From now until May, we will be conducting a unit in which students will read a shared book with a small group of their peers called a “Literature Circle.” The goal of this unit is to help students grow into independent workers and learners, develop stronger reading and discussion skills, and collaborate with peers.
In order to do this, students have been assigned one of the following books:
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
- The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The original plan was to have all students work in groups, but to have all their work, both written and spoken, graded on an individual basis. Due to the unexpected closure of schools, students will be completing their assigned reading and their individual role sheets before they submit them to our iLearn classroom. Every week students will have two assignments to complete. These assignments will be due on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information on these assignments, students need to login to our iLearn classroom and check the assignments requirements and due dates .
I have uploaded links for a digital copy of the Literature Circle books to our iLearn Classroom. I have also shared a copy of all the individual role sheets that students can download and fill in to complete their weekly assignments.
You can also have access to our Literature Circle books by following the links below:
Animal Farm
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MlulGP_CFhPGwL6kvRAJ_L1YdCyesp8Y/view?usp=sharing
Fahrenheit 451
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c0jPNQ6VVzjXwZaTXdzp7rQFgzKHffZq/view?usp=sharing
Lord of the Flies
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KjMU03FKYTpqp23om1HIK7W9ASTnxvn5/view?usp=sharing
Uglies
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14_Lti9ikOm4cYc8lzPhHo-AkmwrZPz4R/view?usp=sharing
Students can check what book they are reading and their individual role for each week on the Literature circle Reading Assignment Sheet:
For 2nd Hour:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1u9AL_DXpxPhDJU1h8SZ1nSH8z9SIWOU0CSYKFZOxAVY/edit?usp=sharing
For 3rd Hour:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/11cudZVJ_YperK1w_lltt1w75v0W_iyZk2l96_S7Fh7I/edit?usp=sharing
For 4th Hour:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1diTYaMm8BIH69x0DWg8tiHLTie0f1WIDsG7DBXqVG_w/edit?usp=sharing
It is important that students check their school email daily as well as their iLearn classrooms to keep track of all assignments, due dates, and grades. I will update my grade book every Monday to add new grades.
The 11 skills that they will be assessed for mastery are the ones in the table below. All work will be completed and submitted digitally to our iLearn classroom except for circle conferences which will be postponed till we go back to school.
Literature Circle Unit Skills Assessed for Mastery
| Standard | Skill | How It Is assessed for Mastery |
| SL9.1D | Responding to diverse perspectives | Circle Conferences |
| SL9.1D | Qualifying and Justifying one’s own views | Circle Conferences |
| RL9.2 | Objectively summarize a text | Fearless Leader Role Sheet |
| RL9.2 | Organize a summary in logical order | Fearless Leader Role Sheet |
| RL9.4 | Determine the meanings of words and phrases as they are used in the text | Insightful Identifier Role Sheet |
| RL9.4 | Consider connotative, denotative, figurative, and technical meanings. | Insightful Identifier Role Sheet |
| SL9.1A | Come to discussion prepared with annotated common text | Connection Captain role sheet; Circle Conferences |
| SL9.1A | Provide important supplemental research to add to discussion of a text | Connection Captain role sheet |
| SL9.1C | Create thoughtful and compelling discussion questions | Question Commander role sheet; Circle Conferences |
| RL9.1 | Cite important textual evidence to support answers | Question Commander role sheet |
| RL9.1 | Cite thorough textual evidence from throughout the text | Question Commander role sheet |
Every week students will be responsible for participating in the following:
- Writing individual role sheets – each week, students will be responsible for a different role within their literature circle group. These roles focus on assessing different skills for mastery (check table above). Each individual role is due on Friday of each week.
- Discussion Question- This question will be relevant to the weekly reading, will be posted in our iLearn classroom, and is due on Saturday of each week.
It is important that students submit their individual roles in the proper section in our iLearn classroom (check the week and the title of the book you are working on).