"Literature Circles are discussion groups in which children meet regularly to talk about books." (Campbell Hill, Johnson & Schlick Noe, 1995, p. 2) Small groups are formed based on interest in reading the same piece of literature. The students in the group take ownership by making decisions about how much will be read for each literature circle session, what will be discussed, and how they will present their reading selection to the rest of the class after the entire piece of literature has been read. The role of the teacher is to model the literature circles process, act as a facilitator to the groups, and provide students with support through mini-lessons.
Purpose
The literature circles strategy was selected to assess the reading performance of boys, yet not at the expense
of girls. At the same time, the literature circles strategy would provide an opportunity to document the literacy
performance of boys and girls in a natural, authentic environment. The Project Manager, Cheryl Miles, had
previously researched the literature circle model during her tenure as Literacy Mentor with School District 18,
Fredericton, NB. A pilot project (2000 - 2001 school year) was implemented with a local elementary school
teacher and her grade 4/5 class. The focus of this pilot project was to share the implementation model and
process with other teachers.