During literature circles, students meet in small groups to discuss, respond, and reflect on their reading. The teacher or students facilitate the discussion, and as students progress through the primary grades, they will become able to take on parts of this facilitator role. A goal of primary-grade literature circles is to guide students to become more independent with each component of the discussion so that they are ready to hold discussion groups with very little teacher coaching by the end of second grade or the beginning of third. Literature circles, reading workshop, and Guided Reading groups are all part of a balanced literacy program for young readers.
Students begin by reading a predetermined amount of text.
It is important for all children, regardless of reading level, to have the opportunity to participate in literature discussion. Emergent readers can discuss texts that have been read during shared readings or heard during read-alouds. Each literature circle lasts approximately 10-20 minutes, depending on the text. It is important that students feel comfortable sharing ideas and taking risks in the discussions. Teachers should monitor good discussion and questioning behavior.