Literature Circles/Book Clubs

Guidelines for Promoting Effective Book Talks

*Choose books that you have multiple copies of so that students may
have his/her own copy of the book. Consider providing text sets that
have the same author, theme, topic, character, etc. Feel free to use all
genres of writing, including informational text. You may also use stories
from the basal reader.
* Students should be prepared for the discussion with completed role
sheets (All roles should be extensively modeled in advance, and
students should have ample practice completing role sheets before the
first discussion).
*Discussion groups should be small (6 students is ideal).
*Sit in a circle with students facing one another.
*The Discussion Director should serve as the groups leader for the
day and direct the sharing of the roles.
*Students, individually, share role sheets and respond to one another.
*The teachers role is more of a facilitator. You may guide the
discussion, but dont dominate the conversation or ask too many
questions. With older students, you should eventually be able to remove
yourself from the conversations.
*Students should feel free to offer interpretations, reactions,
feelings and thoughts about the literature. Dont lead students to your
own interpretations of the text.
*Conversations should move from general discussions to more in-depth
analyses of issues. The discussion usually lasts about 20-45 minutes,
depending on the length of the text and the age of the students.
*Following the discussions, have students reflect on the experience.
You may want the students to rate themselves as participants.
Dr. Jodi Nichols D
Frostburg State University

Discussion Director

Name:_______________________________________________
Group:_______________________________________________
Book/Text Selection:____________________________________
Page Numbers:_________________________________________
Your job is to create a list of questions that your group might want to
discuss or debate about the selection that you have read. You may ask
a few lower level questions (skinny questions) but try to ask a greater
number of fat questions (higher level thinking questions). The tougher
questions lead to better discussions.
Questions:
1. _______________________________________________
________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________
_________________________________________________
It is also your job to serve as the groups leader for the day. You will
ask each group member to share his/her role sheet, and you will report
discipline issues to the teacher.

Investigator

Name:_______________________________________________
Group:_______________________________________________
Book/Text Selection:____________________________________
Page Numbers:_________________________________________
Your job is to dig up some background information on any topic related
to the text. You may research the author, bring in photos of the
setting, show maps of important locations in the story, etc. You may
print information from the internet or share trade or reference books.
Attach what you will be sharing to this sheet.
I am researching the following:_____________________________
____________________________________________________
I found this information (where?)___________________________
____________________________________________________

Vocabulary Enricher

Name:_______________________________________________
Group:_______________________________________________
Book/Text Selection:____________________________________
Page Numbers:_________________________________________
Your job is to be on the lookout for a few especially important words in
todays reading. These may be words that are repeated frequently,
unfamiliar, puzzling or difficult, or important for understanding the
meaning of the selection. When you find these words, write down the
page number and paragraph number, the word, and the definition. Then
tell your plan for how these words will be discussed. For example, will
you play a game with the words? Will group members look up the words
in a dictionary and discuss them?
Page & Paragraph #
1.

Word

Definition

2.
3.
4.
5.
My plan for sharing these words:____________________________
_____________________________________________________

Passage Picker

Name:_______________________________________________
Group:_______________________________________________
Book/Text Selection:____________________________________
Page Numbers:_________________________________________
Your job is to locate a few special sections of the text that you would
like to discuss with your group. These sections might be interesting,
important, or confusing. You decide which paragraphs are worth
sharing, and then write your plan for how you will share these passages
with your group (Will you read the passages aloud? Will you call on
volunteers to read the passages orally?)
Page and Paragraph #

Reason for choosing the passage

1. _______________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________
This is my plan for sharing the passages with my group:___________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

Connector

Name:_______________________________________________
Group:_______________________________________________
Book/Text Selection:____________________________________
Page Numbers:_________________________________________
Your job is to find connections between what you read and the outside
world. This means that you will be connecting the reading to your own
life or your own feelings. You may connect to a similar book that you
have read or happenings at home or school. There are no right or wrong
answers here- whatever the connections are, they are worth sharing
with your group.
Some connections that I found between this reading and my own life
are
1. _______________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________

Travel Tracer

Name:_______________________________________________
Group:_______________________________________________
Book/Text Selection:____________________________________
Page Numbers:_________________________________________
Your job is to carefully track where the action is taking place. Describe
each setting in detail, either with an action map or diagram that you
can share with your group. Remember, characters move around
frequently, so scenes change often. Therefore, it is important for
everyone to know where things are happening and how the setting has
changed.
Setting 1:_____________________________________________
Page # ____
Setting 2:_____________________________________________
Page # ____
Setting 3:_____________________________________________
Page # ____
Setting 4:_____________________________________________
Page # ____
Setting 5:_____________________________________________
Page # ____
Attach a map or diagram please.

Illustrator

Name:_______________________________________________
Group:_______________________________________________
Book/Text Selection:____________________________________
Page Numbers:_________________________________________
Your job is to draw a picture related to the reading. It can be a sketch,
cartoon, diagram, flow chart, or stick-figure scene. You can draw
something that is discussed specifically in the book, something that
the reading reminded you of, or a picture that conveys an idea or
feeling that you got from the reading. You may draw on the back of
this paper, or you may use another sheet of paper. Get creative!