Inside / Outside Literature Circle Discussions

Literature Circles is an effective way to get kids talking about books. The discussions stretches their thinking and point of view, deepens their comprehension and understanding, and takes reading to the level of fun.

When you begin literature circles you can help anchor student discussions with literature circle task cards. These cards give kids something to talk about. Slowly remove the task cards away and allow the discussion to flow freely.

How do you get kids to stay on task and topic? After each literature circle discussion bring the whole group together and ask the students how their discussion went today. Write their responses on chart paper. Talk about the quality of their discussions and what to do if they catch themselves getting off topic, or if one student is not on task. You can use literature circles to teach communication and problem solving skills as well.

Once you've established your discussion groups, and they have had a few rounds of talk, identify the group who conducts the most meaningful, on topic discussions. Bring the whole class together for an inside / outside literature circle discussion.

This is how it works:

(1) The identified literature circle group sits in a circle. The rest of the class sits in an outside circle.
(2) The inside circle holds their discussion as normal. You may need to prompt them a little to get them started. They may feel a little shy or nervous having their discussion in front of the class. Select your group carefully.
(3) The outside circle does not talk, comment, or question. Their job is to listen.
(4) After the completion of the discussion hold a whole class talk. The entire class will talk about the quality of the discussion. The idea is to model and teach what a deeper, more meaningful literature circle looks like.

I did this activity the first time with second graders. I selected my GT group to act as the inside circle. This gave the rest of the class a nice model for discussions. The inside circle had an amazing discussion about Charlotte's Web. They stayed on topic (the pressure of being watched) and on task. The outside circle did a great job of listening. We had a meaningful discussion about the discussion. We used the words, "I noticed..." in our whole class discussion. I was blown away at the depth of this activity.

Other ways to try inside / outside circles: (1) Discuss science or social studies topics in depth (2) discuss and critique writing in depth (3) try it in a faculty meeting.