Multiple Copies - NEW April 25 08.xls

 

 

~ Literature Circles ~

(the Faye Brownlie way:)    

 

Based on:  Grand Conversations, Thoughtful Responses: A Unique Approach to Literature Circles     ISBN: 978-1-55379-054-9   

 

 

1) STEP ONE: BOOK SELECTION  (select 6 titles* per class)                                                              Faye's Brownle's VSB Workshop

June 25 TLSpecial blog

• Carefully choose 6 books
• Select books (fiction and narrative NF)  based on a variety of reading levels, genres, powerful themes. - try to include a humourous / purely entertaining book.
• Make sure you've read or are familiar with each book you've selected and/or
• Consider collaborating with your Teacher-Librarian to help book talk the selections - and possiblty help circulate during disucssion groups.

               * NOTE: This effectively limits discussion groups to a max. of 6

 MARBLES annotated bibliography of

K-12 multicultural/anti-racist resources

 

EASY (Gr. 8) - Secondary Titles:                       *see Multiple Copies list for short summary of novels

 

 E = easier reads       A = advanced (subjective ratings for gr. 8)                                            Best Books - Elementary 

• The Devils Arithmetic (Yolan, Jane)
• A Single Shard (Park, Linda Sue)
• I Am a Taxi (Ellis, Deborah) E
• The Sacred Leaf (Ellis, Deborah) E
• Iqbal (D'Adamo, Francesco) - E
• Kat's Fall (Hrdlitschka, Shelley) E
• We All Fall Down (Walters, Eric)
• Yellow Line (Olsen, Sylvia) E
• True North (Laskey, Katherine)
• Underground to Canada (Smucker, Barbara)
• No Time to Say Goodbye (Olsen, Sylvia)
• Good-bye Marianne (Watts, Irene) E
• Remember Me (Watts, Irene) E

 

INTERMEDIATE  (Gr. 9/10) titles:

 

• The First Stone (Don Aker)
• We All Fall Down (Walters, Eric)   E
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (Haddon, Mark)  
• True Confessions of a Heartless Girl (Brooks, Martha)

  A Little Piece of Ground(Laird, Elizabeth)

  Kiss the Dust ( Laird, Elizabeth)
• Shades Children (Nix, Garth)   A
• Ties That Bind, Ties That Break (Namioka, Lensey)
  Forbidden City ( Bell, William)  
  Girl With a Baby (Olsen, Sylvia)
  Theories of Relativity (Haworth - Attard)

•  A Long Way Gone (Beah, Ishmal)
• Pigman ( Zindel, Paul) 
• The Cage (Sender, Ruth Minsky)
• Night (Wiesel, Elie)      E
• Catalyst (Anderson, Laurie Halse)
• Speak (Anderson, Laurie Halse)
• From Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World  (Kielberger, Craig)

 

ADVANCED / Gr. 11/12 - Recommended Titles:

 

CANADIAN AUTHORS

 

• The Hero’s Walk by Anita Rau Badami
• Tamarind Mem by Anita Rau Badami
• Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden
• The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy
• J-Pod  by Douglas Coupland
• Girlfriend in a Coma by Douglas Coupland
• Hey Nostradamus! by Douglas Coupland
• Sweetness in the Belly  by Camilla Gibb
• The End of East by Jen Lee  
•  Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
• The Shipping News  by Annie Proulx
• Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
• Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor
•  The Golden Spruce by John Vaillant
•  The Night Watch by Sarah Waters

 

 OTHER ADVANCED NOVELS:

 

• The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell.
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
• The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
• In Search of April Raintree Culleton, Beatrice Mosionier
• One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (Kesey, Ken)
• The Kite Runner byKaleb Hosseini.
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kaleb Hosseini.
• Shackleton's Stowaway (McKernan, Victoria)
• New Moon, Twilight, and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyers 
• The Glory Field: A Novel (Myers, Walter Dean)
• My name is number 4 (Ye, Ting-Xing

 

SEE ALSO 

 

School Library Journal: Annotated list

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6566231.html?industryid=47085

 

Young Readers Choice Awards Annotated lists  

http://www.bpl.bc.ca/gab/yrca.pdf

http://schools.4j.lane.edu/south/Library/readinglists/yrca2008/yrca2008.html - 2008 Awards

 

List of CANADIAN AUTHORS (as of 2007)

http://mnl.mclinc.org/Reference/RecReading/07CanAuth.pdf

 

 

STEP 2:  BOOK TALK  and STUDENTS CHOOSE BOOKS

•      Make your book talks come to life!  This book grabbed me from the beginning... If you like____ you'll love this one....

•      Highlight font size, length(make every book equal in appeal, despite reading level)  

•      Share enticing excerpts,

 

                   LIT CIRCLES SIGN UP SHEET.doc*    

 

See June 25 TLSpecial blog entry - summary of Faye's Brownle's workshop with Vancouver teachers and TLs

 

MARBLES annotated bibliography of K-12 multicultural/anti-racist resources

for Lit Circle discussions 

 

 

STEP 3:  START READING right away.  Dedicate 15 min./class for silent reading.

                        NOTE: Students are free to read at their own pace. 

 

STEP 4:  GROUP DISCUSSION - one group at a time, meet 1-2 times a week.

NOTE: One group meets at a time - teacher joins as participant, not a group facilitator

 

Discussion is prompted by the SAY ANYTHING method, 4 quadrant charts. 

 

• Teacher should model discussion starters, including ideas from a Literary Luminary, Vocabularly Builder, etc.
  Note:  No assigned roles like traditional Lit. Circles - i.e. Vocab. Builder, Literary Luminary etc.
• Instead, each student participates using the Say Anything method, incorporating these roles into their discussion.   
  > NOTE:  Fast readers ARE NOT to give the ending away...they can foreshadow or prompt guesses.    

 

STEP 5:  READ / FINISH BOOK (at own pace)

 

            As soon as book is finished, and the student has completed the following:

                         (a) written 1 journal entry / class 

 

                         (b) participated in at least 1 discussion group

           The student is then free to select their next Lit. Circle title (from the chosen list) and join their next books discussion group.  

 

TIP:  If a student is way ahead of classmates, consider encouraging them to read and critique 2-3 picture books (see attached Reading Power list)

• Students can journal based on the following 'Reading Powers': MAKE CONNECTIONS, ASK QUESTIONS, MAKE INFERENCES. GOAL?  journally TRANSFORMED thoughts. 
• By the end of the Lit. Circles, encourage students to get in a group of 6 to share journals on Picture Books - 3 ENG  8 classes loved adding Picture Books to Lit. Circles! 

 

The result?  Hopefully creating dynamic, engaging and interactive disucssion groups that change daily., involving ALL levels of readers. 

 

 

 

Edits, recommended novels and Lit. Circle tips  are most welcome! 

 

                                                                                             D. North -  TL at Killarney