" The in-depth discussions will be supported by the notes, comments and drawings they have prepared in their reading journals while reading the text...Participants can share their own personal insights, emotional responses, connections they are making to the text and to the comments of others. As they begin to hitchhike on each other's comments, they are building background knowledge and incorporating new meanings and different perspectives into their own world pictures...Through these conversations, students learn to support their ideas with references in the texts, to pose questions that have real significance, and to accept or at least consider the opinions of others. They will learn about themselves as they deepen and expand their meaning making" (p. 61).
For the purposes of this project, the implementation of literature circles began with the researchers consulting with provincial librarians in St. John, NB. The librarians eagerly provided the researchers with information regarding the circulation of books to boys based on their observations at their respective libraries. They also provided purchasing information on trade books. This gave the researchers direction for purchasing trade books that would be appropriate for use with literature circles and conceivably appeal to the reading interests of boys. Additionally, community members were invited to read and review trade book selections to ensure that they were appropriate reading material for students in grades four and five. Teachers were also invited to recommend appropriate books. Multiple copies of trade books, representing a variety of genres of fiction as well as nonfiction, were purchased throughout the duration of the project for participating classrooms to utilize with literature circles.
Professional resources on literature circles were reviewed by the researchers. Resources such as Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in Book Clubs and Reading Groups ( Daniels, 2002) were selected and purchased for the participating teachers. New resources on literature circles including websites were shared with the teachers throughout the project.