September 20, 2009
Several new links have been added to the Good Books for Literature Circles page!

August 3, 2007
We have updated the bibliography of research and best practice references related to literature circles.

August 1, 2007
The Literature Circles Resource Center is pleased to promote an exciting series of professional development workshops sponsored by the Seattle Reading Council for 2007-2008. "Teachers as Writers: Exploring Writing from the Inside Out" features noted essayist, poet, author, and teacher Dr. Frances McCue. Frances is the former Artistic Director of Richard Hugo House, a community writing center in Seattle. She also teaches a course in the College of Education at Seattle University, LITC 522 Seminar in Writing Instruction. See the Seattle Reading Council web site for more information on this powerful and engaging professional development series.

April 25, 2006
Katherine Schlick Noe, webmaster of the Literature Circles Resource Center, organized a symposium at the International Reading Association Annual Convention in Chicago, Illinois. The session, "Literature Circles in Middle School: Changing the World One Conversation at a Time," was presented on May 3, 2006. The symposium handout is available here: http://www.litcircles.org/ira06.html.

April 1, 2006
We are happy to announce the Seattle Reading Council's spring conference, "Let's Talk About It: Improving Literacy through Professional Study," taking place on May 19-20, 2006 on the Seattle University campus. For more information, check out the web site: http://www.seattlereading.org/SRC.html.

December 18, 2005
The Literature Circles Resource Center has moved to a new address: http://www.litcircles.org. The site remains a professional service of Katherine Schlick Noe of the College of Education at Seattle University. The new URL, however, requires much less typing and will allow the site to grow and change more easily.

December 16, 2005
Coming January 13 - 16, 2006: Heinemann Workshops presents "Literature Circles: Building Better Student Book Clubs K-12" with Harvey Daniels, Katherine Schlick Noe, Nancy Steineke, and Janine A. King in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

January 29, 2005
Katherine Schlick Noe, webmaster of the Literature Circles Resource Center, organized a symposium at the International Reading Association Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas. The session, "Literature Circles and Middle School: Living in This World With Courage and Hope," features Janine A. King, co-author of Literature Circles in Middle School, and noted author Deborah Ellis (The Heaven Shop, The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey) and illustrator Yuyi Morales (Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez). Date/time: Tuesday, May 3, 2:00 - 4:45 p.m. in the convention center.
Download handout as pdf file

January 22, 2005
Themed Literature Units: Steps have been added to help you guide students to develop their conceptual understanding of a theme (e.g., persevering despite obstacles, taking action to care for others, working for justice) in literature circles. See "Steps in the Concept Development Process."

Directions for three extension projects have been expanded to provide more detail for teaching the Story Quilt, Main Idea Belt, and Literary Weaving projects.

January 20, 2005
Two new resources have been added to the Teacher Resources page:

Literature Circles Extension Projects, a collaborative project of Susan Silverman, a retired teacher from Comsewogue School District, Port Jefferson Station, New York. Susan now works as an independent educational consultant and adjunct professor at the New York Institute of Technology. Susan's collaborative Internet project showcases Literature Circle Extension Projects created by students of all ages.  It's an opportunity for students to create for an authentic audience and for educators to view best practices. This site is currently being developed, and extension projects from all grades will be added to the "Student Showcase" section.

Literature circles website developed by Shaun Else, a Grade 5 teacher at Maple Grove Primary School in Oakville, Ontario. Shaun has built an extensive cache of resources for his students and their families, as well as for other teachers.

January 8, 2005
Two new web sites for literature circles have been added to Teacher Resources: ReadWriteThink (International Reading Association and National Council of Teachers of English) offers a wealth of great resources, including literature circles. Literacy Matters (Education Development Center) is another powerful site aimed at middle and high school literacy.

New resources for great books for middle and high school literature circles have been added to Good Books for Literature Circles.

January 1, 2005
Bibliography of the research and best practice foundation for literature circles has been added to the web site. Click on "Research on Literature Circles."

October 7 , 2004
Coming January 15 - 17, 2005: Heinemann Workshops presents "Literature Circles: Building Better Book Clubs K-12" with Harvey Daniels, Katherine Schlick Noe, Nancy Steineke, and Janine A. King in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

September 6, 2004
You can now download and print a copy of a book-selection ballot (pdf file) from the Literature Circles Resource Guide by Bonnie Campbell Hill, Katherine L. Schlick Noe, and Nancy J. Johnson.

May 1 , 2004
The handout, "Literature Circles and the Middle School Reader" from the Middle School Special Interest Group session at the International Reading Association 2004 Annual Convention is now available. Presenters were Katherine L. Schlick Noe, Seattle University; and Janine A. King, Brighton School in Lynnwood, Washington.

n response | themed units | extension projects