Literature Circles

As adults, many of us are a part of different book clubs, whether formally or informally.  We meet together to discuss what we've read, how we felt, and what we think.  Instilling this love of reading in our students, all the while allowing them to connect, dissect, discuss and analyze, is all a part of the magical process during literature circles.

Over the last few years, the process of literature circles has undergone much debate as we struggle to find a happy medium between allowing the process of reading and discussing to unfold naturally all the while holding students accountable for their reading.  Many teachers use role sheets, first introduced by Harvey Daniels in his professional book, Literature Circles, but recent discourse and debate has led many to abandon them as they limit the natural discussion process for students and lock them into "presenting" their role, rather than allowing the discussion to flow.  

In Mike's class, he is moving away from using the traditional role sheets and moving into allowing students to document their thinking on sticky notes.  As they read, they are to note whatever comes to mind, not focusing on one comprehension strategy, but on what they are actually thinking about while reading.  From these notes, students come together in their groups to discuss the part read, and share their thoughts and ideas together.  

To ensure that group discussions are focused and meaningful, Mike has spent some time defining, together with his class, how to have a "solid" conversation.  After each meeting, students reflect and think about their group discussion, how they contributed to it and what they learned from the discussion and their peers.

In order to prepare and set-up for the circles, Mike has spent quite a bit of time thinking about what texts to use and how to organize his groups.  He has decided to create his groups according to the reading level of his students while also thinking about their reading interests and attitudes.  Carefully choosing texts that will interest many of his students is very important to Mike so that they feel excited about what they are reading.  Here are the seven books Mike is using in his class:

Student books are filled with notes documenting their thinking:

Co-constructing the expectations about how to have a meaningful discussion is an integral part of the process so students understand what is expected and they take responsibility for their learning:

Students are engaged and interested in sharing their ideas with one another during their discussion:

Some self-reflection afterwards helps students think about their thinking - what did they learn, how did they contribute, how well was the discussion?

Here are the two books that look at Literature Circles and their use in the classroom.  The second one, Inquiry Circles in Action, moves away from role sheets and looks at how we can embed more inquiry into literature circles, by having students research themes/topics present in their books.  This allows for students to expand their learning from the particulars of a text and look at the big ideas and enduring understandings inherent within it.  

Math Word Wall for Grade 7 Students

There are many purposes of a math word wall.  Mike's goal in creating his word wall is clear.  He wanted to:

1.  Make the word wall accessible by placing in a place where students can reach and read the words.

2.  Attach meaning to each word by including a definition or example.

3. Make a word wall that is a learning tool, not just a display.

Mike updates his word wall regularly.  Clearly, his challenge is to find room to keep all these words up.

The Guide to Effective Instruction in Mathematics K-6: Volume 3 - Classroom Resources and Management suggests that words can be moved and placed in a binder or big book to make room for new words.

This document suggests other considerations when creating a math word wall in your classroom.

Three Part Lesson: Coordinates

This is a summary of the lesson we observed in Mike's Grade 7 class.

Prior Learning:

This was the first lesson in this unit.  Mike wanted to find out what students remembered or knew about coordinates.  

Contextualizing the Problem:

In creating this problem, Mike was intentional in choosing a context that his students could understand and relate to.  It also provided a vision of how coordinates is used in a real-life context.

Part 1: Getting Started

Mike introduced the term 'coordinates' and discussed what students will be learning about it in Grade 7.

Part 2: Working on It

Mike introduced the problem to the class.  He reviewed appropriate group work behaviour and management of materials.

While circulating, Mike noticed that any groups demonstrated the same misconception:

Misconceptions about the placement of the negative coordinates and the centre point was evident in almost all student work.

Part 3: Reflecting and Connecting (Consolidation)

Prior to asking the following groups to share, Mike reiterated to the whole class that the sharing was not about passing judgement.  His prompt to the group that shared was:

"Tell us what you were thinking as you solved the problem."  

This focussed students on the mathematical thinking in the room, rather than the correct solution.

The groups that shared their solutions was intentionally selected to address the different thinking in the room.  It wasn't about showcasing the 'perfect' solutions.

This solution clarified a misconception about the placement of the numbers on the coordinate system and the centre point.

This group was selected to showcase the correct solution as well as the clear communication process.

Part 3: Explicit Teaching

Mike clarified the misconceptions and partial conceptions about the coordinate system during this portion of the lesson.  He referred back to the student work that was shared earlier.

Clarifying misconceptions about how to construct a coordinate grid, the location of the centre point, and plotting coordinates was the goal of the explicit teaching part of the lesson. 

Part 4: Independent Practice

After explicitly clarifying student misconceptions, Mike wanted to give students a chance to apply what they learned individually.  He intentionally selected two questions from textbook.

As students worked on the Checking questions, Mike was able to check in with individual students to ensure they understood the key concepts on the lesson.  This is key since some students may get lost in group work.

Assessment:

While Mike did not formally record assessment information, he demonstrated for us what the term 'assessment drives instruction' means.  He tailored his explicit instruction to clarify the misconceptions and partial conceptions his students demonstrated during group work.  He purposefully selected textbook questions that would let him know if his students 'got it or not".  The divide between assessment and instruction was seamless.

Familiarizing and Analyzing: Introducing a New Form of Writing

When teaching a form of writing, many teachers often begin by modeling that form together with their students.  From this modeling, students might begin by doing some writing of their own, to practise the components and build some mastery of it.  Using the modeling as a  launching point, teachers move into mini-lessons around the form to strengthen these skills.

It can sometimes be frustrating as the modeling isn't enough for some of our students.  We search for ways to address their needs and build in the skills they need, and often times, we do more modeling before moving through the gradual release of responsibility with them.

In the First Steps Writing model, they have identified two steps we need to include in our writing programs before we default to modeling the form.  They suggest that we have students familiarize and analyze examples of the text form to identify the similarities and create rules of their own for the form.  This allows students to internalize the text features, organization and purpose of the form and make meaning themselves before delving into the work.

Looking at samples from that writing form supports our learners who need to see different examples of the form to see that the purpose may be the same, but the type may be different.

Mike was just beginning his procedural writing form with his class and he decided to have them familiarize and analyze different texts in small groups and decide their effectiveness.  Examples included: a recipe, IKEA directions, small appliances/electronics booklets and a map.  With their group, students looked through the samples and filled in a worksheet to document their thoughts and ideas.

From this small group work, they came back to the large group and shared their opinions about the samples they felt were most or least effective and why.  This led to using their ideas to fill in a Frayer Model anchor chart together, to summarize and synthesize the key features of the writing form.

The book, The Write Genre, is a critical resource in Mike's writing program as he likes the way it is laid out around the purpose and organization of each form and includes examples to use with students.

Building Character, Building Community

An integral component of Mike's classroom is building character with his students to create a safe space for them to grow and learn together.  This positive sense of community instills pride and confidence and promotes risk-taking and collaboration.

Mike has identified four key character traits that he focuses on with his class and he looks for students demonstrating these traits.  Students are recognized for their hard work with "wall of fame" tickets to celebrate their accomplishments that become a part of their 7A Wall of Fame.

Along with his Wall of Fame, Mike has included many clever sayings in his classroom to have his students think about their actions and choices.

In addition to integrating character education into his program and recognizing his students, he also ensures and includes his students' work to honour their achievements.

In order to support his students, Mike also builds community by having anchor charts and aids up for his students to use and refer to when needed.  He co-constructs his anchor charts with his class and breaks down the many components together connected to the work or unit he is working on.