As the final weeks progressed, I did not get a chance to blog our last literature circles and book wrap up. Thank goodness, I took good notes and have all of the student work and Google classroom assignments.
We wrapped up reading Because of Winn Dixie during our final week of school. We did not get to have a meeting on the last three chapters due to time constraints and an interest in watching the movie and comparing it to what we read in our book.
The students were so excited to finish the book and compare the events in the story. Throughout our year together we spent a great deal of time learning to compare and contrast characters, settings, and key events in similar fiction stories. In this case, we were comparing a book and movie version. As the students watched, we all took note of characters, settings or events that happened in the book that appeared or didn't appear in the book. It was thrilling to hear and watch the students note with great detail how similar the book and movie were. We all talked one small event in the movie that did not appear in the book and the movie even made a small sequencing change.
Watching the movie and comparing it to the book we'd read and studied for the past few weeks was a wonderful way to culminate our focus on literature.
From this experience I've learned that literature circles are an excellent strategy to incorporate with advanced readers. They felt a sense of independence and really dig deeper into the literature than they would have done independently. Most of the students within this group are reading one to two grades above and it is essential to utilize strategies that will keep them challenged, engaged and further their comprehension.
Literature circles will become a staple in my classroom as a result of this research!
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