Roles in Literature Circles
The following is a list of roles which give a thinking task to each group member. Students divide the tasks among themselves in each group. As the groups reconvene each session, students switch roles, so that by the end of the literature circles "unit," each student will have the opportunity to participate in each role. Again, the ideal is to eventually do away with the roles, although many teachers opt to continue using the roles to assist group on-task behaviour. One thing to keep in mind: Readers who are deeply engaged with a book and eager to talk about it with others may not need the structure of roles. Many teachers discover that the roles feel restrictive to some students and can become a disincentive to take part in literature circles. Harvey Daniels always intended roles to be a temporary scaffold to support students as they learn to talk about books in small groups.
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