I just did this in my fifth grade classroom. The first thing I did was purchase the Literature Circle book by Harvey Daniels. It is a great resource!
I began with a short picture book - Greyling. we all read the same book and responded the same way, so my students could see me both model the response and learn how to do each response. We met in a circle to discuss our responses. My next step was to break into smaller groups with the same book. This time we used, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I killed two birds with one stone with this one and talked about the genre of mystery - that's what I used to base my mini-lessons from. In these groups, members assigned themeselves a different role for each meeting to discuss. We are currently on the third step of our Literature Circles. I have three groups (a small class) each reading their own book. This time I am letting them write their responses in a notebook,and choosing their own response - for instance, they write down an question, and a connection if they have one. This way they are not limited in their responses or thinking about their reading. They seem to be really enjoying all the independence. While groups are meeting, I go around at the beginning to make sure each person is prepared and usually sit with groups for 5-10 minutes and participate in their discussion. I try not to lead the discussion or give too many prompts - I like to see what they come up with on their own. At the end of the meeting, we meet as a whole class and I praise the groups that are doing well and give examples of things they talked about that I really enjoyed. I also relate these to my mini lessons. This is my first year teaching and I was nervous about starting Literature Circles, but my studetns really seem to be loving doing them, and are loving the books. I get excited to see them so excited about reading! I hope this is helpful! Melissa On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 1:32 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Everyone, > I'm trying to start book clubs in my 5th grade classroom.? I have to say that > I feel overwhelmed and uneasy about "losing control".? Any suggestions on how > to ease into this?? Thanks, Michele > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
