Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles Review

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(More customer reviews)As a high school English teacher, one of my biggest challenges is the constant prodding of my students to take an active role in their reading. I've worked with a Literature Circle approach for several years, experimenting with different techniques, tweaking my daily lessons, and adding new strategies as I come across them. Now, with this book, Daniels and Steineke have blown me away. They have filled the book with dozens of practical ideas, from mini-lessons on short readings to using book choice in class. Even if you don't use a full Literature Circle approach, their research-based instructional strategies about harvesting techniques, discussion boosters, and even assessment ideas have re-energized my teaching approach. This is a practical, intelligent book that I see becoming a staple in my professional library. As they detail different strategies and their mini-lessons build on important reading strategies, a central thread is evident: a focus on student reflection of the reading-discussion process. I'm hooked. I recommend it to anyone who teaches English or anyone looking for ways to spice up the simple act of reading an article and talking about it in class. Buy the book. Give it to a fellow teacher. Buy another copy. It is worth it.

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Harvey Daniels' Literature Circles introduced tens of thousands of teachers to the power of student-led book discussions. Nancy Steineke's Reading and Writing Together showed how a teacher can nurture friendship and collaboration among young readers. Now, Daniels and Steineke team up to focus on one crucial element of the Literature Circle model; the short, teacher-directed lessons that begin, guide and follow-up every successful book club meeting.

Mini-lessons are the secret to book clubs that click. Each of these forty-five short, focused, and practical lessons includes Nancy and Harvey's actual classroom language and is formatted to help busy teachers with point-by-point answers to the questions they most frequently ask.
How can I:
steer my students toward deeper comprehension?
get kids interested in each others' ideas?
make sure kids choose just-right books?
help students schedule their reading and meeting time?
deal with kids who don't do the reading?
get kids to pay more attention to literary style and structure?
help special education and ELL students to participate actively in book clubs?
get kids to expand their repertoire of reading strategies?
make sure groups are on-task when I'm not looking over their shoulder?
introduce writing tools (including role sheets) that support student discussion?.
help shy or dominating members get the right amount of "airtime?"
give grades for book clubs without ruining the fun?
use scientific research to justify the classroom time I spend on literature circles?

Each mini-lesson spells out everything from the time and materials needed to word-by-word instructions for students. The authors even warn "what could go wrong," helping teachers to avoid predictable management problems. With abundant student examples, reproducible forms, photographs of kids in action, and recommended reading lists, Mini-lessons for Literature Circles helps you deepen student book discussions, create lifelong readers, and build a respectful classroom community.

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