Circles

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Home : 2005 : February : 20

Circles
By BJ in LA

In 5th grade-

4 to 5 students reading the same book (novel) meet every fourth session of our reading program.

It goes thus -

Teacher intros the book with a discussion about the cover, title, author, and chapter titles.

1st
lesson - listen to story on tape for approx 15mins. Follow along in book.
2nd lesson - write a journal about what you read (listened to). Write a 1 paragraph summary, one fat question to ask the group and one personal connection to the story so far.
3rd lesson - in a circle, students take responsibilities of observer, timer and recorder. Each child takes turn sharing their

journal and generating conversation. Unclear ideas can be discussed within the group and/or teacher.

4th lesson - complete an activity related to the story - this might include an art activity, a character analysis, word search, word wall etc.

Generally the group will read a few chapters before they get to the next circle.

Each lesson is about 15-25 minutes including setup and packup and review of progress. Teacher floats around the class monitoring work and may intensify or lessen focus on a group depending upon the needs of the group or individuals.

I like this approach as there is lots of support for stuggling readers.

Hope this helps.

Cheers
Mark