Laurie, It doesn't sound like you have done anything wrong! I think you should continue to monitor the groups, allowing those students who still do not seem to get it to share their observations of those who are more successful. Reflection on what the others did and how he or she could do better the next time may help.
Third grade students are developmentally diverse, or so I found when I taught third. Some students may just not be ready to fully take on the book club roles. I am now teaching fifth grade, and I find that four or five students out of 26 come unprepared for lit circle. I have them stay at their desks completing their role sheets before they can join the group. This way they are still getting the in-depth analysis of the text, which, to me, is the purpose of the roles. They are sometimes finished in enough time to join their group. Sometimes they are not. We have class discussions about the impact on groups when a member is not prepared. Fifth grade children are somewhat motivated by peers to get it together. I have an inclusion class in which I know a couple of the children will not be able to completely do this yet. However, they continue to benefit by seeing the exemplary model of others. At this point in our lit circles, all students have the same roles. So each group can see how each student completed the same job. We have one more job to go. After that, we'll try the circles with each child having a different job. Evaluations (self and group) are also part of the learning process for them. This is the most structured I have been in setting up lit circles. I have mixed feelings about the formality of roles. The books we use are presented as a choice within our thematic units. We are doing "Coming of Age" now and have read ON MY HONOR and FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E FRANKWEILER. When we try the lit circles with different jobs, they can choose from BRIDGE TO TEREBITHIA or HATCHET. Perhaps you can move away from roles. I rarely used them in third. I would rather give all the students the same comprehension task, such as bringing three questions and the answers or predictions. Perhaps they would need to identify two important moments in the text for the character. This way, even if a student did not do a thorough job, they still were lifted by those in the groups who did better. They learned from each other and improved. I also tried "talking chips" for groups who needed guidance in sharing the conversation. Each student was given four two-colored counters. Each time he or she spoke, the chip had to be placed in the center. When all of a child's chips were used, he or she had to wait for others to use their chips before that child could share again. I also found it easier to have everyone in the class reading the same book. This way, we could have whole group discussions to supplement the smaller book club meetings. So hang in there with it. Look at what you want the children to learn from the lit circles and focus your teaching there. You sound like you put a lot of thought into it! Best, Maura 5/NJ -------------- Original message ---------------------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Dear Readers, > > My third grade class is struggling with book clubs this year. I purposely set > out to model, model, model what is expected of a book club member. We read a > book in a whole-group setting and practiced the four roles so that every > table group had a chance to experience each role. The roles are: Word Wizard, > Summarizer, Big Idea Sketcher, Question Master, and Character Monitor. We > even > did a few "fish bowl" discussions where I sat in to model how a conversation > works. while the rest of the class sat in a circle around us and observed. I > thought we were ready. Now that they are half way through the books, I see > that > perhaps even more modeling was needed. > > I stressed how important it was to come to the group prepared and how it was > their responsibility to get the reading done on time. I felt that I gave > them > plenty of time to do the reading and prepare for their jobs....however, as I > circulate from group to group during the discussin time, I notice that a good > third of the class is not prepared. They either haven't finished the reading > or their job is only half completed. During the discussion time they get so > loud that no one can hear themselves talk. Again, I've modeled and we have > role-played and brainstormed....what have I done wrong? > > Thanks for any feedback you might have to offer. > > Laurie Tandy > Third Grade > California > > > > > ************** > Biggest Grammy Award surprises of all time on AOL Music. > > (http://music.aol.com/grammys/pictures/never-won-a-grammy?NCID=aolcmp00300000002 > 5 > 48) > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
