Elizabeth Edmondson, Wiki Literature Circles Digital Learning Communities (my FAVORITE of the BB readings)
Diane Lapp and Douglas Fisher, It's All About the Book
Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke, Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles (Fantastic, Fantastic Resource for Teachers)
The online readings this week describe the concept of Book Clubs for an online format, and the focus for most of the BB readings inculcate the inclusion and use of digital technologies. The physical book for this week, Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles, offers incredibly useful mini-lessons to help teachers who want to begin literature circles but might be a bit uncertain how to teach the non-literary analysis aspects of talking and listening. In these readings, I see a combination of the theory and knowledge of reader-response and formal analysis with the research involved in literacy, as well as the research surrounding how we learn to talk and listen to one another.
The BB readings highlight the creative and highly-relevant approach of using technology to create online book clubs. Moodle is an web 2.0 product that allows Scharber to create pleasure-reading-focused book clubs. Students read a book of their choice (Lapp and Fisher also support the GREAT importance of student-choice in determining books for clubs and lit circles), then meet for a week online to answer discussion questions, chat live, and exchange ideas with other readers. These online book clubs are highly successful, as Edmonson also proves, because of their focus on utilizing students' "first language," which is now arguably digital technology. Edmonson quotes Prensky, who argues that today's students "are used to instant gratification when they have questions; they can process information at an extremely fast pace; and they prefer game-based learning with frequent rewards. Today’s teens also prefer graphics before text rather than the converse, and they thrive while multitasking and performing parallel tasks [...] Perhaps most notably, teenagers like to feel plugged into a network (Prensky 2)." Edmonson specifically utilizes wiki pages to allow her students digital "voice." I like Edmondson's handout titled "Daily Roles and Responsibilities." These Daily Duties are what the students use to create the online wiki; they read and take notes outside of class (sounds familiar -- like the currently popular flipped class structure) so that class time can be used for discussion. I need to revisit the figure detailing Edmondson's "Digital Learning Community Wiki Design," as she describes in detail how to construct and design each page of the Wiki. Great resource for the future!
Daniels and Steineke offer many different mini-lessons to help students experience the literature circle most effectively. Some of their lessons focus on initial community-building. This makes sense, as teachers are ideally constructing book clubs around book choice, but students often have trouble opening up to peers with whom they're not already friends. Teachers should make sure to offer some ice-breaking activities to help students get to know their new group members.The Membership Grid in chapter two looks fantastic for this activity; the students are able to "practice the same focusing and questioning that is necessary for an in-depth discussion about a book" (Daniels and Steineke 40).
One of the great features of Mini-Lessons for Lit Circles is the way the mini-lesson chapters are structured. Each one is clearly titled and includes the time needed (explanations are made in the first chapter for the average length of classes that works best with these mini-lessons). The mini-lesson has a "Why Do It?" explanation preceding the how-to of each lesson. Samples, both of handouts and from students, are also included. Another great feature of Daniels' and Steineke's book is the "What Can Go Wrong?" feature at the end of each chapter/mini lesson. This helpful section exemplifies why Daniels and Steineke have sixty-two years of teaching between them--they are able to help readers predict and prevent classroom situations from getting sticky.
What is extraordinary about MLfLC is that it is a TEACHING book -- it shows teachers exactly how to shape and create the dozens of small lessons necessary to create a classroom lit circle that works. Teachers can use this book to write one or two mini-lessons, or to flesh out the creation of an entire unit! The book obviously reflects the theory and research discussed in the first chapter, and it is written in clear, concise prose that integrates pragmatism and humor.
Do:
I found this chart in the BB reading about Grading Literature Cirles and I think it simplifies the process well! There is a space for each student's name, a way to check that they "prepared for discussion" and "participated in discussion" and then a space for notes. This reading also showed how to help a class create the book club rubric, and how to teach them to assign value to each criterion. This chart is an easy way to keep track of students, and might help when communicating with parents through conferences or concerns.
I can really tell that you liked this Mini-lessons book--so glad to hear that as I almost didn't include it--it's getting pretty dated BUT like you, I appreciate how it brings together so many of the methods we have previously read about and put them into the structure of book clubs. It shows us "how to" interweave reading strategies or writing engagements into book clubs. I always worry about readings becoming too dated--articles about technology can quickly become out of date--but whether you like or use Moodle or Wikispaces, the gist of the article is the same--how do book clubs transfer to an increasingly flat world and for increasingly flat students? Something we have to consider--As for the DO, glad you are gathering your resources. Collect and save for your future classroom.
ReplyDeleteRosina--
ReplyDeleteI really liked these readings, too, and how they incorporate technology into something as tried and true as book clubs! I'm sure when students hear that term they think of stay at home moms sitting around talking about trashy romance novels so I like that these authors put a contemporary spin on them so students can see that they can be cool. I like your DO, as well, especially the fact that it leaves space for comments! Would you show your students a blank copy at the beginning so they can see how they're graded? I think it's a great idea to use in parent and student conferences, too! I might steal this!