It is a place of informal, energetic, natural conversations about books. In the circles roles are played out in an individual, daily rotating, interwoven, spontaneous and predictable pattern. Students independently self select a text from a variety of offerings. In the circles, they take turns playing specific roles which help the discussions remain sophisticated and literary. By learning the roles, students ultimately become experts at analysis while the reading process is concurrently enhanced.
Students progress toward the objective of being experienced readers.
The students practice the roles on a rotating basis until they are internalized. Though teachers may create as many roles as they please, there are four basic roles to help the students to surface and independently discuss important topics on their own. Kids develop and pursue their own discussion topics. Small, temporary groups are formed, based on book choice. Different groups read different books.