Patterns of Practice: Literature Circles Assignment
PATTERNS OF PRACTICE: LITERATURE CIRCLES TEMPLATE
TEACHER CANDIDATELANGUAGE ART(S)GRADE
Courtney McHaleReading8th
STEPSTEACHER GUIDE- UNITE PLAN INSTRUCTION AND
INFORMATION
Step 1: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra
Books/ Text Cisneros, "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, and "The Outsiders" by
SetS.E. Hinton.
Step 2: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.1
Standard(s)Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the
text says explicitly as well as inferences are drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over
the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and
plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.3
Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama
propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.8.9
Analyze how a modern work of fiction draws on themes, patterns of events, or
character types from myths, traditional stories, or religious works such as the
Bible, including describing how the material is rendered new.
Step 3: Divide students into literature circle groups of 4-6 students. Assign each group
Circles (set to a particular novel and assign roles to each student: Discussion Director,
up)Vocabulary Enricher, Summarizer, Connector, and Literary Luminary. Provide
students with rubrics and instructions for each role.
Step 4: RolesThe following roles will be assigned to each student:
Discussion Director: Leads the literature circle discussion by preparing open-
ended questions based on the reading for the week.
Vocabulary Enricher: Identifies unfamiliar vocabulary and prepares a list of
definitions, examples, and non-examples.
Summarizer: Summarizes the main events or ideas of the assigned reading for
the week.
Patterns of Practice: Literature Circles Assignment
Connector: Makes connections between the text and the world, other texts, or
personal experiences.
Literary Luminary: Selects and shares a passage from the reading that he or
she finds particularly powerful or significant.
Step 5: Provide students with a reading schedule and a list of the meeting dates for
Schedule each literature circle group. Encourage students to read actively, taking notes
Overviewand jotting down questions as they read.
Week 1: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry
Week 2: "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros
Week 3: "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
Week 4: "The Outsiders" by S.E. Hinton
Step 6: GroupAllow literature circle groups to lead their own discussions based on the
Discussions/ assigned reading and role for the week. Monitor and participate in discussions
Meetingsas needed, providing sentence starters or discussion prompts as necessary.
Encourage students to support their ideas with evidence from the text.
Step 7: Throughout the unit, students will complete written responses to the texts,
Assessmentfocusing on themes and literary elements
Patterns of Practice: Literature Circles Assignment
References
Daniels, H., & Steineke, N. (2019). Mini-lessons for literature circles. Stenhouse Publishers.
Harvey, S., & Daniels, H. (2009). Comprehension and collaboration: Inquiry circles in action.
Heinemann.
Walpole, S., & McKenna, M. C. (2017). The literacy coach's Handbook: A guide to Research-based
practice. Guilford Publications.
