Emma Rayner

Background

Students at Mount Pleasant Primary School didn’t have access to sets of books that are appropriate for use in literature circles.

“Literature circles are a strong classroom strategy because of the way that they couple collaborative learning with student-centred inquiry… When students engage with texts and one another in these ways, they take control of their literacy in positive and rewarding ways.” (Fink, 2003)

 

The aim of the project was to select a number of books that would be appropriate to the age and reading levels of the grade 3 and 4 students of Mount Pleasant Primary School that could be used for Literature Circles and to develop resources that could be used by students and teachers in literature circles.

 

Aims

The aims of the project were;

• Select criteria that will aid in the selection of books for use in literature circles

• Selecting books for use in literature circles by following the set criteria.

• Developing resources for use in literature circles by teachers and students.

Research on literature circles and appropriate resources for literature circles was also required in order to select appropriate books for the students.

 

Outcomes

• Research into literature circles including basic information, benefits, implementation suggestions and AusVELS links.

• A list of over 20 books that would be appropriate for use in literature circles including background information, suitable year levels and and other available resources for the books.

• A variety of resources for both teachers and students to use in and for literature circles.

 

A copy of the project can be found in the links on the left.

 

• Fink, L, MarcoPolo Education, F, National Council of Teachers of English, U, & International Reading Association, N 2003, Literature Circles: Getting Started, n.p.: ERIC, EBSCOhost, viewed 20 July 2015.