Actively Learn - Book Clubs/Literature Circles

Book Clubs and Literature Circles are small-group discussions around a shared text. As a group of students reads a novel or longer text, they meet regularly in book clubs or literature circles to share observations, questions, and new learnings related to their reading. Students are often assigned roles during books clubs/literature circles, which focuses them on specific actions to do while reading. Prior to a group meeting, students read an assigned text or section and prepare discussion points to share with their group. Book Clubs/Literature Circles can be used to encourage close reading and foster student discussion around both fiction and nonfiction texts.

Goal: Promote student inquiry while reading and deepen understanding of a text through student-led discussion 

Challenge

Since groups of students are reading different texts, it is difficult for the teacher to monitor individual student progress and provide targeted instruction to meet student needs and learning objectives.

Solution

The teacher assigns each group’s text in Actively Learn and embeds questions to check for understanding and prompt deeper thinking. As students respond, the teacher provides feedback and addresses misconceptions.

Challenge

Not all students feel comfortable participating in small group discussions. This may be because they struggled with reading and comprehending the text or they feel less confident about sharing their ideas in front of others.

Solution

The teacher adds annotations within each group’s text to provide key background knowledge and scaffold challenging concepts. Students also prepare for discussion by adding their own notes and reviewing other students’ responses.

Challenge

Groups have a hard time recalling insights from earlier sections of the text and prior discussions. As a result, as students progress through the text they are unable to build on previous ideas and connect their learning.

Solution

As groups progress through a text, their notes and question responses are stored in Actively Learn. This allows them to easily reference ideas from previous discussions. At the end of a text, all of the group’s work can be easily reviewed.

Thinking about using Actively Learn for Book Clubs/Literature Circles? Here are some tips:

• Assign only the portion of the text that students will be reading for their meeting, or break up longer texts by assigning a few chapters or sections at a time. To do this, use our Assign by chapter or section feature.

• Use teacher directions to assign student roles and to set objectives for each group’s reading.

• Include a reflection question at the end of each assigned section that students can complete after their meeting (e.g., Based on the text and your discussion, how has your thinking about ___ changed? What was an important idea or explanation shared by someone else during the discussion?).

• In imported content, rename note categories based on the roles students will take while reading (e.g., summarizer, vocabulary enricher, connection maker, etc.). Direct students to use these categories as they read the text to prepare ideas for discussion.