Novels were collected around an adventure theme for the next cycle of literature circles. Once again new groups formed based on book choice. A time frame for completing the novel was presented to the class. Students engaged in the literature circle cycle (read, prepare, discuss) to complete their novel. The final round of literature circles included both novels and nonfiction/information text. It should be noted that the nonfiction texts selected were written in narrative form. The modeling continued throughout as the researchers highlighted successes and asked students probing questions while observing group discussions.

Examining the Discussion Director questions that students wrote on their response sheets reveals that their higher order thinking skills were continuing to develop. Many of their questions were now including the more advanced levels of critical thinking. Examples of these levels of thinking and questions are in Table 1.