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Slice of Teaching #6

Some days, you have to nerd out about something you’re teaching. My big experiment this semester: literature circles with sophomores.

The general idea: students invest more in texts they choose, and generate deeper understanding when they can both process a text socially and have opportunities to make connections across different texts, their own lives, and the world. We’re attempting that in my sophomore ELA courses this semester with small-group work based on student-selected texts. During curriculum writing, we selected five YA books that link in with our guiding question for this unit: how and why has society oppressed outsiders?

Students have spent the last week or so tasting excerpts of the five different books, ranking their choices, meeting their groups, setting norms & calendars, and getting started. Today was our first “real” lit circle work day, and it. was. awesome.

Printout with paper strips covering student names. Blue ink in the middle of the page reads "Group Norms: Do work, bring snacks for group while we work, do what you need to, so long as you get work done."

I’m so excited about this I have to get it down before I leave school. One group of very high-energy sophomore gentlemen set norms with me last week. In case the text above is illegible (spoiler: it’s my handwriting), their norms were:

  • Do work
  • Bring snacks for group while we work
  • Do what you need to, so long as you get work done

They — along with the other five groups in each class — had a truly successful day reading, beginning to take notes, and getting comfortable in their groups. And at the end of the day, the sole evidence they had been at their table? An empty bag of Skittles they had shared.

Those are the moments that make all the planning (and release of trust to our kids!) worth it.

Published inTeachingWriting Challenges

6 Comments

  1. Jennifer Wood Laird

    When you give students the authority to generate their own norms, they will believe in the work is purposeful! Those norms are simple but get straight to the point! Congrats on having one of those moments today; it should recharge you for a least three months!

    • mellyteaches

      I was so nervous about having them generate norms and set their own calendar, but I’ve been SO impressed. Teams were figuring out how to jigsaw their books even before we discussed anything about the final project beyond “you’ll teach us the book at the end.”

      I’m gonna hope more moments like these are on the horizon, but I sure enjoyed it today 🤣

  2. Melanie White

    I love that you used this essential question to frame the discussions with social justice ideas at the center of their thinking. I love nerding out on all things teaching and your enthusiasm shows in every part of this slice!

    • mellyteaches

      Thank you! Our books are a mix of fiction and nonfiction, recent and more distant history (and even speculative fiction). It blossomed from what used to be our unit on Night, and then what spent a year as our unit on Born a Crime. It keeps growing! ❤️

  3. Anonymous

    Those norms are REAL! Congrats on this… lit circles are the best 🙂 -Tracy

    • mellyteaches

      I kind of love them. Bring food is a norm for any book group I’VE ever been a part of…just saying.

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