Greef, Elizabeth. “The Power and the Passion: Igniting a Love of Reading Through Literature Circles.” International Association of School Librarianship. Selected Papers from the Annual Conference. Seattle: 2002. Pg. 311-321.
This author used a lot of lists, which was a refreshing change from some of the dense text I’ve been reading. She listed nine reasons for the use of literature circles, some being: to encourage cooperative learning, to develop an emotional response, to develop critical literacy, and to build skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Greef is the only author I’ve seen yet who has mentioned test scores as well. According to the author, research carried out in Chicago linked literature circles to rise in test scores – as much as 27%. This is an important point to be made in today’s schools, which depend on test scores for their funding as much as the students depend on them to graduate
Greef outlined the implementation of literature circles as well, but I felt she did it in a much more concise manner than previous authors I’ve read. She gave step by step instructions and rules for just about every aspect of the project. She included student feedback to the questions she provided her students, as well parental feedback about her reading program.
Though she examined the use of literature circles in a parochial middle school, I feel that the author’s advice on how to guide discussion (and her questions) are very useful. I will be adapting some of her ideas on a questionnaire. Definitely a very usable source.
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