For the month of April
Literary Circle Roles: (download in Word 97-2003)
Literary Circle Roles
Discussion Director
Discussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group can discuss about this part of the novel. Your questions should be ones that require thought and get everyone talking and sharing their opinions and reactions. The best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns…do not use questions that can be answered with yes/no or just a factual detail. You will have a minimum of 5 questions.
Your job for today’s discussion:
Pose each of your questions to the group for discussion.
Ask for group members’ comments/questions on this section of the book
Be sure members are all participating in discussions.
Turn in questions with group work.
Fill out group record sheer (w/ input from members).
Assign roles for the next meeting.
Be sure to meet with Miss K. before “closing up shop” with your group today.
Sample Question Starters:
What did you think about……..? (name a specific event, action, etc)
Why do you think that………?
What do you think will happen next/if……..? (ask for predictions of events and characters’ actions)
What is happening at the part when……..?
What do you think ___________ (event/incident) means?
***It is OKAY to ask questions that may not have specific answers…YAY, You! This is called analyzing a text!
Literary Luminary
Literary Luminary: It is your job to read aloud parts of the story to your group in order to help your group members remember some interesting, powerful, puzzling, or important sections of the text. You decide which passages or paraphrases are worth reading aloud, and justify your reasons for selecting them. Be sure to write down the page numbers of your passages, a brief summary of the quotes (or the paraphrases of the passages), and your reasons for selecting them. You will have a minimum of three passages.
Your job for today’s discussion:
Before class, locate at least 3 passages for discussion. Jot down your ideas, reactions, and thoughts for each quote before you meet with your group—these will provide a springboard for your group’s discussion.
Initiate discussions around your quotes. Be sure everyone has their book open to the page you are on—read your quotes aloud.
Explain to your group why you chose that passage and ask for comments. Do they agree? Disagree? Did they have a different reaction?
Provide feedback on what your group discussed with your passages. Add ideas to your notes from reading.
Turn in your passages with group work today.
Some reasons for choosing passages to share:
Pivotal Events
Informative/Important (maybe a clue? is it foreshadowing?)
Descriptive (figurative language, strong verbs, flow, cool-sounding)
Surprising/Startling
Scary/Demented
Thought-Provoking
Funny
Controversial (different group members may have different reactions)
Confusing (Did people “get” this?)
Personally meaningful
Character Captain
Character Captain: Your job is to share observations you have about the characters in the book. Choose a variety of adjectives (at least 5) to describe 3-5 characters in your book. Support your adjectives with an example taken from your reading assignment. Be specific in your descriptions of traits (i.e.: instead of “nice” try “thoughtful” or “generous”). The more specific you are, the better your discussions will be with your group.
Your job for today’s discussion:
Before class, prepare your list of characters and adjectives.
Look for passages that specifically illustrate your character descriptions.
Ask for feedback from other group members. Add ideas to your list.
Turn in character list at the end of the period.
Sample Character Ideas—Look at the following:
Character thoughts
How other characters interact with him/her
Clothing/Style
Reactions to events/characters/situations
Interactions with others
What character says
Choices a character makes
Vocabulary Visionary
Vocabulary Visionary: You will be looking for new vocabulary throughout the section that you read. Your job is to come to class with at least 5 new vocabulary words, supply the sentence from the text, and a definition for the word (in the correct context).
Your job for today’s discussion:
Bring at least 5 new vocabulary words to share with your group.
Have the sentence for each word (with the page number), as well as a contextually correct definition.
Share words with your group—read sentences out loud.
Turn in words, definitions, and sentences with group work.
Ideas for choosing words—choose words that are:
Important
Unfamiliar
Different
Puzzling
Funny (funny sounding)
Used in an unusual way
Interesting
End-of-Book Assignments
Your entire group is responsible for the following. You can divide and conquer as you see fit...and in the end, you need just one copy for all. You will have a total of 15 entries for all...
- Character Descriptions: The character descriptions are a one-paragraph explanation of a character. In the end you will have between five and eight character descriptions. You will be assessed on the content, word choice, fluency, and conventions of your descriptions.
Othello A Moor (an African), a general in the defense forces of the city state of Venice. His successful profession brings him high status in Venice, but his foreign origins and color separate him from those with whom he lives and works. He is a military man, with a reputation for courage in battle and good judgment in military matters. Othello falls in love and marries Desdemona, but during the campaign against the Turks, Othello is tricked by Iago into believing that his wife has been unfaithful with his lieutenant, Cassio. Iago works on Othello's personal and social insecurity until Othello believes the combination of Iago's lies and flimsy circumstantial evidence. Inflamed with jealousy, he smothers Desdemona in her bed, only to find out too late that he has been misled and has killed the woman who loved him faithfully. In despair, he kills himself.
- Key Quotes: For the key quotes, you will choose three and five important passages from the text. You will need to write them down (directly...not just a summary for this one) and then write a paragraph explaining why each passage is key. The passages you choose should be strong enough to evoke emotion, show an important event, or describe a character in a memorable way. You will be assessed on the quality of your paragraph (content, organization, voice, conventions).
- Review Questions and Answers: The review questions and answers are basically like essay questions for your text. They should be questions that are analytic in nature, not comprehension questions. For your group, you will have between three and five questions and answers. Each question you pose should be answered in the form of an RSVP essay. You will be assessed on both the quality of questions and the clarity, content, organization, conventions of your answers.
- References: alphabetic list of sources used for papers (author bio, book context, analysis--if used...the book itself is also a source!) in correct MLA format. Every group will have a references list...this will be graded on use of proper format. Questions on format? Go to "The Owl" at Purdue University for help.
Each group member is responsible for one of the following (but each group turns in only one of each). These are to be in MLA format (typed, double-spaced, MLA heading, header with last name and page number, 12-point Times New Roman font...) and are roughly 1 1/2-3 pages in length.
- Author Biography: This is like an overview of the author. While it may encompass some of the information from the book you read (since they are biographies and autobiographies--for the most part...sorry, Alive groups, your book is not...), but could also include information outside of just the book content. Assessment will be based on the 6-traits rubric (x 1.5)
- Book Context: This assignment is the historical context of what is happening in your book. You don't have to give an entire history, focus on one key part. For example, if you were to complete this task for Because of Romek, you might look at JUST life in Auschwitz or JUST life in the Tarnow ghetto.
- Book Synopsis: This paper is, in essence, a summary of the book. It gives more than a paragraph description of the book, but is less than each of the chapter summaries combined.
- Character Analysis: For this paper, look at the main character and prove something about him/her. This is similar to what you completed with Romek. One idea might be to look at the circumstances the person had to overcome throughout his/her life. Perhaps it is showing how the experiences that person has been through shape his/her life.
- Thematic Analysis: The thematic analysis is a look at a theme that runs throughout a book. So, think about why the author would write the book--what is the purpose? It may be to give others hope, to show the horrors of a particular time/place...