Literature Circles: The Formula to Create Life-long Readers

by: Kellie Dimmette

Abstract

Through action research I studied my own teaching strategies to determine if literature circles

would improve students’ attitudes toward reading. From previous experience I realized that most

students in classrooms today are not motivated to read. In this action research project I observed

literature circles in a 4th grade classroom. I chose one literature circle group of five students as

the focus of my study. Throughout the study I conducted interviews; had students complete:

reading interest inventories, literature circle evaluations and journals; and collected work

samples. My goal is to determine what strategies incorporated into literature circles make

reading enjoyable for students, and encourage them to become life long readers. I found teacher

modeling of how to conduct literature circles and specific instructions given to students prior to

meeting in literature circle groups is crucial for students to conduct groups successfully. The use

of literature circles increases communication skills and oral listening skills. Student choice in

the type of books they read and the activities they complete for reading class is appealing to

children. Literature circles incorporate differentiated instruction, and students enjoy conversing

with peers, which exposes them to different points of view and helps them make real world

connections.
Introduction:
Imagine…It is 10:40 a.m., the time has finally arrived! This is my favorite part of the

day…it is time for literature circles. In science, our class has been studying animals and

adaptations, and I chose to read the book Big and Small. Our group is about half way through

the book and I am so excited about sharing what I have read. I marked some places that I

don’t quite understand so hopefully my group will be able to help me. I also have come up

with some questions about these animals that I can discuss in my group. This is my first year in

school that my teacher has used literature circles, and I have become enthusiastic and

energized about reading. It is fun reading the book and talking in my group, but I always look

forward to the activity that we do at the end of our literature circle meetings too. Sometimes

we get to choose a project to complete, such as a diorama. The last time our class completed

the books, each group got to put together a play and then perform it. This is definitely my

favorite part of the day.

This is the type of feedback that the majority of teachers would love to hear from a

student. When I began this project I knew immediately that I wanted my topic to be about

reading. Throughout my teaching experience I have noticed that most of my students do not

get excited about reading. Trying to motivate students to read and really appreciate literature

has been a challenge for me, and an area that I would like to improve. Most of my students

only read what was required of them, and once they read the book it was pushed aside and

never discussed with anyone. The majority of my students never talked to me about a good

book they were reading or had read, and they certainly did not discuss literature with their

peers.
 I first read and became familiar with literature circles during my sophomore year in my

undergraduate study at Appalachian State University. My class had the assignment to read the

book Educating Esme. This was a story about a teachers first year teaching and some horrible

experiences she encountered. Despite her hardships, she came up with wonderful ideas that

made her classroom an awesome experience for her students.

In my class, we formed our own literature circle groups and were given a list of jobs that

consisted of: discussion director, literary luminary, vocabulary enricher, and illustrator. Our

task was for our group to decide how much we were going to read for the next class, and each

person had to complete one of the jobs to present to the group at our next class meeting. We

were told when the book had to be completed, but other than that we were on our own to pace

and move ourselves through the book. At the beginning of each class we got into literature

circle groups and shared our jobs. This was a unique experience for me, and a time that I

always looked forward to. During each meeting group members brought up ideas and issues

that I had never considered. It was also interesting how we shared our own personal

experiences during our elementary school days and things we had seen in classrooms. Once

the book was finished and each person had an opportunity to have each job, each individual

was responsible for putting together their work into a portfolio to turn in for a grade. This gave

the teacher an opportunity to evaluate what we had learned.

Literature circles can be conducted in many different forms depending on the age level of

the students, and the instruction on which the teacher wants to focus the students’ attention.

More research has been conducted since I had my literature circle experience in college. The

most important criteria for literature circles to be successful is for students to have choices

(Daniels, 1994). Students should get to choose the books they want to read after the teacher
gives a brief booktalk about the selection the students get to choose from. Then students

decide in their groups how much they need to read and be prepared to discuss in the next

literature circle meeting. Literature circles are very much student-led. The teacher’s role is to

prepare the materials, observe, offer input, and create engagement activities for the entire class

to integrate the material (Samway, 1991).

Action research has provided me with the ability to study my teaching practices to

determine if I can motivate students to read. It is my belief that the activities and lessons that

the teacher plans have an impact on all students. It is my responsibility to model to my

students how to communicate using literature. It is my concern that if students do not enjoy

reading at a young age they will not become life-long readers. Reading is such an important

aspect that students will use throughout life: socially and in the work place. “Literature circles

allow children to apply their natural socializing tendencies in a productive manner, making

learning meaningful and hopefully internalized for additional future learning” (Pitman, 1997;

Pg. 1). I do not want my students to just be able to read, I want them to connect the ideas and

themes they read about to previous subjects, learning, or world events. Students need to learn

how to talk about what they have read with a group of people; not only to express their ideas,

but also to receive others opinions.

Research Questions:

My goal in this action research project is for students to become life-long readers

and have an internal desire to read, but there are many aspects of reading that is significant to

decide how this can be accomplished. I believe that the teacher is a critical role-model and

facilitator to motivate students to read, and have a positive attitude toward reading. Literature
circles provide a structure that I would like to implement to determine how it affects students.

With this knowledge, my focus question is as follows.

Focus Question:

How does the use of literature circles improve students’ attitudes toward reading?

In addition I would also like to know how other elements that make up literature circles

will affect students’ attitudes and if they make literature circles more valuable. To determine

this I have decided to focus on three additional questions.

Sub-Questions:

1. What is the teacher’s role in conducting productive literature circles in the

classroom?

2. How does the use of reciprocal teaching and engagement strategies increase student

responses to literature?

Reciprocal teaching occurs when students learn how to predict, clarify information read,

and summarize their reading. Engagement strategies are any activities that are used in

conjunction with the books students are reading for literature circles (Samway, 1991;

Long & Gove, 2003-2004).

3. How does the use of literature circles allow students, especially ESL students, to be

more involved in literature in order in increase their reading skills?

According to the ESL Policy Framework, ESL is defined as students whose primary

language(s) of the home is other than English, and who may require additional services

in order to develop to his or her fullest potential (2005)..

Theoretical Framework:

Through my teaching experiences I have learned that I need to change my strategies on how I

teach reading. I want to find out by studying myself how I can motivate students to read and be

life-long readers. Action research gives a teacher the ability to study her problems scientifically

in order to come up with decisions on how they will change or modify their actions about their

teaching and how their students learn (McNiff, Lomax, & Whitehead, 2003). The researcher

must be inside the research to determine if the actions he or she is taking are effective and

beneficial for the classroom. As McNiff advises, “Action researchers aim to develop educative

relationships to enable all participants to learn and grow” (McNiff et al., 2003; Pg. 19). Not only

do I want my students to benefit from this project, it is important that I learn also.

As I outlined my project and began to focus on my goal, I began thinking about how I

envision myself as a teacher. In my classroom I feel that students should have voice. I view

myself as a “guide on the side,” with students taking responsibility to converse with their peers

to learn. I want to have a student-led classroom where I base my lessons around what the

students need and how they will learn best. “When compelling issues feel “authentic” to

children, we believe they become vital to them” (Long et al., 2003-2004; Pg. 358).

To examine and conduct this research I have chosen the constructivism framework.

Constructivism asserts that every person has their own beliefs and each person interprets the

world that they are engaging in (Patton, 2002). An important part of my study is the interaction

between students in literature circles.

In my classroom, the environment is set for students to understand why they are learning

the material being taught, and how they will use their education in the real world and in the
future. Students have the opportunity to work in groups and interact with their classmates. This

challenges students to listen to others’ opinions, and allows students to learn from their peers. In

the literature circle experience students will converse with their peers so they will be exposed to

others’ views of the books based on the personal experience and knowledge of each student in

the group. Every student in the group will be reading the same book, but their views will be very

different, which makes the quality of literature circles rich. As students adjust to literature

circles they will learn to accept others’ point of view and learn that everyone sees things

differently. “When we do not allow or provide time in class to talk about books and the thoughts

and emotions that they generate, we are denying children and adults opportunities to learn about

and understand the world better” (Samway, 1991; Pg. 204). Students will also be asked to judge

the quality of work that others bring to literature circles. I believe that each child’s point of view

expressed in the group is correct. Each child has their own interpretation of what they believe

the author is trying to express through words. Authors of books cannot sit down with every

person that reads his or her story and explain their thought process, and what they meant on each

page. The ability to read, understand, and make conclusions is part of what reading is about. A

classroom of children can read the same story, but have many interpretations of the messages

they believe the author was trying to construct. Because I think that it is important for each child

to have their own views and can express their own opinions I believe I am a constructivist.

Students must learn that everyone is different and it is the teacher’s role to encourage

them to have a basic respect for all people. To achieve this responsibility students must be

exposed to controversial issues through teacher-led discussions and debating issues with their

peers. In order for students to understand the world they are living in, they must be exposed to

world events and develop their own vision for a better world. It is my aim to raise these issues
and direct learners to dilemmas that deal with social and world reform. Through literature

discussions I belief students will learn from others opinions by being exposed to many points of

view from their peers.

It is my goal through action research for me to learn how to expand on the classroom

environment I have created to make it more inviting for students to be motivated to read and

encourage them to be life-long readers. Through research that others have conducted on reading

and literature circles, and through careful observation of students and most importantly myself I

believe that I can accomplish this goal.

Literature Review

In looking at the research pertaining to literature circles, I learned some new material

about how children are motivated to read. I learned that most children gain an understanding of

a story and become more aware of other peers’ viewpoints by engaging in meaningful

conversations in small literature groups (Samway, 1991). My goal is to improve students’

reading attitudes because I have observed through teaching experiences that many students do

not get excited about reading.

Research has been completed finding that as students move from the primary grades to

the intermediate grades their attitudes change about reading (Parker & Paradis, 1986). As

students get older reading becomes more difficult and this causes students’ anxiety to rise

(Parker et al., 1986; Pitman, 1997). In my project I would like to see this trend change by using

literature circles to give students an opportunity to engage socially about literature and to learn

from their peers. Students show more enthusiasm and are being taught skills to become life-long

readers by experiencing literature circles (Samway, 1991; Pitman, 1997).

 In order for students to be successful in literature circles the teacher has a responsibility

to train the students on techniques for conducting their groups. The teacher has the task to form

and organize the literature circle groups. The teacher must have a balance between the use of

fiction and nonfiction books for students to read, and he or she must make the selection carefully.

Once the books are chosen, in order to give students a background about the books the teacher

must prepare a short booktalk about each selection. Then students are ready to choose books and

the teacher can form groups (Samway, 1991). Once this is completed the students are ready to

experience literature circles (Samway, 1991; Stien & Beed, 2004; Hill, Johnson, & Schlick Noe,

1995).

Teachers have found that students get the most from a piece of literature if reciprocal

teaching is used along with literature circles (Samway, 1991). When students learn how to

predict, generate questions, clarify information read, and summarize their reading by teacher

modeling they are able to transfer this learning into literature conversations (Hashey & Conneos,

2003; Hill et al., 1995; Daniels, 1994). Literature circles are based around a central theme, so

each group may be reading different books, but the books will all be on the same subject-matter.

In the literature circles I conduct, I plan to model reciprocal teaching procedures to students, and

guide them to use them in their literature circle conversations. This research has found that by

incorporating reciprocal teaching into literature circles makes learning more meaningful. I also

think it is important because it correlates with the North Carolina objectives for reading

instruction. Students must know how to use the reciprocal teaching strategies to answer test

questions, therefore having the exposure during literature circles will be beneficial for students in

my class.
 To help students make connections outside the literature circle experience engagement

strategies can be used with the entire class. The teacher must plan the follow up activity based

on his or her observations of each group’s dialogue during literature discussions. It was found

that students were not involved in meaningful conversations without the teacher modeling and

higher order thinking reinforced in large group instruction (Hashey et al., 2003; Long et al.,

2003-2004). The use of reciprocal teaching and engagement strategies is also a good way for the

teacher to assess what the students are learning or have learned about their reading.

Research demonstrates how ESL students benefit from literature circles. Literature

circles are one form of differentiated instruction that varies the amount of teacher support, task

difficulty, pacing, and opportunities to offer different learning based on students’ readiness and

interest. When ESL students are in literature circles it assists them in their English use in a

variety of ways that relate to reciprocal teaching, such as predicting, comparing and contrasting

ideas, and making generalizations. Although, for these students to be successful in these areas

the teacher must plan, model, and offer support for these students, as well as the rest of the class

(Hashey et al., 2003). Since literature circles are made up of groups with students of all levels, a

group could consist of two ESL students. This arrangement would allow these students to have

bilingual conversations and interactions. This strategy could benefit them and the other students

in the groups. ESL students should be encouraged to read the books from literature circles

repeatedly. This enhances their fluency skills and helps them to become more familiar with the

book; which increases their comprehension skills (Heydon, 2003).

Being involved in literature circles exposes ESL students to their peers’ expert language

skills, along with slang language they may not be familiar with. Because literature circles are

student-led, they give ESL students the opportunity to choose how much they participate in the
group. At first they may be more of a listener and then as their vocabulary increases and they

feel more comfortable, they can be more involved vocally. There are other ways they can

participate with limited language skills, such as through illustrations. The nature of literature

circles provide an excellent differentiated instructional strategy that gives ESL students many

chances to not only improve their vocabulary and language skills, but also to learn literacy

techniques that may not be achieved through teacher instruction alone (Heydon, 2003).

Context:

White Springs Elementary, the school in which I conducted my research, is located in a

small town in the Piedmont Region of North Carolina. The school has a wide variety of classes:

Pre-school through 8th grade, and consists of about 822 students. It has a principal and two

assistant principals. Because it is such a large school with a range of ages there is a lot of

collaboration among teachers. Each grade level has about four teachers, and they have weekly

meetings to plan and hold discussions associated with their grade level.

I have taught in the same school system as White Springs Elementary is located in for

two years. This year I do not have my own classroom so I chose to conduct my research with an

exemplary teacher, Mrs. Anderson, at White Springs Elementary. She is a Nationally Board

Certified teacher, and currently she is working on her Master’s degree in the area of Curriculum

and Instruction. She was also named Teacher of the Year in 2000-2001 school year.

This was my cooperating teacher during my student teaching experience. Through this

experience I learned that her philosophy of teaching was much like my own, so I knew that this

would be a good environment for me to conduct my research.

Mrs. Anderson’s classroom consists of twenty-two students: thirteen girls and nine boys.

She has five Hispanic students with three of them labeled ESL. There is one African American
girl and one Asian girl. She already has literature circles established in her classroom. In the

class literature circles have been modeled with the whole group, and students have had one

opportunity to experience literature circles in small groups. My objective is to incorporate

reciprocal teaching and engagement strategies into this structure, observe and participate in

student’s literature circle groups, and analyze the response of students’ attitudes and

conversations inside and outside the classroom about literature.

Research Design and Methodology

Participants

In selecting my participants I decided to focus on one group of 4th grade students and observe

their literature circle conversations. I did observe the entire class during portions of the literature

circle procedure when Mrs. Anderson gave instructions directed to everyone. This was also a

critical part of my study. Since students were able to choose the books they read I could not

make up my own group. Once students selected their books and were placed in groups based on

this choice I made my selection. My first criterion was to find a group that had an ESL student.

The next criterion I focused on was a variety in ability level. The group I chose met both of

these standards.

My focus group consisted of five students grouped heterogeneously. Each member’s name, sex,

ethnic background, and reading ability can be found in Table 1.

Table 1: My Focus Group

Name Sex Ethnic Reading Ability

Background
Becky Female Asian Strong-Average
Payton Female White Academically-
Intellectually-Gifted
(AIG)
High
 Drew Male White Average
Eduardo Male Hispanic Low
Bennett Male White AIG
High

Methods and Data:

To collect my data for this study I used many methods of research.

Reading Interest Inventory:

To get an initial understanding of students’ reading attitudes I gave my focus group a

Reading Interest Inventory. The students were asked to rate different reading aspects on a scale

from one to five. At the end of my observations I had students complete this same inventory

again so I could compare the result after students had had another literature circle experience. (A

copy of the inventory and the results can be found in Appendix A.)

Literature Circle Evaluation:

In addition to the Reading Interest Inventory I had each student in my focus group

complete a Literature Circle Evaluation. At the beginning of my research they completed this

form with their previous literature circle experiences. At the end of the literature circles that I

observed, the students filled out the same evaluation based on this experience. I then compared

the results of the two evaluations to get an overview of how the students felt they conducted

literature circles. (A copy of the literature circle evaluation can be found in Appendix B.)

Interviews with Mrs. Anderson:

From the inventory and literature circle evaluations I constructed interview questions to

use with Mrs. Anderson. Since she has worked with the class for several months she was able to

give me insightful information about her overall class, how she felt about literature circles, and
how she conducted literature circles. At the end of my study I interviewed her again to address

issues and questions that had surfaced during my study.

Interviews with Students:

I wanted to get an overall view of how the students felt about reading, especially as

opposed to last year. I also wanted to see what they remembered from their last literature circle

experience so I conducted an interview with two students in my focus group, Drew and Eduardo.

I chose Drew because he is a very talkative, average student. I chose Eduardo because he is a

low, ESL student and I thought this would help me address the sub question: How does the use

of literature circles allow students, especially ESL students, to be more involved in literature in

order in increase their reading skills?

Parent Questionnaire:

At the beginning of my research I sent home a parent questionnaire to use to compare

with the students reading interest inventory. I chose not to send it home again at the end of my

study because the information that I gathered proved sufficient. (A copy of this questionnaire

can be found in Appendix C.)

Journal Responses:

I had students respond in a journal on the topic: “How I feel about reading” at the

beginning of my study. My goal was to determine how students felt about reading so I could

focus on the areas that I felt would provide the greatest motivation for students to read. At the

end of my study I had students respond about literature circles on a form I gave them (This form

can be found in Appendix D.) This gave me the opportunity to get an insight on how the
students felt about literature circles in a way that was not stressful. When I gave the students the

response questions I asked them to be honest, and if there was anything they did not like about

literature circles to write it down. After reading the responses I felt that these students were

honest in their responses because they did list some things they do not like about literature

circles.

Observations and Fieldnotes:

A crucial part of my action research project was my observations. I visited Mrs.

Anderson’s classroom five times over a three week period. My first observation was the

beginning of a new literature circle experience, and my last observation was the conclusion of

this experience.

Work Samples:

Throughout the project I collected two samples of work to examine from my focus group.

I collected each student’s post-it notes so I could see how they responded to the book. I also

wanted to see if they were incorporating the question generating portion of reciprocal teaching

into their post-it notes. I made a picture of their final projects to illustrate the creativity and

uniqueness of each idea.

Personal Journal Reflections:

Each day after composing fieldnotes I reflected in a personal journal. In my journal I

recorded my feelings, specific events that stood out, successes, concerns, things I learned, plans

for my next visit, and any conclusions I had reached. This gave me an opportunity to decide

what direction I needed to take next, and it helped me focus on myself and what I was doing in

an effort not to become biased about my research.

Reflections with Mrs. Anderson:

 In addition to my own personal journal, I kept a journal where I reflected on the

conversations I had with Mrs. Anderson. She was a critical source in my research. She taught

me the structures she used for literature circles and gave me insight on why each portion of the

experience was important for students. She also gave me background information on the

students to help me find ways that would motivate each particular student. Throughout the

project I observed things, and found ideas in research that I thought could be improved to make

literature circles more valuable. Mrs. Anderson was very willing to change her plans so I could

observe the students’ reactions. This allowed me to use my findings to determine what works

the best in the literature circles experience. Each day we talked about what seemed to work well,

what areas needed improvement to make reading more meaningful for her class, and how I could

make reading meaningful in my future class.

Reflections within CI 5040 Class-Teacher as a Researcher

Once I had reflected personally and conferred with Mrs. Anderson I felt I needed a

person that was not linked to my research project to analyze my data. It was difficult for Mrs.

Anderson and I not to be biased because we wanted literature circles to be a positive experience

for students and something they enjoyed. To accomplish this task I used my instructor and

classmates in my CI 5040 Teacher as a Researcher class to look at the data as I collected it. I

shared portions of my fieldnotes and interviews with my instructor and classmates. They

analyzed the data, and I compared my analysis with theirs to determine if they were coming to

the same conclusions as I was. My instructor and one classmate read the same portions of my

research and made notes to share with me. Through this experience I realized that they were also

coming to the same conclusions as I was, and they also noticed trends that I did not see. When

all three of us made the same assertions I felt confident that it was valid. I repeated this same
process again with other pieces of data and found that the same conclusions were reached. This

experience gave me insight on areas that Mrs. Anderson or myself were biased, and it gave me

confidence in the assertions that I was making.

How I analyzed data:

Once I had completed my data collection in these various ways I developed codes. Then

I sorted through my codes to find themes in my research. To find themes I read each portion of

data intently. After reading each piece I began to notice themes that came up over and over

again. I went through my research again to mark each theme on my data. I then made a chart

listing the processes and strategies that I had used, and the outcomes of each of these. After

correlating these ideas I realized that I did not have enough data to support each correlation so I

narrowed down my focus. I then came up with themes that I had an abundance of data to support

(Patton, 2002).

After I made a list of themes I sorted them into categories that led me to five assertions,

although some of the themes related to more than one assertion. From this information I made a

chart to sort my findings. In my chart I included the themes and assertions I had made, and in

addition I added evidence from my research to support my claims. At the end of my evidence

that supported the assertions, I included data that did not support my assertion. This assisted me

as I wrote up my final findings not to be biased with my information.

Findings

To report my findings I wrote out the lesson plans that were followed each day that I

observed literature circles. The plans provide events that took place and the reaction of the

students in my focus group. Throughout the plans I incorporated my findings and data that
support the conclusions that I reached. At the end of each day’s plan I wrote the response of the

students, and how the data from these observations support my conclusions.

Assertion 1:

Teacher modeling for conducting literature circles, and specific instructions given to students

prior to meeting in literature circle groups is crucial for students to conduct groups successfully.

Assertion 2:

The use of literature circles increases communication skills and oral listening skills.

Assertion 3:

Students prefer choice in the type of books they read and the activities they complete for reading

class.

Assertion 4:

Literature Circles incorporate differentiated instruction.

Assertion 5:

Students enjoy conversing with peers, which exposes them to different points of view and helps

them make real world connections.

 Table 2 demonstrates the correlation between the process and strategies incorporated into

the literature circle lessons, and the outcomes that were found. These themes are connected

throughout the assertions that were made when the data was analyzed to show patterns in my

conclusions.

Table 2: Analysis of Assertions

Assertion Process/Strategy Outcome

1  Teacher Modeling/Direction  Attentive
 Responsive
2  Student Responses in Literature  Increase in
Circles Communication/
Oral Listening
Skills
 Attentive
 Responsive
 Responsibility
3  Book Choice  Interest
 Project Choice  Motivation
 Varity of Literature
4  Student-led Conversations  Differentiated
 Connections to other subjects Instruction
 Reciprocal Teaching
 Peer Collaboration
 Book Choice
 Post-it notes/Question-
Generating
5  Student-led Conversations  Real-World
 Peer Collaboration Connections
 Attentive
 Responsive
 Responsibiltiy
 Throughout this literature circle experience it was important for Mrs. Anderson to

continue to give instruction if she expected her students to conduct literature circles successfully.

Below is an outline of the plans that were used to conduct this round of literature circles, and

then the response of my focus group that I observed each day.

Day 1: Booktalk

It is the first day of a new literature circle experience. The students will soon take more

control, although initially Mrs. Anderson must establish some procedures, guidelines, and give

some instruction. “First I had to establish procedures by modeling what I wanted students to do”

(Interview #1). At the beginning of the year she modeled a literature circle experience. She

went through different components of literature circles, explained how she wanted students to

complete the tasks, and then had them actually do the activities. She provided instruction and

feedback so the students knew what was expected of them (Assertion 1) (Mrs. Anderson

Interview #1: Lines 72-85).

The first task is to give a booktalk. This set of books are all informational texts that

relate to what the students have been studying in science (Assertion 5) (Fieldnotes Oct. 28 -Lines

23-26). In Mrs. Anderson’s words, “It is like an extension, trying to make learning meaningful.”

(Assertion 5) (Interview #2, Line 74). In the booktalk Mrs. Anderson is going to give a little

information about each book that the students will choose to read (Assertion 3) (Fieldnotes: Oct.

28-Lines 12-149). It is important for her to share each book equally so the students will pick the

book that is most appealing to them. The teacher must give the students background about each

book, and a short description of the story.

 After the booktalk the students have some knowledge about each book so this helps

students choose the book they want to read based on interest (Assertion 1) (Fieldnotes: Oct. 28-

Booktalk). This is one of the most important components of literature circles, and most students

prefer to choose the book they want to read. When students were asked whether they would

rather choose their books or have the teacher choose the books they had to read, the majority of

students would rather choose their own books (Assertion 3) (Reading Interest Inventory).

Drew’s response to why he liked reading was, “I like reading better in the 4th grade because we

get to pick what we want to read” (Assertion 3) (Interview #1). Eduardo also expressed this

same thought by responding, “I get to pick out my favorite books” (Assertion 3) (Interview #1).

Response:

All students were very attentive and engaged during the booktalk. When Mrs. Anderson

shared some books the students moved in closer to get a better look at the book, and some

students made comments such as, “I want to read that one!” The students were very excited and

eager to write down their choices (Assertion 2) (Fieldnotes: Oct. 28: Lines 37-40;57-58;86-

87;107-108).

Day 2: Predictions/Reading

Today the students will find out which literature circles group they will be a part of

(Assertion 3) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 1-Lines 10-15). After students made their first, second, and

third choices of the book they wanted to read Mrs. Anderson made heterogeneous groups. She

was not concerned that some groups have more AIG students than others, or that some groups

are made up of more lower level students (Assertion 4) (Fieldnotes: Oct. 28-Lines 52-55; 70-71;

99-101; 115-118; 129-134; 143-144). The important thing is that the students get to read a book

that is interesting to them (Assertion 4) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 1-lines 18-23).

 After students received their books she gave each student three post-it notes. She

explained that as the students read they can place their post-it notes on a word they do not know,

an interesting statement in the story, or write down a question about something they do not

understand (Assertion 2) (Fieldnotes Nov. 1-lines 26-43).

The next step is for students to get into their groups to make predictions about what they

think the story is going to be about (Assertion 2) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 1-lines 49-56).

Once students make their predictions they must go back to their seats to read the book

independently, and place their post-it notes as they read.

Response:

The group met to share their predictions. During the sharing experience most of the

group members shared what they thought the book was going to be about. There was a variety

of responses based on what one person said, and all the students in the group were attentive.

Portion of Fieldnotes: Nov. 1 Lines 48-56 (Assertion 5)

Bits of Conversation:
Drew: I think it is going to be about animals. Big animals and small animals.
Bennett: Like comparing
Eduardo: plants
Drew Yeah, like plants, planets (Drew listed a lot of other ideas of things that could be in the
book).
Peyton: It’s geography
Bennett: The world
Drew: Yeah, maybe even stars. Only about big and small differences.

Day 3: Discussion of Literature

Most of the students have completed reading their books because they were so short.

Today will begin with a few students reading their last few pages before the literature circle

groups meet.
 Before the students meet in their literature circle groups Mrs. Anderson must review how

she wants them to share their post-it notes. Each person in the group must share all three post-it

notes. One person starts sharing and then it continues around the circle until everyone has shared

all three (Assertion 1) (Fieldnotes Nov. 4-lines 17-23).

The group has as much time as they need for discussion in their literature circle groups.

Sometimes it may take longer, but the students know that they need to have good conversations

and help each other with questions. Some concepts in certain literature are harder for students to

understand so they take more time and discussion than others (Assertion 3) (Mrs. Anderson

Interview #1: Lines 95-98).

Homework: Brainstorm project ideas.

Response:

Everyone in the group had three post-it notes placed in their books, with the exception of

Drew. He had eight because there were several things he had questions about so Mrs. Anderson

told him he could get more, although he was only able to share three today. Most of the group

members came up with at least one question to ask. Eduardo was the only person that did not

have any questions. He chose to write interesting facts on his post-it notes. Each person went

around the circle and shared their post-it notes making sure everyone in the group knew the page

they were getting their information from so everyone could turn to that page (Assertion 2)

(Fieldnotes Nov. 4: Lines 50-59). The group responded to each person’s question or statement

and then continued around the circle until everyone had shared three post-it notes. Throughout

this experience the students were discussing the questions and responses and all the group

members were very attentive to each other (Assertion 4) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 4-lines 31-37;43-

59;69-71). The students also make a connection to an event that had recently occurred.
Portion of Fieldnotes: Nov. 4 Lines 49-54 (Assertion 5)

Bits of Conversation:
Bennett: What is the difference between a hurricane and a tornado?
Drew: I think a hurricane may do a little more damage. You know in Louisiana. Down there
you know how much damage it did because of all the rain and wind. A tornado makes a path
and it can’t turn around.
Bennett: A hurricane is bigger too.

Students enjoy talking to their peers in their literature circle groups. They know they must

complete the reading assignment, and place their post-it notes in the book in order to get to share

in the group. If they do not complete the assignment then they cannot be a part of the group,

which is very disappointing. Mrs. Anderson made this observation when she conducted the first

literature circles in her classroom and said, “If students do not have anything written on their

post-it notes or if they didn’t read then they could not participate in the group. This is what

motivated them to read” (Assertion 2) (Interview #1: Lines 84-85). The students have also

expressed their enjoyment of talking with their peers in literature circle groups. Drew said, “I

did not really like reading much. After I started reading with my friends I like it better”

(Assertion 2) (Interview #1). Eduardo also thinks it is easier to talk in front of a group versus

talking in front of the entire class (Assertion 2) (Interview #2).

Post-it Notes:

Drew:

1. How much is 150 or 100 tons in pounds?

2. Why do bee-hummingbirds like to fly upside-down and backwards?
3. What is this name Compsognathus?
4. How does stars change colors?
5. What is a pygmy?
6. Can you drive a car through a sequoia tree?
7. How can a geckoes walk up side down?
8. How do tornadoes get started on land?
 Bennett:

1. How can 2 mammals of the same species be so different?

2. How do you pronounce compsagnathus?
3. What’s the difference between the amount of damage each one can do?

Eduardo:

1. Did you know an ostrich egg weighs over 3 pounds.

2. Did you know that a born whale weighs about 16,000 pounds.
3. Did you know that Jupiter is the biggest planet and Jupiter measures is 88,849 mile in
diameter.

Becky:

1. How do tornados start?

2. Why does one of the dinosaurs name compsagnathus?
3. Do baby whales weigh more than 16,000 pounds when they grow up or less?

Peyton: Absent

Day 4: Sharing of Project Ideas

At this point students have read their books and talked in their literature circle about

questions or interesting points in the story. It is now time for the students to begin thinking of a

way to produce a project that will allow Mrs. Anderson to assess what they have learned. As

Mrs. Anderson said, “I think they have to be accountable for what they are reading, learning, and

understanding” (Assertion 4) (Interview #2-lines 56-57).

Students should have their project ideas to share with the group. Today students will get

into literature circle groups to share these ideas and receive feedback from their groups members

(Assertion 3) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 8-Lines 51-122). Before students share their project they must

discuss a summary of the book and share important events that happened (Assertion 4)

(Fieldnotes: Nov. 8-Lines 23-29).

 Students have a week to complete their projects and be ready to present them in their

literature circle groups.

Response:

Each student had an idea of a project they wanted to complete and shared their ideas with the

group. This did not take a lot of time so this group chose to practice reading aloud (Assertion 3)

(Fieldnotes: Nov. 8-lines 214-220). Drew came up with the ideas for everyone to decide what

section in the book they wanted to read aloud, and then they went around the group and each

person read. Mrs. Anderson had modeled and had students complete this task during the first

literature circle experience this year so the students knew what to do. As the students read they

begin to discuss portions of the book they did not understand and asked each other questions

(Assertion 2) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 8-lines 167-200).

Portion of Fieldnotes: Nov. 8-Lines 164-170) (Assertion 2)

After Payton read Drew noticed that she read about one of his questions.

Bits of Conversation:
Drew: Why do hummingbirds fly backwards?
Payton: Because they are so small that they can do it. They weigh as much as a penny.
Drew: But why would they want to fly backwards?
Payton: If you had an enemy around you the only thing you can do is fly backwards.

Day 5: Project Sharing

Today students will get into their groups to share their projects (Assertion 2) (Fieldnotes:

Nov. 15-Lines 53-115). Before students are allowed to share Mrs. Anderson must give

instruction on how she wants them to complete this task (Assertion 1) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 15-lines

8-27). If a student does not complete his or her project the consequence is they must work while

the rest of the groups share.

 Each student must present how they did their project and what they learned by doing the

project. Once each student has shared they must return to their seats and write a summary of the

book they read (Assertion 4) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 15-lines 145-146).

Response:

Today was an exciting day for the students because they got to share their completed

projects. Drew did not complete his project so he did not get to be a part of this literature circle

experience, and he was very disappointed. Each person went around and told what they did, and

how they made their projects. Becky’s project was on whales and she had found information on

the internet to share, and she drew a picture of a whale on her poster. Payton’s project was on

hummingbirds. She also did a poster, but on her poster she put a lot of information on

hummingbirds and pictures she had printed from the internet. She shared a lot of information

that she had learned in extension to the book. During her sharing Becky brought up information

that sparked discussion about the information that Payton had found (Assertion 5) (Fieldnotes:

Nov. 15-lines 77-87). Eduardo made his project in a shoebox, and compared a hummingbird to

an ostrich. There were a lot of positive comments made about his project that boosted his self-

esteem (Assertion 5) (Fieldnotes: Nov. 15-lines 98-100). Bennett wrote a song about bees and

sung it to the group. Everyone clapped and told him they enjoyed the song at the end of his

performance.

Research that did not support these conclusions:

During the literature circles observations I noticed that students were not responsive

during portions of the conversations. I came to the conclusion that it was because I was present

during their conversations and they did not know me very well. The reason I reached this
conclusion is because by the end of my observations I saw an increase in the students’

conversations, and they felt more comfortable around me.

When students shared their post-it notes I became concerned because many responses I

heard were, “I don’t know.” (Fieldnotes: Nov. 1) After reflecting with Mrs. Anderson about this

concern she informed me that that was not an appropriate response, and she said she had

modeled that to the students. Since the class is still learning how to conduct literature circles she

was going to address this issue and remind students that an appropriate response would be, “I

don’t know, but let’s find out.”

Another piece of research that really stood out to me was the student’s definition of the

word “choice”. It was evident that almost all students would rather choose the book they read

rather than have the teacher choose it for them. As I was trying to determine why this was so

important to students, one student brought to my attention what he thought choice meant. He

expressed to me that he would like to be able to read anything during reading class (Drew

Interview #2). It would be nice if teachers could allow students this option, but it would be

impossible to conduct whole class instruction when everyone is reading a different book. This

problem has an easy compromise. There are certain portions of reading instruction that allow

students to choose any book they would like to read. Literature circles also provide this

opportunity, although students are more limited because they only get to choose from typically

four to six books. Most students even prefer this as opposed to being forced to read one certain

story or book chosen by the teacher (Samway, 1991).

Summary of Assertions:

Throughout the lesson plans the assertions were continually supported with the data that I found.

The plans were carefully layed out, which provided students the maximum opportunities during
this literature circle experience. All students were actively involved and demonstrated through

their post-it notes and projects that learning took place. This proved to be a positive experience

for the students as well as Mrs. Anderson.

Conclusions/Discussion:

When I began this project I had a genuine concern about students’ attitudes toward

reading. I had a desire to find out the things that would motivate students to read and become

life-long readers. Reading is such an important part of our society, and is rich in so many ways I

wanted to find out how to transfer my love for reading to students, and learn strategies that I

could use in the future.

I had heard a lot about literature circles in the past, and I had talked to several teachers

that were just beginning to try them out in their classrooms. They had the same desires about

reading as I did, so I conducted my research to determine if literature circles were a positive

experience for students. After observing and talking with the students and Mrs. Anderson I

concluded that literature circles was a positive experience and I think this class already feels

more confident about their reading abilities than they did at the beginning of the year (Parker &

Paradis, 1986). My knowledge of literature circles was very limited so my first step was to find

out how to conduct literature circles. In the classroom I observed, the model I read in an article

was used (Samway, 1991). When students were given a book choice, had literature

conversations in groups, and reciprocal teaching and engagement strategies were incorporated

the students were successful and engaged throughout the experience.

One of the most important components of successful literature circles is the teacher.

Literature circles are student-led, but if the teacher does not model and give instructional

procedures then literature circles could possibly fail. The teacher also has to have a plan for how
he or she wants to conduct literature circles. The teacher must choose the books, how much time

to spend on each activity, mini-lessons, how to assess students, and any other skill they want to

incorporate into the literature circle experience (Hill et al., 1995). Mrs. Anderson did this

throughout her literature circle lessons, and the procedures were well established. The planned

lessons utilized classroom time wisely.

Throughout my observations of student-led literature circles, and instructions given by

Mrs. Anderson, the students were very attentive. By listening and responding to Mrs. Anderson,

and most importantly their classmates they were improving their communication and oral

listening skills. The students were having genuine conversations and reflecting on what they had

read. The students were excited about what they had read and were ready to talk about it, which

improved their reading attitudes (Samway, 1991). Later in the literature circle experience

students had to complete a project. All the students were excited about their projects and in the

end were proud of their accomplishments, with the exception of Drew. He did not complete his

project, which was disappointing to him. The final projects were very creative and unique. Each

student had demonstrated what they had learned, and everyone did it in a different way (Long et

al., 2003-2004).

The word choice is a word that I heard countless times throughout this experience. This

word is crucial to literature circles. Students expressed their desire to choose the book they

wanted to read, how much to read, how to lead conversations in the groups, and what projects to

complete (Samway 1991). The response by the students demonstrated that choice gave them

some ownership in the classroom, and when they did not get to make these choices they were not

as motivated to complete a task. “Two of the things we like best about literature circles are that

they give students (a) the power to self-select what they will read and discuss and (b)
opportunities to interpret their readings in cooperative groups” (Long et. al, 2003-2004). A huge

motivator for students was that they knew that the final component of literature circles was a

project. Students enjoy completing an assignment that is engaging, and allows them to be

creative and immerse themselves in the reading (Long et. al, 2003-2004).

Literature circles are an excellent way to incorporate differentiated instruction into the

classroom. Every student that comes into a classroom is different and each student learns in a

different way. In order to meet the needs of all students it is important for the teacher to find

different strategies to teach the material. Literature circles are student led so each participant in

the group decides how much they want to input. From my observations and research I realized

that even when students are not saying anything they are still learning, which was demonstrated

in their completed projects (Heydon, 2003). I found this to be especially true of the ESL student.

Eduardo did not contribute a lot to the conversations, but he was listening attentively to what

others were saying. By listening to other’s speech he was increasing his oral listening skills, and

picking up on language that is still difficult for him. His sharing of his final project led me to

this conclusion because it incorporated what he had learned in the reading (Heydon, 2003).

Another component of literature circles that is beneficial for all students, especially ESL

students is the incorporation of reciprocal teaching. Students having to think beyond the reading

forces them to use higher cognitive skills. Making predictions, generating questions, clarifying

the information read, and summarizing a book requires the students to analyze as they read. All

students benefit from this strategy, although is it extremely important for ESL students. They are

still learning the language and how to read. Sometimes they spend so much time focusing on the

text they lose comprehension (Heydon, 2003). By performing these tasks during reading it

increases their comprehension, and it requires them to offer some input during literature circles.
Even though what they are going to say is preplanned and may be written down it still increases

their language skills. The teacher can then observe the literature circle groups to determine what

is child is contributing. “Listening to students during dialogue is the most valuable means for

determining whether or not students are learning the strategies and whether the strategies are

helping them” (Hashey et al., 2003).

The choice of the project that students complete at the end of the literature circle

experience incorporates differentiated instruction. Some students can learn information better if

they can visualize it so these students may present a project in visual form. Other students learn

better by doing or moving. Their projects may be interactive or they may present the

information rather than having a written form. The choices students have are endless, which

allows each student to formulate their own ideas. The important part is for the teacher to observe

and come up with a way to determine if the students are connecting their projects with the

literature. If the students are making this connection then they are learning more about the books

they have read (Long et al., 2003-2004). In Mrs. Anderson’s class each student’s project

demonstrated different learning styles, strengths, and creativity.

The majority of students in the classroom are going to talk so my thought is why not give

them something to talk about? “Literature circles allow children to apply their natural

socializing tendencies in a productive manner, making learning meaningful and hopefully

internalized for additional future learning” (Pitman, 1997; Pg. 1). Literature circles provide

students the opportunity to converse with their peers (Squires & Bliss, 2004). By giving them

this opportunity they are less likely to cause problems during other parts of instruction

throughout the day. Through literature conversations students make connections to the real

world. It is important to give students the opportunity to discuss issues that they hear on the
television, from adults, or from any other source. There are so many events that are happening in

the world that children hear about. They need to be able to talk with their peers, and share their

thoughts and opinions. This opportunity can be provided to students through literature by

allowing students to make these connections and generate conversation (Pittman, 1997). My

focus group took advantage of this opportunity by discussing confusing parts of the book, and

related ideas to events they had heard about.

Implications/Recommendations:

I have come to the conclusion that literature circles, if used appropriately, are an effective

way to improve students’ attitudes toward reading. I have learned a lot about how to conduct

literature circles, and the important components to include to have successful literature circle

lessons. I do not know what grade level I will be teaching in the future, but it is my plan to

incorporate literature circles into my reading instruction in my classroom. After reading the

literature I have learned that my lessons can be adjusted to any grade level. I also think that it is

important to have students reading and discussing literature at any age, especially if I want

students to be life-long readers. Children must be exposed to literature when they are young, and

continue to be shown the influence that literature has on their lives.

This project has had an impact on my own personal professional learning. By reading

literature, observing, discussing, and reflecting on literature circles I have realized how important

they are in reading instruction. I have learned many different strategies to incorporate into

literature circles, and the qualities that students have enjoyed in their literature circle

experiences. I feel that I could instruct other teachers on how to conduct literature circles, and

give them ideas to incorporate into this instruction. I have a wide range of knowledge that I
would like to share with other teachers. My goal is to share what I have learned and encourage

teachers to try to incorporate literature circles into their classrooms.

It was a unique experience to have the opportunity to work with an experienced teacher

for this project. Mrs. Anderson has the same vision as me. She wants every student in her class

to enjoy reading and become life long readers. She was already using literature circles and

seeing the positive influence it was having on her students. This project and my conclusions

have only given her more motivation to share literature circles with others, and continue to use

them in her classroom. She feels confident that if her students continue to grow in reading at the

same rate they have grown from the beginning of the year, literature circles will have been

successful (Interview #2).

One concern that did arise and an area that I would like to conduct further research is

parent involvement. After sending home the parent questionnaires I realized that the parents had

a different view of their child’s reading skills than the child. I came to the conclusion that this is

because parents don’t spend a lot of time talking with their children about literature, and they

don’t really know when and how much their child reads. Mrs. Anderson informed me that the

school was putting together a family literacy night. All parents in the school are invited to attend

a meeting with the teachers that teach the age level of their child. The teachers decide what areas

they want to focus on. Mrs. Anderson’s goal for this event is to present information to parents to

help them realize how important reading is, and what role they must play in their child’s reading

development. She planned to share activities that can be done in the home to promote fluency

and comprehension. She also wants the parents to be involved in coming up with ways to

motivate their child to read. Mrs. Anderson said, “Research says the more they read the higher

achievement they have and the more growth they have. Hopefully this is motivation.”(Interview
#2). In the future I would like to take these ideas to share with the parents of my students to

create a classroom full of children that love to read and will become life long readers.

References

Daniels, Harvey (1994). Literature circles: Voice and choice in the student-centered
classroom, York, Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

ESL Policy Framework—Definition of an ESL student. (2005). Retrieved December,

2005, from http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/esl/policy/definition.htm.
Hashey, Jane M. & Connors, Diane J. (2003) Learn from our journey: Reciprocal
teaching action research. The Reading Teacher, 57 (3), 224-232.

Heydon, Rachel (2003) A touch of…class! The Canadian Modern Language Review, 59
(3), 463-472.

Hill, Bonnie C., Johnson, Nancy J., & Schlick Noe, Katherine L. (1995). Literature
circles and responses, Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers.

Long, Trisha W. & Gove, Mary K. (2003-2004) How engagement strategies and
literature circles promote critical response in a fourth-grade, urban classroom. The
Reading Teacher, 57 (4), 350-360.

Mcniff, J., Lomax, P., & Whitehead, J. (2003). You and your action research project
(2nded.). NY: Routledge.

Parker, Anita & Paradis Edward (1986) Attitude development toward reading in grades
one through six. Journal of Educational Research, 76 (5), 313-315.

Patton, Michael Quinn (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.).
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.

Pitman, Marge (1997) Literature circles, U S Department of Education, 1-18.

Samway, Katherine Davis (1991) Reading the skeleton, the heart, and the brain of a
book. The Reading Teacher, 45 (3), 196-205.

Squires, David & Bliss, Traci (2004) Teacher visions: Navigating beliefs about literacy
learning. The Reading Teacher, 57 (8),756-763.

Stien, Debbie & Beed, Penny L. (2004) Bridging the gap between fiction and nonfiction
in the literature circle setting. The Reading Teacher, 57 (6), 510-518.

Weiss, Robert S. (1994). Learning from strangers: The art and method of qualitative
interview studies, New York, New York: Simon and Schuster.

Related Reading:

Stringer, Suzanne J., Reynolds, Glenda P., & Simpson, Morgan F. Collaboration between
classroom teachers and a school counselor through literature circles: Building self-
esteem. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 30 (1), 69-76.
Appendix
Appendix A

Name:_______________________ Date:_____________

Reading Interest Inventory

Circle the number that most closely fits your feeling:

1=never 2=rarely 3=sometimes 4=usually 5=always

1. I enjoy reading alone. 123

45

2. I prefer reading in a small group. 12345

3. Reading is fun. 123

45

4. I like reading aloud in front of the class. 123

45

5. I enjoy being read to. 123

45

6. I like the teacher choosing my books. 123

45

7. I prefer to choose my own books. 123

45

8. I like reading fiction best. 123

45

9. I prefer non-fiction reading. 123

45
10.I understand what I read. 123

45

11. I can read as well as most students my age. 123

45

12.I enjoy reading with the whole class. 123

45

First Response

Second Response
Appendix B

Literature Circle Evaluation

Circle Members

____________________ ____________________

____________________ ____________________

____________________ ____________________

This is how we rate ourselves: (Circle one)

1. Cooperation Poor O.K. Good Excellent

2. Project completion Poor O.K. Good Excellent

3. Quality of work Poor O.K. Good Excellent

4. Participation Poor O.K. Good Excellent

5. Use of class time Poor O.K. Good Excellent

6. Comprehension Poor O.K. Good Excellent

We feel the best thing about working in literature circles

is____________________________________________________

because_______________________________________________.

Appendix C

Dear Parent(s),

Please fill out the following questionnaire based on your observations of your child
and send the completed copy to school. Your time and effort is very much
appreciated.
Circle the number that most closely fits your feeling:

1=never 2=rarely 3=sometimes 4=usually 5=always

1. How often does your child read at home material that 123
45
is not associated with school?

2. Your child enjoys reading alone. 123

45

3. Your child views reading as fun. 123

45

4. Your child understands what they read. 123

45

5. How often does your child discuss what they have 123
45
 read at school?

6. Your child likes to read with others. 123

45

7. Your child prefers to read alone. 123

45

Please answer the following questions about your child. Include as much detail as
possible.

1. Overall, what is your child’s attitude about reading at school?

2. Overall, what is your child’s attitude about reading at home?

Appendix D

Name:___________________________ Date:___________

What I like most about literature circles.

What I like least about literature circles.

My favorite thing(s) about reading class in the 4th grade is…