Literature Circles and Response

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 092684248X
• ISBN13: 9780926842489
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Christopher-Gordon Publishers
• Length: 283 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

"Literature Circle and Response" Book Review

Literature Circles and Responses recounts the stories of teachers who desire to pursue authentic means to deepen their students' engagement with literature by implementing Literature Circles in the classroom. As much as this book attempts to define and give a rationale for Literature Circles, the message is given deeper impact because it focuses on teachers and their journey with Literature Circles. Each chapter, a different author describes what his/her experience was through real and honest assessment using Literature Circles as a part of his/her weekly routine, while providing insights to educators. A Literature Circle is a structure that is student centered which promotes various reading activities for students across all different grade levels. This type of curriculum encourages peer sharing along on what literature is being read along with receiving positive feedback and support from teachers. Each author explicitly details what their experiences with Literature Circles were and continue to be. The educators focus on various aspects of Literature Circles from successes to trials. A general theme that often came to the forefront was the call for teachers to work out teaching methods that have been successful for each individual in the classroom along with encouragements that there is no "right answer" or silver bullet when it comes to teaching students literature. Literature Circles are not meant to be perfected, but rather, it provides ways to discover students' strengths and weaknesses by encouraging student inquiry. Literature Circles and Responses gives a variety of methods to integrate the different arts into Literature Circles, and allow students to express themselves by means which are most conducive for learning. The authors emphasize the importance for students to feel a sense of autonomy as they search for meanings behind what they have read. This book captures a glimpse of Literature Circles in eleven different classrooms and grades gives a direct account of personal experiences with those students. As a means for instruction and enlightenment, the book definitely does not sugar coat any of the processes and serves as a useful resource for Literature Circle activities in the classroom, particularly for aspiring educators. I found this book to hit my personal "3 E's" as I like to say: which is enjoyable, engaging, and effective. Though by no means definitive, the personal stories offer a moving description of what impact Literature Circles can make and is a terrific supplement for that goal. It is also broad in terms of going deeply into methodologies or strategies, but if you are exploring different ways to encourage your students to appreciate literature, then this book is a great start.

Book Review

I really enjoyed this book fully. I thought that at some parts the authors were very repeatative but I also discovered that similarities exsist between teaching a [...] class using literature circles and a forth grade class and their own literature circles. The book also gave very specific examples from teachers who have found the best way that literature circles work for them. I really found this book informative and will be retrieving out of the book shelf every couple years as a great refrence book and reminder of what children should be doing during literature circles as well as what they should be getting out of literature circles. I really liked the book because it focused on the younger grades more 1st through about 6th grades and it really tried to go as indepth about each school year as the teacher who wrote that chapter could go. One part of the book that I felt was a flaw was that the book kept referring to chapters that would come after it. I really like being able to read through a book and not have to go searching for answers, but it also wasn't that difficult to understand the whole book even without going to search in every chapter. Overall I believe this was a great book and I will be referencing it often while in the classroom teaching Literature Circles!

Review of "Literature Circles and Response"

Co-author Sarah Owens defines literature circles as "discussion groups in which children meet regularly to talk about books" (p. 2). "Literature Circles and Response" opens with a scary prospect for some teachers: student-directed learning. This book is for teachers on the fence with the idea of having students lead instruction, those who are considering it and teachers who are setting up literature circles with their classes and need a little help. For Teachers on the Fence: In Chapter 14, Nancy Johnson reflects on Lisa Norwick's implementation of literature circles over the span of six years. Her story has ups and downs, but she persisted in her efforts to step back and give students more control (216), remain flexible (221) and adaptable to students' needs (220-221). I would recommend reading this chapter first if you are a teacher skeptical of implementing circles in your classroom. Norwick's experience is heartfelt and realistic. She does not sugarcoat her struggle because it is not an easy feat. For Teachers Who Are Considering Using Literature Circles in Their Classrooms and/or Need a Push in the Right Direction: Norwick began her initial setup of literature circles with two key questions: 1) How do I get started? 2) What literature do I use? (222) Luckily, this book systematically goes through several options for teachers who want to use literature circles in their classrooms. Even though circles are defined as discussion among peers, this book emphasizes the importance for teachers to research relevant book options (Chapters 6 and 9), model quality discussion for and with students (Chapter 5) and assess while supporting student-directed inquiry (Chapters 12 and 13). Overall, I think this book is a great resource for any teacher open to having literature circles in their class or for teachers curious about possible processes and outcomes. I will definitely be referencing the easy to find sections on mini-lessons (57-60), literature extensions based on the arts (144-146) and multiple examples of evaluation sheets, class schedules and student work. There is also a mini-selected annotated bibliography at the end of the book to give teachers a boost towards quality literature selection. I would still cross-reference this list with other sources and recommendations, but it is definitely useful.

"Literature Circles and Response" book review

This book consisted of different teachers across grade levels discussing the implementation of literature circles in their classrooms. In the first chapter, the author discussed what literature circles are, how to implement them, the rationale behind them as well as things that should be included in them. One feature of the book that was very interesting to me was that in one of the chapters, they listed some of the activities that can be used during literature circles as well as a brief description that explained what each activity was. Usually the assumption is made that everyone knows of these activities and how to implement them. One problem that I did see with the book is that most of the chapters' ended with the literature circles in the classrooms being very successful. Unfortunately we know that this cannot be the case for every classroom. It would have been helpful to hear about the classrooms in which literature circles were not successful in. The way that it is portrayed in the book, any classroom should be able to participate in this activity. While reading the book, I had a few concerns that went unanswered. One concern was about the availability of resources. These literature circles suggest that there should be student choice in books and they should be done on a regular basis throughout the year. What if you work in a school where the availability or resources is limited and you are not able to purchase them on your own? In that case you are left with whatever is already in the school. This can take away the aspect of student choice which is one of the most important aspects of literature circles. The book only touched on this very briefly. Another concern was that the book was not considerate enough of time management. Some of the teachers spoke about how they were able to implement it into their curriculum but the tactics they used cannot be done by every one. The process of literature circles can be long and time consuming and fitting it into the current curriculum of most classrooms would be a challenge. The last issue that I had with the content of the book was that it did not give tips what to do if the students in the classroom simply do not want to participate in the literature circles. This non - participation could include not reading the book, being disruptive during the group meetings or failing to complete the literature circle journals and activities. Overall this was a very informative book. I do feel that hearing how more than just one teacher implemented it into their classroom was helpful. I was able to look at it from multiple perspectives. Since most of the stories in the book were positive literature circle experiences, it did get a bit repetitive. In closing I was able to gain a better insight on literature circles and many ideas on activities that go along with them.

Great Book for Educators

To those considering reading Literature Circles and Response, it is written by teachers, who tell their experiences working with literature circles. This book is divided into fourteen chapters, each chapter is written by a teacher excluding the last chapter. The last chapter is written by Nancy J. Johnson, who writes about a teacher that she observed during a five year period. The first four chapters of this book emphasize on the structure of literature circles and how to begin literacy circles in the classroom. A major idea stressed throughout the book is the roles that teachers and students should follow. It is emphasized that literature circles should be student-centered; students must have choice, responsibility and ownership over literature circles. Therefore, it is stressed that the teacher should be the facilitator by guiding and modeling for students. With the progression of literature circles teachers should have a less dominated presence, which will allow students to run literature circles on their own. The teachers in this book give a range of suggestions for literature responses that go beyond writing a summary, reflection, or journal response. Their suggestions promote meaning making responses through visual and performing arts. Authors explain that responses can be expressed through illustrations, theatre, music, poems etc. The second half of the book focused mainly on choosing books for literature circles, and assessing students. In this book some teachers offer book selection recommendations, such as choosing meaningful books and books other than fiction. These authors offer suggestions for assessing students through anecdotal notes (during and after discussion), logs, reading conferences, responses, participation, and portfolios. In this book you can find great student self-evaluations and literacy circle evaluations forms that can be used for assessment. The first chapters of this book seemed somewhat unrealistic but as I continued reading the authors talked about some of the issues that arose in their classrooms. Coping with issues and struggles that might arise is a topic that I would have liked for this book to dedicate a few chapters to. I would like to read a book written by a teacher that talks about his or her experience with literature circles through the years; a book that focuses on the successes and struggles with literature circles. An example would be the final chapter of the book, which gives a teacher's story on her five years of experience working with literature circles. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. As a future teacher this book has been very helpful because I have gained a better understanding of literature circles. After reading this book I feel more confident about having literature circles in my classroom. What I found most interesting was the different meaning making responses that students can do when reflecting on literature. I feel that this book is a great resource that can be referred b