Glossary of Terms

Literature Circles: Teaching Resources

Anne-Katherine Smith
http://litsite.alaska.edu/uaa/workbooks/circlereading.html
This website was designed by a group of Alaskan teachers in conjunction with the University of Alaska Anchorage. 
It has wonderful lesson plans and ideas for the classroom teacher, promoting reading comprehension and creative writing.

http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/kschlnoe/LitCircles/ChoosingBooks/choosingbooks.html
This is a website that helps teachers chose books appropriate for different levels of ability. 
It is primarily targeting elementary and middle school reading strategies.

http://fac-staff.seattleu.edu/kschlnoe/LitCircles/Discussion/teaching.html
Literature circles are discussed on this page, and the authors give specific information on how to teach the skill of discussion. 
Many different ability levels are addressed.

http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/screen_main.asp
There are many popular books to download on audio for free, in such genres as classics, thrillers, science fiction etc. 
Can be used for English learners if a book is chosen from the available list.

http://www.bartelby.com/
Great Books are online in print on this site, as well as non-fiction and poetry.  Contemporary literature is not available on this site, I believe because of copyright issues.   Students can access at home or in the classroom and use with audio translation sites.  See the next two entries.

http://www.cfs-technologies.com/home/?id=1.4
Speakonia is a download program that will read any text out loud.  It is free.  Text can be entered onto the site, largely through copy and paste, and a computerized voice reads the text out loud.  The voice is unnatural, but clear and may help English learners hear a book to increase comprehension and confidence in the literature circle process.

http://www.cfs-technologies.com/home/?id=1.4
This site also has a text to speech download.  There is a free trial, or you can purchase the service. 
The benefit above Speakonia (above) is that the user can chose from a wider variety of voices.

I Read It, but I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent Readers
by Cris Tovani, Ellin Oliver Keene Publisher: Stenhouse Pub; (October 2000) ISBN: 157110089X
This book was originally bought when I worked with reluctant alternative education readers.  Many of its strategies, addressing reading comprehension difficulties in a secondary level student, would work well for English learners.

Improving Comprehension With Think-Aloud Strategies : Modeling What Good Readers Do
by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm; Publisher: Scholastic Professional Books; (October 1, 2001); ISBN: 0439218594
Also a solid resource recently suggested to me is this book.  It is not only reading comprehension, but also how to model it instead of just teach it.

Developing Character Through Literature by Evelyn Holt Otten
The most important foundation of education is character development. Chapters include definitions, explanations, lesson activities, sample heroes, book summaries, web sites and much more. Major topics include: Responsibility, Honesty, Caring, Sharing, Civility, Living Peaceably, The Golden Rule, Respect, and How to Discuss Faith-Based Issues.

Moving Forward With Literature Circles: How to Plan, Manage, and Evaluate Literature Circles That Deepen Understanding and Foster a Love of Reading
by Jeni Pollack Day (Editor), Dixie Lee Spiegel, Janet McLellan, Valerie B. Brown Publisher: Scholastic Professional Books; (January 2002) ISBN: 0439176689
This book also introduces and discusses literature circles.  There is a section of the book designed to address English learners and other reading difficulties, and strategize how to best work them in confidently to the literature circle process.