IDENTIFIERS *Literature Circles

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of using Literature Circles to improve reading comprehension skills of eighth-grade students in a middle school located in middle Georgia. A quasi-experiment was used with a random assignment to the experimental or control group. One reading class received traditional drill and classroom practice, while the other group was placed in literature circles according to the novel they chose to read. Both groups were pre-tested and post-tested. Both groups were equal at the time of the pretest. During this first experiment, the results were mixed. Significant gains were made by the experimental group. Then the groups swapped instructional methods for the next reading unit. This second experiment yielded opposite results. The group that was initially introduced to Literature Circles did better on the pre-test for experiment 2, as well as on the post-test, even though this time they received traditional instruction. Both groups were heterogeneous for high, medium, and low reading abilities. The results of this research support the use of both literature circles and traditional drill and practice to improve reading comprehension skills. (Author/RS) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 00 tr-1 r--