Friday, November 7, 2008

Live Blogging: Lit Circles in Xu Guang Qi Day 2008

I'm now attending the second session of my choice: Lit Circles. As Toshi explained, Lit Circles is a teaching strategy where students could discuss stories and selections read by the class. Students are given choices on stories and selections they like to read. The teacher, a mere observer. But there are so many learning that can be derived from observing. Such observations can help the teacher improve instruction and content.

In simple words, Lit Circles is a typical book club. What makes it different from the ordinary book club is its structure. Students may be given their choice of reading material and their discussions may be free of teacher's comments but, the teacher has designed it so to make students "thinking" readers. Smart!

The Lit Circles work this way: once a selection or story is chosen, roles are assigned to members of the circle. Such roles are: Discussion Director, Character Captain, Fact Finder, Wacky Wordsmith, Literary Luminary, Cool Connector and Adventurous Artist. Each is given a worksheet to jot down ideas, insights and tasks assigned for each student. When students are ready for discussion, the Lit Circle commences.

Right now, we're simulating the whole process and it's a very engaging experience.

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