Integrated Lesson Plan Template

Teacher Name: Traci Wines Title of Lesson Literature Circles

Plan:
Grade Level: 4-8 Subject Area(s): Reading/Language
Arts
School/District: Ruby Valley Time Frame to 2-3 weeks
Elko complete lesson:
Summary:

Literature circles are groups of 4-6 students who read a book together and share observations,
questions, and interpretations. They meet regularly to discuss creatively, critically, and in
depth the book they have chosen to read. Students meet 2-3 times a week to discuss their
book. You can let the students pick from 4-5 books grouped by theme, genre, or author.
Their ZPD levels taken from Accelerated Reader will group students.
Standards:

2.5.3 Select and use a variety of skills and strategies during reading such as identifying main
ideas, identifying fact and opinion or cause and effect, verifying predictions, summarizing,
paraphrasing, and drawing conclusions to aid comprehension.
3.5.1 Distinguish main incidents of plot that lead to a climax, and explain how the problem or
conflict is resolved.
3.5.2 Make inferences supported by the text about characters’ traits and motivations and
make predictions about conflicts and resolutions.
Objectives:

Students will read novels to enhance their learning of different types of literature.
Students will be able to summarize the book they have read to another student.
Students will learn organizational skills.
Students will learn journaling skills.
Students will have fun.
Assessments:

The assessment will be based on a teacher created rubric. The discussion director is given a
rubric page. They make the decision on what their group member’s grades should be. The
teacher will sit down with each discussion director at the end of the week. They have to
justify the grades they have given for each member. They can’t give a low score because
they don’t like the person. The teacher will have the final decision on the weekly grade.
Pre-Requisite

You will need to know the student’s ZPD levels taken from the Accelerated Reader program
Knowledge:

to place students accordingly in the literature circles. The teacher needs to read the book
before the students do.
Environment:
Students will be working in 2 groups of 5. The students will assume all of the roles of the

Learning
literature circle. They need plenty of room to move around.

Tools and Resources

Computers:
Number of
Software:
Peripherals:
Internet

http://www.carolhurst.com This site is a collection of reviews of great books for kids,

URL’s:

ideas of ways to use them in the classroom, and collections of books and activities about
particular subjects, curriculum areas, or themes.

http://www.literaturecircles.com This site is a resource for teachers interested in

student-led book discussion groups. It has book recommendations, classroom management
ideas, and links to related sites and organizations.
Materials:

See attached handouts.

Printed
Supplies:
 Materials &
10 copies of the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Research
Literature Circle Guide by Scholastic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Other: Books:

Procedures
Before you start literature circles, the teacher needs to model all of the different jobs used. The connector is
responsible for connecting events that relate to them or anyone in their group. They make connections to
other books, movies, and their own lives. The vocab enricher is responsible for finding out the unfamiliar
words they encounter while reading. They may use context clues or look them up in the dictionary. They
make their own dictionary using index cards. They have to include the definition, use the word in a sentence,
and draw a picture. The vocab enricher has to read ahead of the group to prepare for the vocabulary words in
the upcoming chapters. The summarizer is responsible for writing a summary including the key points in the
chapters. The illustrator can choose any scene they like. They draw their scene and then ask their group
members what it is. They don’t use any words with their drawing. The discussion director has the most
responsibilities of the week to handle. They are responsible for the self-evaluation for all of their group
members. Once the chapters have been read, and everyone has shared their role with each other, they initiate
the discussion of what they read. After the group is finished, the teacher meets with them and discusses the
good, bad, and ugly. They are brutally honest! Each week the students write a letter to the teacher about
their role for that week. They tell what they did and if they liked their role or not. They also write about
their predictions for the next week’s chapters and if they like literature circles or not. The teacher can also
write letters back to the students about their role and the week they had.
At the end of the book you can give each student a piece of bulletin board paper and they pick 1 character
from the book. They draw the person and list words from A-Z to describe the character they have picked.

Teachers should make a graph for each job for each week, so the students know what their job is and they
rotate jobs each week.

The resources I used are from Mark Berg. I attended his session at the Literacy conference, used the
handouts he gave me, and took notes on the things that have worked for him in his classroom. I also visited
the sites listed above and used some things from the Scholastic Literature Circle Guide.

Modification for Differentiated Instruction

Education:
Special
ESL:
 Gifted:
Other/Comments:

My lesson went pretty good. I think I will have to do a few more books to really get the
students involved in the specific roles. The students enjoyed reading the novel rather than
reading out of the basal reader. I suggest ordering books from the Scholastic book orders.
They are cheaper and the teacher can use his/her bonus points.

Used by permission from Project Venture, 1998 Technology Innovation Challenge Grant, Phoenix, AZ
http://www.creighton.k12.az.us/projectventure/index.html