Literature Circles!

Today we organized our Literature Circle study unit.  The students were given the opportunity to choose one of the titles, based on their reading level, interest level, the genre, and the group of students that also chose the same book. The selections included:  Incident at Hawk's Hill by Allan W. Eckert; Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt; The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis; Frederick Douglass by Camilla J. Wilson; Holes by Louis Sachar; Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare; and Frindle by Andrew Clements.
Once in their self-selected group, the members decided how much reading had to be completed each week and which role each member must complete as well.  The students will be given daily independent reading time (as usual) and each group will meet on Fridays for the next four weeks to report on their reading, present the work they completed, and discuss the text.  This work will be completely done at school, as it is being formally evaluated and I need to know what they can do independently and with their group members.  Duo tangs will be collected each Friday so that I may monitor their progress and evaluate their written work as well as their group work and participation.
For a culminating activity, each group will present a group book talk to the rest of the class.  They will be given time to work on this in class also.
The students will earn three marks for this unit:  one on the literature study (reading mark) and two for the book talk (reading and oral presentation).
Happy Reading!