Reading Circle

Hello!

Making children read and speak on what they have read is always problematic. On one of the seminars I came across this activity. It really works but needs time. If you have your students read the same short story, you can do a reading circle activity with them. Reading circles usually have four members in each group, and each member performs a different roll. All students actively participate in the group and talk about the story, but each has a unique roll to play which keeps the discussion interesting:

One student is the:

Discussion Leader

He or she keeps the discussion going by designating who should speak next or by asking interesting questions when things go quiet. The leader should read the story twice and prepare at least five general discussion questions about it.

-makes sure that everyone has a chance to speak and joins in the discussion.

-calls on everyone to perform their role.

One student is the Summarizer:

She or he summarizes the story (in one or two minutes) for the group.-finds the key points that everyone must know to understand the story.

The Word Master:

is asked to look up words and provide definitions for them--explain the meaning of difficult vocabulary to the group;

-chooses five words that are important and defines them for the group in English.

-tells the group why these five words are important.

-answers questions about vocabulary

The Culture Collector & Connector:

-looks for both differences and similarities between his/her own culture and the culture found in the story.

--makes notes to show examples of these cultural points form passages in the story.

--asks the group questions about cultural points

As Connector:

-looks for connections between the story and the world outside--asks the group if they can see any connections themselves.

One of the best aspects of the reading circles is they incorporate all four skills, reading, writing, speaking and listing. Though perhaps best of all, they are fun.

The Word Master:

is asked to look up words and provide definitions for them--explain the meaning of difficult vocabulary to the group;

-chooses five words that are important and defines them for the group in English.

-tells the group why these five words are important.

-answers questions about vocabulary

The Culture Collector & Connector:

-looks for both differences and similarities between his/her own culture and the culture found in the story.

--makes notes to show examples of these cultural points form passages in the story.

--asks the group questions about cultural points

As Connector:

-looks for connections between the story and the world outside--asks the group if they can see any connections themselves.

One of the best aspects of the reading circles is they incorporate all four skills, reading, writing, speaking and listing. Though perhaps best of all, they are fun.