Artifact # 4
Context: I created this Literature Circle Unit in my Language Arts Methods class in the spring of 2002. A Literature Circle Unit is a way to teach children how to deeply discuss the literature they read.
Impact: Literature Circles are a very effective way to encourage children to discuss the literature they read. Each student in the group is assigned a certain role that they must complete for each section of the book/unit. The students roles can be changed with each change in section of the book. The roles each student must complete assist in providing in-depth searches into the stories, including aspects such as characters, setting, plot, and vocabulary. The students are broken into groups by reading ability which keeps each student on their instructional level. Literature Circles allow every student to be involved and it provides a stepping stone for children to look deeper into the literature that they read.
Alignment: The books assigned to the Literature Circle groups are selected based on their developmental appropriateness. Keeping a student on their reading level will demonstrate more progress than trying to group the entire class on one ability level (Tech Comp II A). One of the roles that is included in the literature circle is the Investigator. It is the Investigator's job to locate information from provided websites that will give more insight to the literature being read. I have managed the use of this assignment by providing the website and the direction in which the students should go once they are at the website (Tech Comp III D). Literature Circles assist the teacher in providing literature discussions to a class full of diverse learners. Each child is given responsibility over their own work and is therefore allowed the freedom to explore and feel a sense of accomplishment after each role is completed (Tech Comp VI B). These Literature Circle Units are posted on the world-wide-web. As a teacher, I can find these units and use them in my future classroom to assist in my instruction of all different ability levels (Tech Comp VI C).
I needed basic background knowledge such as knowing that children read on stratified levels, before I could create this Literature Unit. Also, before I could implement this unit, I needed to find books that were appropriate for the student's varying ability levels. Literature Circles also allow the students to see literature from another person's point of view, such as a fellow group member's. They also guide children to ask appropriate questions when analyzing a story (INTASC 1).
Literature Circles are designed to meet the needs of the varying reading ability levels in the classroom. This will create an environment in which the students respect individual differences because each student will be on his/her instructional level and will therefore feel a sense of accomplishment. Also, different learning styles are met within the Literature Circle Unit. Group discussions cater to auditory learners. Tasks such as Passage Picker or Discussion Director can be easily grasped by visual learners and hands on activities such as Character Sketcher, are beneficial to learners that need hands on activities (INTASC 3).
Individual students and groups are motivated to explore their literature through the engaging roles provided for them. By keeping the assignment interesting, the class will exhibit satisfactory behavior during this time. This will create an environment that promotes positive social interaction and self-motivation (INTASC 5).
NCSCS goals are exhibited throughout the Literature Circle Unit. The roles that are provided in each section allow the children to explore and use their creative and critical thinking skills. The roles were created with the multiple development levels of diverse learners in mind (INTASC 7).
The Literature Circle Unit is designed to be placed on the web. This
serves as a resource for teachers, so they can foster the diversity in
their classroom. Having a resource such as this, enhances the student's
progress because their ability level is being taken into account (INTASC
10).