CONVERSATION CIRCLES Language Arts CONVERSATION CIRCLE GROUPS PERIOD

CONVERSATION CIRCLES Language Arts

CONVERSATION CIRCLE GROUPS PERIOD 2 Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5

ROLES There are 4 roles for each group The roles will rotate so that everyone has 2 days with each role We will have Conversation Circle meetings 2 times each week. You must be prepared with your work and reading for your group each day.

DISCUSSION DIRECTOR Group’s leader Write down questions that the group can talk about in your group (questions that allow discussion: not right/wrong, yes/no) Get quiet members to participate Find at least two connections between the book and you, between the book and other texts, and between the book and the wider world Let Ms. Cain know when your meeting is finished

CHARACTER SKETCHER Find an interesting character from the section you read for today Find three character traits to describe your character For each trait, give proof or an example from the book with page numbers Talk about one of your character’s goals or what he/she wants to do in this section Discuss one of the character’s problems in the section and a possible solution to the problem Illustrate your character according to the author’s physical description and your own visualization Share with the group

PASSAGE PICKER Pick passages from the section that you read that you would like your group to talk about Choose passages that carry some significant meaning to the story Some possible ideas: Important background information Descriptive imagery Dialogue Foreshadowing Part of plot (incident, climax, etc. ) Pick 3 passages you would like to share. Use a sticky note or piece of paper to mark possible passages as you read. Write down the first five words and last five words of your passage Write down the reasons you chose the passage Answer this question: Why did the author include this passage?

WORD WIZARD Find 6 words that you are unfamiliar with from the section that you read for today Teach these words to your group As you read, use sticky notes or paper to mark possible words Make a study guide for your group. You may write it neatly on loose leaf paper or you can type it. The group will write down the words you choose at the meeting For each word on the study guide, include the following: Copy the sentence from the book in which the word appears Write the dictionary definition of the word Write an original sentence using the word