Establishing literature circles in one middle school teacher\u27s classroom

Literature circles are a popular method of reading instruction in middle school classrooms. Literature circles are when small groups of students choose one book to read and then meet to discuss it. Students are taught how to discuss a book and use response journals. Implementing literature circles into a reading curriculum requires a great deal of planning. A teacher must make decisions about structure, themes, response journals, discussion groups, assessment and final projects. Literature circles are an evolving teaching method and will not always work the same way each time they are used. I found literature circles to be a positive experience but improvements need to be made in the quality of the discussions and in assessment. Students need more structure to help them prepare for discussion and also need to do more self-reflection. Despite setbacks literature circles are a valuable teaching method to use in reading classes