In Year 6 we have recently introduced literature circles to improve students’ fluency and their comprehension of challenging texts.
Students engage in group discussions about novels that they enjoy reading, expressing ideas about the story, themes and characters.
Students were placed into groups and each of those groups was assigned a particular novel to study together. Students have been independently reading for part of each lesson and then enter into conversations about their novel during their literature circles. They have also begun learning how to annotate their novels using post-it notes. Students search for themes to write about or ask questions about words or parts of the story that they find confusing. These annotations are then used to support their discussion within their groups and help facilitate insightful conversations.
It has been exciting to see students’ enthusiasm for reading increase over the past couple of terms. This activity has also helped some students discover what kind of books they find the most interesting or enjoyable.
We look forward to seeing students’ passion for reading continue to grow over the rest of the year.
Mr Jeremy Howard
Junior School Teacher - Stage 3 - Year 6H
