Literature Circles Resource Center  
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Resources for Literature Circles:
Web Links and Professional Books

Read "Literature Circles Build Excitement for Books"by Mary Daniels Brown
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr259.shtml

Web Links

Teens Read Too http://www.teensreadtoo.com/
Richly detailed site by Jennifer Wardrip that engages teen readers with great books! Check out Book Review Central, Author Interviews, and theTRT Interactive Reading Circle.

Children's Literature Resources http://classes.seattleu.edu/education/litc521/schlicknoe/resources.html
Links to a large number of sites for book lists, book reviews, and instruction with children's literature. Developed by Katherine L. Schlick Noe, Ph.D. of Seattle University.

Laura Candler's Teaching Resources :  http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/litcircles.php
4th/5th grade teacher Laura Candler has developed this extensive and useful site describing how she uses literature circles in her intermediate classroom.  She includes many forms and guidelines that you can download, as well as book suggestions for intermediate students.

LiteratureCircles.com http://www.literaturecircles.com/
Based on Harvey Daniels' Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups (2001). York, ME: Stenhouse.

Literature Circles Extension Projects http://kids-learn.org/litcircles/
Susan Silverman'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. Susan, a retired teacher from Comsewogue School District, works as an independent educational consultant and adjunct professor at the New York Institute of Technology.

Literature Learning Ladders: http://eduscapes.com/ladders/
In-depth site developed by Dr. Annette Lamb and Dr. Larry Johnson of Eduscape, a professional development organization for teachers. The site contains links for themes and literature circles http://www.eduscapes.com/ladders/themes/

Read-Write-Think http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/index.asp
Developed in partnership between the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, this is an exceptionally rich resource for lesson plans and materials on a broad range of literacy topics. To find resources specific to literature circles, type "literature circle" (or "literature circles") and then specify "Exact phrase" in the Search engine.
• Example lesson: "Literature Circles: Getting Started" http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=19

Themed Literature Units   http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/kschlnoe/TLU/TLU.html
Developed by Katherine L. Schlick Noe, Ph.D. of Seattle University. Book units organized by theme and grade level.
Examples of themed units (Gr. K-8): http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/kschlnoe/MITexample.html
Developing students' understanding of theme (Gr. K-12):
http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/kschlnoe/TLU/process.html

Literature Circles: Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School, Juneau, Alaska. http://www.litsite.org/index.cfm?section=Teaching-and-Learning&page=Reading-Workbooks&cat=Middle-School&viewpost=2&ContentId=1015. Another highly detailed site developed by language arts and social studies teacher, Janet Lopez.

 

 

Professional Books

Getting Started with Literature Circles by Katherine L. Schlick Noe and Nancy J. Johnson (1999, Christopher-Gordon)

Literature Circles and Response edited by Bonnie Campbell Hill, Nancy J. Johnosn, and Katherine L. Schlick Noe (1995, Christopher-Gordon)

Literature Circles in Middle School: One Teacher's Journey by Bonnie Campbell Hill, Katherine L. Schlick Noe, and Janine A. King (2003, Christopher-Gordon)

Literature Circles Resource Guide by Bonnie Campbell Hill, Katherine L. Schlick Noe and Nancy J. Johnson (2001, Christopher-Gordon).

Literature Study Circles in a Multicultural Classroom by Katharine Davies Samway and Gail Whang (1995, Stenhouse).

Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups, 2nd ed., by Harvey Daniels (2002, Stenhouse).

Mini-lessons for Literature Circles by Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke (2004, Heinemann).