Book Clubs - Our Literature Circles

Oprah would be impressed! I call my Literature Circles "Book Clubs" to make it sound more appealing to the kids. Each Book Club consists of 4-6 members. Some groups get to choose their own book and form clubs, some are chosen by me. It all depends on how independent and responsible I think the students are. I have 7 jobs and I double up some jobs. If a Book Club has 6 members, I combine the Connector and Illustrator because both are fairly easy jobs. If I have less, I will combine other jobs into one big job or make the Word Wizard a standing job throughout the book. My sheets are listed below. Some materials come from Laura Candler*.

When I am ready to do Book Clubs, I make out a schedule sheet for the students. I find that they don't know how to manage time and scheduling reading at first. They eventually learn how to do this. I put each cover sheet with the job sheets. I then order each packet in a different order so that the students know what order they will be performing their jobs. I've included my schedule cover sheet for some examples. I also give each student another packet that has comprehension questions and the final project choice sheet. The comprehension sheet can give them ideas for their Book Club job and discussion.