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Literature Circles: Collaborative Reading and Writing
(15-30 hours)

Literature Circles are a powerful small group structure for reading and discussing fiction and non-fiction texts at all grade levels, across the curriculum. Literature Circles combine two very important educational ideas: collaborative learning and independent reading. Simply defined, Literature Circles are discussion groups of two or more students who choose and read the same article, book, or novel. The circles have regular meetings, with discussion roles rotating each session, until students no longer need such roles to hold thoughtful discussions. When they finish a book, each circle shares ideas about their book to the whole class using various communication modes - video, poetry, art, drama, etc. Then they trade members with other finishing groups, select more reading, and move into a new cycle. The focus of this IWP workshop is the management of this elegant student-centered strategy.

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