SUMMER LITERACY INSTITUTE 2013

Digging Deeper into Literature Discussion Groups/Book Clubs

Gradual Release of Responsibility: a structure for successful instruction

Focus Lesson

“I do it”

Guided Instruction “We do it”

Collaborative “You do it together”

Independent “You do it alone”

Teacher Responsibility

Student ResponsibilityFisher & Frey, Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, 2008

Literature Discussion Groups

You do it! Launch Norms Read Discuss Debrief

Small group Put one post it on the board about what classroom implications this activity had

Take Away Whole group

Because My Father Always Said He Was the Only Indian Who Saw Jimi Hendrix Play 'TheStar−Spangled Banner' at Woodstock by Sherman Alexiehttp://www.spraksikring.com/kurs/AlexieStudyGuide.pdfRoom by Emma Donogue- http://emmadonoghue.com/books/novels/room-the-novel.htmlOlive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/books/review/Thomas-t.html

Teaching Students Accountable Talk

Students need to be taught HOW to agree, disagree, clarify, add on

Use student friendly language- what would students actually be saying

Example

Conversation Starters

Book Marks Sample 1 Sample 2

Anchor Charts

Accountable Talk

http://www.learner.org/resources/series182.html?pop=yes&pid=1981

Teacher/Student: Record the talk

Discuss—what do you notice?

How can you foster this kind of conversation in your classroom?

Setting Norms

Students can work together to set norms for their book clubs

Have students create a poster for their book club with 3-5 norms they will need to be successful

Remind students to take this out at the beginning of each meeting time to prepare for their meeting

Component 1: Intro/Selection of Book

Book clubs should still contain student choice as much as possible Choice within book club group that is already established Choice, then put into book clubs based on choice

Book talk books to get students excited and interested LMC Specialist Amazon Book trailers Reading first chapter Student recommendations

Component 1 Cont…

Students need to be taught HOW to prepare for book club meetings Read assigned text Flag your thinking Respond in reading logs

Model, Model, Model!

Practice with short texts before sending off to practice with book club books

Component 2: Silent Reading

Time for students to independently enjoy book club books

As they read, students are using comprehension tools taught in previous mini-lessons

Flagging their thinking, responding Teacher is conferring with individuals or may be

pulling mixed strategy groups Setting a calendar

Students may be assigned to read to a certain point by teacher Students may determine their own stopping point (if reading

different books within a book club) Students may determine stopping points as a club

Component 3: Teacher Conference

Teachers are conferring 1:1 as students are reading and guiding their thinking to a higher level

Conferring might include Responding to the Story

Did any of the characters remind you of anyone you know? Questioning the Author

What do you think the author is trying to tell us in this part? Assessing Comprehension

What is the theme of this story? Discussing Student Reading Log Entries

Component 4: Group Discussion

Remind students to review norms

May occur after the text or several times within, depending on length of text

Teacher role: mentor students to conduct their own discussions- scaffold as needed and gradually release

Remind students to use conversation prompts

Component 5: Peer Discussions

Extension of literature discussion groups with the teacher

Students continue discussion once teacher has left

Students need be taught to assess their discussion at a group level and an individual level

Accountability: Consider the use of a self reflection/rubric for students to use at end of discussion groups

Component 6: Text Mapping & Focus Groups

Goal is to promote deeper thinking & comprehension

Text or story maps

Individually, small groups, or teacher guided groups

Focus Groups Teacher identifies a specific focus for comprehension

to work on with a particular group Author’s style, text feature, character analysis

Component 7: Literature Extensions

Work alone or with group to extend their thinking beyond the text

Examples Reading another book by same author Writing a letter to the author Interviewing the main character of the book Research the author or illustrator Write a poem relate to reading Character analysis of several characters Writing an alternate ending Creating a timeline of events Student chosen ideas

Book Club Types

Author Book ClubsSeries Book ClubsGenre Book ClubsLeveled Book Clubs Topic Book Clubs (non-fiction)

Example: Social Issues Other ideas?

Ways To Organize Book Clubs

Same levelsMixed levels

Same textMixed text

Same topicMixed topic

Guided Book Clubs

Still based on student choiceBook talk 4-5 booksStudents write down top 3 Teacher selects based on choice/level May be teacher selected topic, OEU driven

topic, or student selected topic

Book Club Scheduling

Teacher scheduled

Group scheduled

Individually scheduled

So What Are YOU Doing?

Still needs to include a mini-lesson

Conferring, meeting with groups

Sample 1

Sample 2

Holding Students Accountable

Student created norm chart

Teacher rubrics Create your own rubric

Student self evaluations

Reflective responses (notebooking)

Student Activity Guide

Troubleshooting

Successes?

Challenges?

Resources to investigate further