I'm always hearing from teachers looking for ways to get their students engaged and excited about reading. It seems to be an all-too-common trend that kids love the reading life, and then it just sort of starts to fizzle out. 

Sound familiar? 

If you're looking for a simple way to get your classroom excited about reading, Literature Circles are calling your name! 

Literature Circles are a great way to expose your students to different genres of books, differentiate instruction, and let them talk about what they are reading. Using Literature Circles in my classroom was a game changer for me. 

When you first introduce this type of group work, it can be overwhelming to have multiple groups reading different texts. So I’m sharing four tips for launching Literature Circles successfully in your Upper Elementary classroom to help alleviate some of that overwhelm.

Before we get started, I’m often asked about the difference between Literature Circles and Book Clubs. If you’re wondering the same, you can find a quick summary here. While the ultimate goal is to have students manage Book Clubs independently, Literature Circles are a great way to get them started.

Four Tips for Getting Literature Circles Started in Your Classroom

Assign Roles

Giving tasks to a full group can be challenging when some students want to dominate conversations while others don’t contribute or understand their role. Giving each student their own role with specific tasks helps students find their voice and gain confidence when talking about what they’ve read.

An easy way to help with assigning roles is to use these role cards and posters. Rather than creating your own roles and response pages, these are ready-to-go with little prep for you. In this kit, there are eight roles include “Passage Detective”, “Text Illustrator”, “Connection Specialist”, and “Club Coach”. 

Understanding the function and purpose of each role in the group will allow students to collaborate, cooperate, and enjoy the books they are reading. You can easily switch up these roles daily or weekly, depending on the size of groups and length of the unit. Each student should have an opportunity to experience each role, which will keep the activity fresh and new.

Build Excitement with Book Talks

Once you’ve selected the titles to use in Literature Circles, boost student excitement through book talks. Rather than having students read summaries or the books' covers, give your own short book talks over each. Highlight your favorite part, an exciting cliffhanger, or character action to get students excited to read more.

You can also show book trailers by playing videos from YouTube or author websites. Video is a great engagement builder and it’s always good to provide multiple perspectives.

Give Students Choice in What they Read

When assigning books for Literature Circles, allow students to choose which book they will read. After introducing the titles through book talks or trailers, ask students to rank their favorites by first, second, and third choices. You can then assign books based on group dynamics, appropriate reading levels, and interests. Providing students with choice encourages engagement and boosts buy-in.

Encourage Students to Think About Their Reading

Literature circles are not just about assigning pages and chapters to read within groups. They’re intended to get students thinking about their reading and practicing important skills. Using close reading bookmarks prompts students to annotate and ask questions while they read. This also helps plan what to discuss when meeting with their group.

Be sure to share your thoughts about the books you are reading during literature circle units and throughout the year. Having students interact with the text and their peers will help them increase comprehension and understand more inferential questions and themes in the stories they read.

Closing notes…

Using Literature Circles in the upper elementary classroom can be a rewarding experience for you and your students. Find engaging titles, use student roles and close reading activities and watch your students learn and grow from exciting fiction books!

The more you can find activities and resources to get the kids excited about reading, the more reading they're going to do! 

Want even more tips about managing Literature Circles in your Upper Elementary classroom? Visit this post.

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