The Word Wizard role sheet focused on vocabulary. Students were taught to locate words that were new, funny, important, strange, interesting, or hard. Writing a summary of their reading was the focus of the Super Summarizer. The students were encouraged to list three key points (significant words) from their reading and then use those points to write a summary. The Artful Artist role sheet engaged the students in representing their understanding through art. The students would fulfill this role by illustrating a character, a setting, a problem, an exciting part or a surprise based on their reading. All role sheets included a Connections section where the students were expected to make personal connections to the text or make comparisons to other texts.

Once the roles were understood, the teachers involved the students in the discussion component of literature circles. Teachers engaged the students in identifying the characteristics of good listening and stressed the importance of taking turns in their discussions. The students were grouped to practice the roles in a discussion format. Each group member was responsible for completing a different role sheet for their reading. The group then engaged in a discussion rotating through the roles. The Discussion Director led the discussion. Each student in the group responded to the questions asked. The Word Wizard identified the words he/she selected and the reason for the choice. The Super Summarizer read the key points and the written summary of the reading. Finally, the Artful Artist presented a drawing to the group for them to identify its relationship to the reading. As teachers observed the process, they highlighted successes and conducted mini-lessons to continue modeling.

The next stage of implementation was to present a collection of novels to the class. Teachers introduced the reading selections to the class through 'book talks' by orally presenting a short introduction to the book. Once the books were introduced, students were given opportunities to peruse the selections in order to assist them with their decision on what novel they would prefer to read. Students listed their first, second, and third choice on a ballot which was collected by the teacher. The teacher used the ballots to form the groups for the next literature circle session and decided on the number of literature circle sessions required to complete the reading of the novel. Each group met in different areas of the classroom and collectively decided on how they would divide the reading of the novel to complete it in the specified number of sessions. They also made decisions on how they would rotate the roles in their group. Finally, the group members decided on the method they preferred to read the novel: silently, out loud to the group, with a partner or a combination of these methods. Once these decisions were made, they proceeded to read. The goal for subsequent literature circle sessions was for group members to complete designated readings and role sheets that would serve as a basis of their discussion.