Literature Circles

What are your overall impressions of implementation?

            I felt it was a great idea and layout, but the implementation with Kindergarteners made it a little bit difficult as it took a lot of pre-teaching. This level of work would be more appropriate toward the end of the year. That is not to say, however, that it wasn’t valuable, it just took a lot of front-loading and teaching to make the organizers useful for them.

           

How did students react to the literature?

            They LOVED it! They wanted to read more books like the ones we’d been reading. I also think they loved the small group discussion of the books.

How did students react to discussing the selected texts?

            They had a great time talking about the stories and using rhyming words. It was very high interest for them.

How appropriate is the Literature Circle Technique for second language learners?

            I think it is wonderful, but I may need to adjust a few things to use it with such beginners not only to the language, but to reading and writing. This is already very similar to how I do my reading groups. The main addition to what I already do in reading groups is the use of multiple graphic organizers.

What changes would you make if you were to repeat this?

            I would not use three organizers. I would probably just use one, to be filled out as a group to help model the process of organizing thoughts on an organizer for future use.

What suggestions to you have for other ESL professionals considering implementing literature circles?

            I would make sure that you really think about the ability level of your students before you plan everything out. Make sure your organizers will be easy for your students to use. If not, you will spend a lot of time trying to get the students to understand how to use them. Once that’s accomplished, they may only be going through the motions of using the organizer without actually understanding why they are doing it.