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Welcome to Literature Circles!
For the remainder of the year you will be reading and discussing non-fiction literature related to contemporary history and to one of the essential questions we have addressed this year. The beauty of Literature Circles is voice and choice in reading groups. This means you will have the opportunity to select the book and essential question of your choosing. Each group consists of 4-5 individuals that will collaborate on constructing a group reading journal on this, wikispace. In your groups you will have the opportunity to research, review important historical events and themes, and share your own personal opinions and thoughts on the novel.

Note: You will only make contributions to your personal and group page. You should use proper web etiquette which includes not using our school name or anyone’s last name.

Your contribution to the group will be two-fold. You will need to come prepared to discuss your reading assignment with your group members during class. You also will need to complete for each reading both the role of Summarizer along with completing your individually assigned role in the group which will alternate with each reading assignment. The roles are as follows:

Summarizer Researcher Discussion Director Passage Master Connector

Both of your responses (Summarizer and your role of the day) should be posted in your own personal reading log located on your book's space. You should date each response, write down the assignment, and designate your role. Here is a template of the suggested layout for your journal making it easiest for grading and review purposes.

Grade for each entry:

 * Timely entries-25% (crucial because if you fall behind you will be unable to contribute during in-class discussions)
 * Thoughtful completion of summaries-25%
 * Thoughtful completion of role responsibilities-25%
 * Your ability to link to the essential question-25%

Getting Started: The first thing your group should do

This project is an adaptation of both Harvey Daniels book "Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs & Reading Groups" as well as Jennifer C.E.'s Our American Literature wikispace.