will help me in the process of designing my courses. I am reading Getting Started with Literature Circles by Katherine L. Schlick Noe and Nancy J. Johnson. 

Yes, the little circles do make this book look like it is a sci fi book from outer space. The title should instead be, Getting Started with Aliens. And maybe that is part of the reason I chose the book--because I do like reading science fiction. :)

The real reason I chose this book is because I am now teaching at a community college, and though I currently teach a course called Essay Writing, I plan to teach Reading courses in the future. These courses are part of the School of General and Adult Education at Central New Mexico Community College. 

I hope that I will be able to incorporate the process of literature circles in my future courses, though I am not sure how that will work. I am reading this book for our LLSS 528 course and also to help me with some ideas that I will be able to try in my future teaching.

I have read some material on literature circles/book clubs in the past. This book seems to follow along the lines of that material. For instance, in another graduate course, I read The Book Club Companion by Cindy O’Donnell Allen. 

This book was really interesting and included a lot of ideas about how to create book clubs. I would recommend The Book Club Companion to anyone who wants literature circle ideas. The Book Club Companion is very structured and O’Donnell Allen provides project ideas, role sheets, activities, etc.

I used The Book Club Companion along with other resources to plan out several units that I intended to teach when I was working at a high school, but I ultimately never used them. I think I was a little intimidated and overwhelmed with the ideas. I taught 12th grade English at the time, and I felt like I needed to try to structure my curriculum so that it was similar to the other 12th grade teacher’s curriculum. There didn’t seem to be any room in my curriculum for literature circles. 

As I reflect and look back on that time, I think my students would have really enjoyed literature circles. We had independent reading in my class instead, but I think I could have easily incorporated literature circles in part of the independent reading time. This probably would have helped all of the students because the hesitant readers would have had the opportunity to discuss and share books that the active students could have chosen for our class. I think hesitant readers would have been more likely to read the books that their peers chose, rather than read things that I suggested to them for independent reading time.

I hope that I can provide my adult readers with the opportunity to enjoy reading along with the skills that I will need to teach them for reading in college courses. I think I will need to find a way to incorporate short texts in literature circles (because my students are in remedial classes to help them prepare for college and I have limited time). I wonder if there is research on using short stories in literature circles? I will need to look into this.


In the introduction to Getting Started with Literature Circles, Schlick Noe and Johnson tell the reader that “discussion strengthens students’ ability and motivation to read” (ix). I would really like to strengthen my students’ motivation to read.

For those of you who have used literature circles and/or independent reading time in your classes, I have a question for you: how do you fit it into your curriculum? Do you use books that center around a theme which will connect to other units in your curriculum? Do you allow students to choose any books that they want to use for independent reading/literature circles as reading for enjoyment? Or do you use some combination in between? For those of you who haven’t used literature circles, how do you think you might use circles in your curriculum?

Three-year-old Reader's Theater

I came across this video a few weeks ago. I think it relates to the idea of helping children make meaning with literature. In it, you will see a three-year-old boy using a type of reader's theater to understand and remember a short poem. I remember doing this as a child - using gestures and emphasis on specific words to remember the text of a poem or song. (I even remember doing the reverse as a five- and six-year-old in the children's dance classes I took, where we would use words and chants to help us remember the dance steps we had learned.) I think that doing this type of reader's theater really helps some children make meaning from text and connects to what I ask adolescents and adults to do, which is to imagine images in their minds while reading or listening to someone read a piece of literature. I decided to post it here to share it for when we work on reader's theater later in the course.

The poem:
The Eagle, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

"He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls."

An Introduction

Here it is. My first “college” blog entry… Yes, a blog focused on my graduate courses and the literature I am reading for these courses. For some reason, this makes me think no one will want to read what I write… Honestly, when I think of blogs focused on academia, I imagine wordy tirades in which the blogger rants about an academic philosophy that no one cares to read about. I know I am interested in what I am reading and studying; otherwise I would not be reading and studying the topics and books that I am, but will anyone else care? I hope at least my fellow classmates will care to read this. :)

I do have some experience with blogs, though not through a particular class in connection to a university. I have written creative blog posts in which I have shared stories, poems, thoughts, and ideas with family and friends; however, I have not written a blog entry in over a year. My first year of teaching, which was last year, practically took over my entire life and I neglected to do many things that I used to, such as blogging.

I used to follow blogs that are written by some of my favorite writers. I used to really like Neil Gaiman’s blog at neilgaiman.com. (He is a fantasy writer.) He uses it more as an online promotional tool now rather than a place to share his thoughts, and it is mostly about his work and events. I don’t find it particularly interesting anymore. Reading only about upcoming book releases and event after event does not make for a particularly memorable afternoon.

I occasionally check in and read some of my friends’ blogs. Clara, one of my friends from UNM, writes a really funny, interesting blog about her life. (http://ineedclarafication.blogspot.com/) I find Clara’s blog interesting because she uses a lot of humor and she includes silly drawings about her thoughts and experiences. Her writing is thoughtful, humorous, and interesting.

As I’m creating this blog for my class, I have started to think about some questions that I would like to explore in addition to posting about literature and research. Looking through other blogs has made me wonder: How can I show an audience the book I am reading, rather than just “tell” things about it? I want to make my blog more dynamic than a blog that is strictly text-based, so I will need to think about how I can accomplish this. I hope that I can ultimately create an appealing page that shares interesting material with my readers.

Thanks for reading this.

Pam