Do Now 2 Lit Circle Expectations This week

Do Now #2: Lit Circle Expectations This week we are starting our literature circles. What do you expect from this activity? Are you happy with your group? How do you think you’ll work together? Do you think you’ll get your work done or slack off? How do you feel about your book that you chose? Do you think you’ll enjoy reading within a group setting or would you rather read on your own? If you’re NOT doing lit circles, do you wish you were? If you CHOSE not to do lit circle, why did you make that choice? Discuss what you expect from this activity in AT LEAST FIVE SENTENCES!!!

Do Now #3: High School Responsibilities High school is the time when your actions really start to shape your future. Your actions, your behavior, and your choices that you make NOW will have real consequences and real rewards. If you make good choices, you’ll be able to look forward to a bright future. If you make poor choices, you will be looking at a life that includes a lot of struggle and hardship. It’s time to start taking things seriously. Do you plan to graduate high school? What do you want to do after high school? What should you be doing NOW in order to ensure that you graduate high school, and that you won’t spend the next three years struggling to improve your GPA and earn your credits? What is your PLAN? Be specific! Don’t just say, “Study more” or “Do my work. ” WHEN will you study? Pick a day! Pick a time! Make a concrete plan, and stick to it! Discuss what actions you can take NOW to ensure your future success. Use AT LEAST FIVE COMPLETE SENTENCES and Avoid Words of Death!! Title and date this Do Now!

This will be fun!

Lit Circle Day! Do Now: Look through your book and prepare for your quiz!!!

What are Literature Circles? Literature Circles are a little like a book club, but with a bit more structure. Literature Circles are small student-led group discussions in which each group member contributes and everyone works together. Literature Circles rely on good communication and participation from all the members. Literature Circles can help you understand connect with your book, and share a fun reading experience with your classmates.

Your Responsibilities - Individual Each week, you must read the assigned section of your chosen book. WHILE YOU READ you must make notes on Post Its so you can contribute the weekly assignments. You must make notes on: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Major events that happen in the book (and questions you may have) New characters New words Connections you made (text-to-self, world, text) Important quotes Symbols and Themes I will check these notes each week, and these Post Its are your INDIVIDUAL grade.

Your Responsibilities - Individual Post It Notes: The notes you take will not only ensure you get a good homework grade, but they will help you with the weekly quizzes by helping you read with a purpose, which will help you remember what happened in your story! These notes should NOT just be “This chapter introduced a character. ” That will NOT help you! Write SPECIFIC events and information! THIS is what will help you on the quizzes! The more detail you include in your quiz answers the more points you’ll earn! If you’re reading an ebook, you STILL have to takes notes on paper that will count as your homework grade. These notes must be made by YOU, and be in YOUR handwriting, or both you AND the person who gave you their Post Its will have zeros for EACH WEEK.

Example: Notes from The Lost Boy Chapter Recap When David was at the police station he was scared to tell them any details about his parents, but he had to. Father goes to the police station and tells them it was a misunderstanding. David returns home unhappy and terrified. Word: Petrified (pg. 40)

Example: Notes from The Lost Boy Mother gave him new toys and clothes. David is confused, because everything seems too good to be true. Astounded (pg 74) (Response) I wonder if maybe Mother has changed after the trial because maybe she realized that she had lost her boy.

Example: Notes from Matched Ch. 1 Cassia, is flying in an “air train” to her “Match Banquet, ” where she’ll see the face and hear the name of the boy she has been matched with. She is with Xander, her best friend, and their parents, and she is excited and nervous. She carries an “artifact, ” a compact, given to her by her grandfather. Xander’s “artifact” is his pair of cufflinks. They go to City Hall for the banquet, and eat a luxurious meal first. The matches begin, and when Cassia’s name is called, she stands, looking at the screen, waiting for a face to appear. But it doesn’t. The screen is black. The chapter ends with: “This can only mean one thing. ”

Example: Notes from Matched “The Society” - Futuristic The Government? Created official “Matching Material” (pg. 4) Everyone carries three emergency tablets- one green, one red, one blue. (pg. 6) Govt controls clothing- “Boys don’t have as much leeway in choosing clothes as girls do. ” (pg. 6) Matching Banquets held on the 15 th of every month. People can be called any time after 17 th birthday. (pg. 7) Matching Banquets are held in City Halls everywhere, and people are shown on screens the person who is their match. They go alphabetically by the girl’s last name. Then they get a silver box with a micro card with their match’s background info. “It is strange how we hold on to the pieces of the past while we wait for our futures. ” (p. 11)

Example: Notes from Matched Characters: Cassia Maria Reyes: Narrator. Green eyes, coppery-brown hair, 17 -years-old. Birthday the story begins. Has a younger brother, Bram, who is 10. Xander: best friend, sure of himself. Blue eyes, blond hair, handsome. Cassia’s father: interested in relics of the past (connection- Arthur Weasley in HP- interested in Muggle items) Cassia’s mother: Works in the Arboretum, so interested in flowers.

Your Responsibilities - Individual Each week you will be given a quiz on the section of your book you were assigned to read. These are short answer quizzes where you do not have to answer EVERY question, but you have to make sure you answer enough to get the required number of POINTS. If you do not read the book, you will not pass the quizzes. These are simple questions about events that took place in the book, so if you read, this should be no problem.

Your Responsibilities - Group After you have taken your quiz, as a group you will work together to answer ALL the questions on the quiz that you missed or that you did not answer completely or at all. These questions and answers will be your study guide. Some of these questions will appear on your MIDTERM EXAM, so make sure you get the answers! You will also work together to complete a summary of that section of your book, and add to a vocabulary list, a character chart, a connections chart, a meaningful quote page, and a chart of symbols and themes. You will keep these in your group binder, which will be graded each week.

Your Responsibilities- End of Quarter Assessment At the end of the quarter, instead of doing a group project, this year I’m trying something different. You will each create your OWN one-pager, using the information you have gathered during the course of your reading. These will NOT be graded based on artistic ability, so don’t be worried if you’re not an artist! They will be graded based on the elements you include. (Symbols, quotes, etc. ) Here are some examples!

One Pager Requirements You can use a template or a blank piece of paper, but you MUST FILL the page and include the following elements, in a combination of words and images. ● ● ● Character Conflict Culture Connections Quotes Symbol(s) Optional elements (which will help you earn extra points!): Theme (message to reader) Antagonist identification, type of conflict (internal vs external, character vs. character/society/self/nature/machine) additional information about other important characters, etc.

Literature Circle Roles ● ● Discussion Director Summarizer Decoder & Connector Investigator While you will each have your own specific jobs to do, you will also help each other!

Discussion Director Your job is to write down at least five questions for discussion. These questions should be open-ended (not "yes/no" questions) and designed to spark interesting discussion. You will also write the answers after the group has discussed them. During the discussion, your job is to encourage all group members to participate by involving them in the discussion, to ask follow-up questions when conversation lags, and to be sure that every participant has a chance to share his or her ideas. This role should go to someone who likes to be in charge, but is not bossy about it, and who can keep others on track. They should be outgoing and able to think of deep questions to ask about the book.

Summarizer Your job is to write a summary of at least ten sentences covering all the important events from the assigned reading and explaining why these events were significant. How did they change the characters? How did they develop themes? You must write down the important, big events of the section, not insignificant details. This role should go to someone who has done well all year on their reading logs and is a decent writer, with legible handwriting.

Decoder & Connector Your job is to find connections between the story and the world/present. These connections might relate to current events, personal experiences, movies or other books, or anything else that relates to the story in some way. During the literature circle, present each connection to your group, and ask them if they can provide additional connections for this section of the text. Your job is also to decode new words by writing down vocabulary and meanings and sharing with the group. This role should go to someone who knew how to write good responses on their reading logs, and who enjoys learning new words.

Investigator Your job is to research information that relates to the book. This is a very important job as much of what you find will need to be included in your project at the end of the year. Each week you will need to bring in and share information with your group about the setting of your book, history, author, time period, geography, significant events, etc. This role should go to someone who likes looking beyond the story itself, and enjoys learning about other cultures. It would also be helpful if they have regular access to a printer so they can print and bring in what they find.

Weekly Assignments and Book Checks Each week you will be responsible for completing an assignment specific to your role in your circle. If you do not do your part, your group will miss important information and YOU will lose points. You MUST come to the literature circle prepared, and WITH your book. There WILL be book checks conducted EVERY LITERATURE CIRCLE DAY, and if you don’t have your book you will lose ADDITIONAL points. MAKE SURE YOU PURCHASE YOUR BOOK BEFORE THE START OF 4 th QUARTER!!!

Literature Circle Calendar We will be doing our literature circles for six weeks since we need to be done before testing season starts in May. That means you all MUST read your book IN ITS ENTIRETY within that five weeks. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you are HERE for EVERY Literature Circle day. Week 1: Select roles, begin reading. Topic: Setting Week 2: Topic: History of the Country Week 3: Halfway point. Topic: Political/Economic factors Week 4: Topic: Culture Week 5: Topic: Themes Week 6: Topic: Where are they now?

Literature Circle Project After finishing the memoirs, you and your group will create a project to present to the class. You will need to gather information that you worked on during the reading and present it in an informative and visually appealing way. You will tell your classmates about the author, their story, their home country, the situation there that they had to deal with, and what has happened since to the author and their country. You will find out about the history, political and economic climate, etc. of your author’s homeland.