Social Issues and Literature Circles with Adolescents

Noll, Elizabeth. "Social Issues and Literature Circles with Adolescents." Journal of Reading. 38.2 (1994): 88-93.

This teacher followed a group of seventh graders and their social progress in her classroom while using literature circles. The small group process enabled students to carry on sustained academic dialogue, and increased their confidence in responding to texts. As they met, groups began to form questions and using deep inquiry skills to find their answers. Notably, one group interviewed a social worker in order to gain insight into one of the characters in their book and to uncover information about abuse. Following the interview, the group began to look at the larger picture: individual and social responsibility for abused children. Proud of their findings, they created a 20-minute presentation for their classmates. Other literature circles examined censorship, war, and aging. This is all important because students were directing their own learning, which is an important aspect of literature circles.

The author of this piece was a doctoral student in a college of education at the time of the writing, and the article was copyrighted by the International Reading Association, so I think this is a credible source. I will definitely be using this article in my research because the book I am having my students read in small groups covers a variety of social issues and is intended to get readers motivated to make a change. Her writing was inspirational, and her project was something I would like to someday model.