Begining Challenges

Since my class started literature circles we have finished two readings, "jobs", and grand conversations. I am observing some challenges the students are facing. In 4 of the six groups there are one or two "problem" students. The other kids in the group are constantly fighting with the "problem" students. They notice they are off task, off topic, not completing their jobs or readings. I am trying to turn the situation into life lessons. I explained to the class if I was in a group and someone wasn't doing their work and was off task I would first try to help them, but after awhile I don't think I would want that classmate in my group because they aren't working together as a team. I am not sure how I am going to handle this situation and I feel it is common among all grade levels and group activities. Hopefully through some research I can find some resolutions.

Starting Literature Circles

I finally jumped in and started literature circles with my class. I put out books ranging from a 2.5 to 5.5 reading level. In each set there were five to six books for each group. I gave a brief whole class description of each book but did not tell them what the reading levels were. Next I randomly called students to the table to pick their book. It didn't matter what their independent reading level is, they were able to pick a book by choice. To avoid students choosing a book because their friend has the same one, I had the students only point to the book they wanted and I recorded the title. They did not receive their books until after all of the students choose their books. I have broke up the pages into seven days of reading for each book. I keep all of the reading assignments in a pocket chart and they are color coordinated. For example, the first day of reading is green for all of the books and the second day reading is orange. This way I can tell the students, "today you are reading the green pages". With older grades they could probably break up the pages on their own. The next day, after they had finished reading the first set of pages individually I gave each group a Manila folder to keep all of their grand conversation work in. Inside the folder they listed the six jobs: Discussion Director, Summarizer, Word Wizard, Passage Master, Connector, and Illustrator. They were given a description of each job and I reviewed all of the jobs with them. Within their groups they each got to pick their first job and were given 15 to complete their job. At first they can write it down, but eventually they will be able to take brief notes. Can't wait to see where it goes from here!

I am doing my action research on, how students benefit from literature circles. The two factors I will be observing are reading comprehension and student enjoyment of reading. Students will be grouped heterogeneously based on their book choice. I decided to use literature circles for my project because I have used them in the past with my classes, but the groups were homogeneous. I would group the students based upon their reading level. Through my research I learned literature circles are said to be more effective if students group themselves according to their book choice.
So far I have conducted a student survey assessing students likes, dislikes, and purpose for reading. I also used a baseline comprehension assessment created by the language arts program, Houghton Mifflin, that was adopted by our school district. The test includes reading comprehension; literary response and analysis. There are 3 short stories and a total of 15 multiple choice questions. After completing the pretest and 2 sessions of literature circles they will do a post test and the survey. The post test also comes from Houghton Mifflin's Summative booklet, testing reading comprehension; literary response and analysis.
Through my action research I want to find out if students reading comprehension changes and if students likes or dislikes change now that they are grouped heterogenously for literature circles.

What are Literature Circles?

A Literature Circle is a student centered reading activity for a group of 4-6 students at any grade level. Each member of a circle is assigned a role which helps guide the group in a discussion of the title they are all reading. Literature Circles provide an opportunity for students to control their own learning; to share thoughts, concerns and their understanding of the events of the novel (Elementary Themes).