Blog #5 part 1 My Literary Circle Experience SPSE 6712

Hello to all! Long time no blog.

I just wanted to share an experience I recently had with implementing a literary circle with the precious ESL students I have been working with this semester. The students that I have been working with are in grades K -3. I chose to work with second and third graders for this project.

A literary circle is something that I had never heard of and once I read all the resources to help me implement the literary circle, I was ready to dive in wholeheartedly. Once I decided on what book to use, I was on a roll. I chose the book Freckle Juice by Judy bloom. The reason I decided to use this book is because it is one of my favorite books. I remember my 3rd grade teacher reading this book out loud to my class and I loved it. Another reason I chose this book is because this book is about trying to fit in . I also chose this book because I felt my students would love it as much as I did and they would be able to relate to the characters/setting in the book.

My hypotheses was correct! My students loved the book. Of course I wasn't able to read the entire book to them because of time constraints but they laughed, asked questions and they understood what their roles would be when participating in this literary circle. At first they were very unsure and shy about our project, but after I went over the procedures with them, they were very excited about having different roles for this project. The students loved the fact that they had a certain role that they had to follow. It made them feel important. One student said "You mean we get to be like a teacher?", my face hurt from smiling after hearing that.

I chose to read aloud to them because I wanted to show them how this project is going to work. First we did a pre-reading exercise. We discussed how it feels to want to change something about themselves and no matter what, it can't be done. We discussed what a freckle was. Believe it or not, a lot of my students didn't know what one was (in English). After I read the first chapter of the book to them, they were very open to discussing the book. Of course, I had to start the discussion and give them prompts but after just a few nudges, if you will, they took over and started discussing the book with each other. I was amazed.

I think that he Literature Circle Technique is very appropriate for second language learners. I want to try to implement one with LEP's in kindergartners and 1st graders because it will help them develop the skills needed in order to participate in literature circles as they progress through elementary school. Although they wont be able to use journals, graphic organizers etc., as well as the 2nd and third graders, it will prepare them for literary circles in their future. I also think that this is a very appropriate strategy because I have learned by my teaching and learning experiences myself, if you teach something once then you learn something twice. If the ELL's are assigned roles and are responsible for relaying the information to their peers, then they not only are teaching but they are learning as well.

I am not sure of the changes I would make to this project if I were to repeat this because this is my very first literary circle that I have implemented. The things that I would change are things that can't be changed. Things like time needed and the level of technology that is available to the teachers are things that I would love to change but these changes are not possible at this time. I am going to talk to my mentor teacher to see if she would allow me to volunteer to keep visiting her classroom to finish this literature circle just because I enjoyed watching it in progress. I am hoping that there will be some extra time to have fun in class right before the winter break that will allow me to finish what I started. Plus the students want to finish the book together.

Due to the fact that I am a novice at literature circles I do not have many suggestions to other ESL professionals that are considering implementing this strategy. The only advice that I have at this point in my academic journey is to be flexible and to be a reflective decision maker. The teacher must reflect on the rate of success they have in their sessions and change procedures as needed to better fit your needs as well as your students needs. Another piece of advice I would give is to choose appropriate literature and choose appropriate vocabulary words/guiding questions in order for your students to fully understand what is being read to them. I have learned that very simple words that you would expect an ELL to know are sometimes the hardest for ELL to understand.

I really love this strategy. This is not only a great strategy to use to teach but it is also something that is not terribly difficult to implement. Again, I always say practice makes perfect and if the teacher has the right mindset and determination, he or she will find out that the students can learn a lot from each other.

Until I blog again,

Georgia Hemrick



References
Blume, J. (1971). Freckle juice. New York, NY: Four Winds Press.

MTSU Honor Statement:
This assignment/assessment was solely written by me. In no way have I
plagiarized (represented the work of another as my own) or otherwise violated
the copyright laws and academic conventions of fair use. I know that violations
of this policy may result in my being dismissed from Middle Tennessee State
University and/or appropriate legal action being taken against me.
Signed
Georgia Hemrick 12/1/2010