Discussion Director

Your job is to write down some good questions that

you think your group would want to talk about. These
questions should be fat questions. This means you
can say lots and lots about them. Usually the best
questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and
concerns as you read.
Sample questions:
What was going through your mind while you read
this?
Did anything surprise you?

Illustrator
The illustrator responds to the reading with a picture
instead of just words.
Your job is to draw anything about the story that you
liked. Illustrations can show events in the story or
represent personal thoughts, feelings, or connections.
You might draw:
A character
The setting
A problem
An exciting part
A surprise
A prediction of what will happen next
When your group meets, dont tell what your drawing
is. Let them guess and talk about it first. Then you
can tell about it.

Connector
Your job is to find connections between the book and
the world outside. This means connecting the reading
to:

Your own life

Happenings at school or in the neighborhood
Similar events at other times and places
Other people or problems
Other books or stories
Other writings on the same topic
Other writings by the same author

Now share how these connections help you to better

understand the passage.
There are no wrong answers here!
Whatever the reading connect you with is worth
sharing!

Literary Luminary
Your job is to pick parts of the story that you want
to read aloud to your group. Be sure to mark the
parts with a post-it note or bookmark.
These can be:
A good part
A funny part
A scary part
An interesting part
An example of strong writing
A good description
Be sure to share why you chose the passage and what
you liked about it with your group.

Vocabulary Enricher
Your job is to find important words in the text to
share with your group. Be sure to mark these words
with post-it notes as you read the text.
These may be words that are:
New
Strange
Funny
Interesting
Difficult words
Important to the text.
Help your group locate these words in the passage and
discuss.

Discussion Director
Name_________________Group______________
Book____________________________________
Assignment p._____to p._____
You are the discussion director.
Think of fat questions you wondered about as you
read.
Page
____

_____

_____

_____

Paragraph
I wondered
_____ ____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
_____ ____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
_____ ____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
_____ ____________________________
____________________________
____________________________

Illustrator
Name_________________Group______________
Book____________________________________
Assignment p._____to p._____
Draw a picture that responds to the passage. This
illustration may show events in the story or represent
personal thoughts, feelings, or connections.
On the back write a sentence describing your drawing
and why you chose to draw it.

Connector
Name_________________Group______________
Book____________________________________
Assignment p._____to p._____
You are to describe connections you made as you read
the passage. These may be T-> S, T->T, or T->W
connections.
Type Page Paragraph Connection/How it helps me understand the story better
____ ____ ____ ____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
____ ____ ____ ____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
____ ____ ____ _____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

____ ____ ____ _____________________________________

______________________________________
______________________________________
______________________________________

Literary Luminary
Name_________________Group_________________
Book_______________________________________
Assignment p._____to p._____
You are the Literary Luminary. Your job is to pick
parts of the story that you want to read aloud to
your group. These may be:
-an good part
-an interesting part
-a funny part
-some strong writing
-a scary part
-a good description
Be sure to mark the parts you want to share then
write the parts on this sheet.
Parts to read aloud:
Page Paragraph Why I chose it/What I liked about it
____ ____ _______________________________________
________________________________________
________________________________________
____ ____ _______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________

____ ____ _______________________________________

________________________________________
________________________________________
____ ____ _______________________________________
_______________________________________

Vocabulary Enricher
Name_________________Group______________
Book____________________________________
Assignment p.____ to p.____
You are the word finder. Your job is to look for
special words in the story. Look for words that are:
-new
-interesting -different
-important
-strange -hard
-funny
When you find a word you want to talk about, mark it
with a sticky note and then write it down here. When
your group meets, discuss the words you have chosen.
Word
____

Page
____

____

____

____

____

____

____

Why I chose it/What it means

____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
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____

____

____________________________
____________________________

STUDENT SELF-ASSESSMENT
LITERATURE CIRCLES
Circle the number of the response that best describes you during this assignment.
At the bottom, explain why you feel you earned these points.

Reading:
4 Read all assigned pages on time and marked text for discussion
3 Read all assigned pages on time
2 Read most of the assigned pages on time.
1 Read very little of the assigned pages on time
Writing:
4 Completed role sheet/assignment with elaboration
3 Completed role sheet/assignment
2 Some of the role sheet/assignment was completed
1 Little of the role sheet/assignment was completed
Speaking:
4 Shared ideas from the text with elaboration
3 Shared ideas from the text
2 Share some ideas from the text
1 Shared very few if any ideas from the text
Listening:
4 Used active listening skills and responded appropriately
3 Used active listening skills
2 Used active listening skills only at times
1 Used active listening skills rarely
I deserve ____ points because_________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

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________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
Next time I need to _________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
because__________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________.

Yesterdays Magnolia
taken from Chicken Socks and other contagious poems by Brod Bagert
I walked outside this morning
And saw a strange man climbing my tree.
How nice that he would like
To do the same fun things as me.
But when I heard his chain saw growl
The tears rushed down my face.
He was about to use it
To chop down my favorite place.
I yelled, Wait!
Dont cut another branch!
Too late.
The only tree that I could climb
And nowtheres just a hole.
I feel so sad and angry.
But I dont know who to blame.
No matter what you do in life
Nothing ever stays the same.

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