Non-Fiction Literature Circles

Non-Fiction Literature Circles

Literature Circles are a way to communicate and understand the same novel from a
variety of perspectives. In our new round of Literature Circles, we will be
analyzing non-fiction texts from a specific historical time period in order to
broaden our understanding of the historical events and historical perspectives.

As a class we will be reading different texts which relate to the age of Imperialism,
WWI, and WWII. We will discuss the close connection between all three
historical events, and how none could have happened without the other.

The Literature Circle rules will be the same, but with three MAJOR changes! You
will be doing the reading at home, and the work will be done in class together, in
order to help learn the new material! The only person who will do the work at
home for their job is the Peruse Perspective, as there is a small research aspect and
that person will need time to formulate their perspective argument. At the close of
the session, the Discussion Director will wrap up the meeting with a group
discussion.

Roles:

 Specific Citations: Your job is to form some opinions about what you are
reading. (Do you think the correct decisions were made? Do you think
people acted the wrong way?). You will be stating your opinions and
providing textual evidence. (You MUST quote from the text.)

 Knowledge Bank: Your job is to form an understanding about the events of
the section you are reading. You may do so in one of two ways: you may
create a chronological time line of events or create a KWL chart.

 Document Documenter: Your job is to conduct a document analysis of any
Primary Source in the reading. (Picture, Chart, Graphic, Document)

 Discussion Director: Your job is to facilitate discussion about the topic,
writing questions and answering the questions together with the group.

 Peruse Perspective: Your job is to analyze a historical event from the
“opposite” perspective. Before you complete your job, you may you have to
conduct minimal research to understand the historical background. Then,
you must explain the motivations and perspective of the “opposite” side.

 Context Connection: Your job is to look up any context-specific vocabulary
and write down the definition.

Responsibilities

 Teamwork– The group functions as a whole, and everyone is responsible for
their part. If an individual doesn’t perform their task, the entire group has a
more difficult time discussing and understanding the book.

 Respect– All team members have a variety of opinions and thoughts to
share; someone else’s perspective may had to your enjoyment and
understanding of the book.

 Organization– It is important to make sure that everyone is clear about their
role that week and has the appropriate papers. It is equally important that all
sheets get handed in at the same time.

Grading

Literature Circles are considered to be a part of your reading grade. Each
session is worth 20 points:

 5 points-completed role and worksheet.
a. Must be done during class time
b. Worksheet is done neatly and completely with thoughtful
responses, using full sentences.
c. Self-reflection is filled out.

 10 points-Individual participation and discussion within the group.
a. Staying on task.
b. Actively discussing with your group members.

 5 points- Group discussion and cooperation.
a. Signing and returning Group Contract (on a weekly basis)
b. Staying on task
c. Being respectful of one another’s ideas and comments
d. Using the complete allotted time.

Non-Fiction Literature Circles

5 points-completed role and worksheet.
Must be done during class time
Worksheet is done neatly and com-
pletely with thoughtful respons-
es, using full sentences.
Self-reflection is filled out.

10 points-Individual participation and dis-
cussion within the group.
Staying on task.
Actively discussing with your group
members.






Name:__________________________________

Context Connection

Academic texts about new subjects often have words that you are not familiar with. Your job is
to look up the words you don’t know and provide a definition. If you need additional resources
to help explain the information, you may list it below (pictures, video, website)

Word #1

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
Word #2

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Word #3

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
Word #4

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Self Check:
____Am I clear on the meaning of the word?
____ Can I explain it to someone else?
____ Do I need additional information to help my explanation?

Name:__________________________________

Context Connection

Academic texts about new subjects often have words that you are not familiar with. Your job is
to look up the words you don’t know and provide a definition. If you need additional resources
to help explain the information, you may list it below (pictures, video, website)

Word #1

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
Word #2

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Word #3

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
Word #4

Category:_________________________________

Definition:_____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Excerpt:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Additional Resources? ___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Self Check:
____Am I clear on the meaning of the word?
____ Can I explain it to someone else?
____ Do I need additional information to help my explanation?

Name:_______________________________

Discussion Director
Write down four questions and answers regarding the text. The questions should help generate
conversation and discussion.
Some possible question stems:

 Do you think _______ was correct in his/her actions?
 What events lead up to this incident?
 What are the possible outcomes of this situation?

Question #1:___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Answer:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Question #2:___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Answer:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Question #3:___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Answer:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Question #4:___________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Answer:_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Self Check:
____ Can any of my questions be answered with a simple yes or a no?
____ Do my questions make the group look into the text for evidence?
____ Could my questions lead to more questions?

Name:_____________________________

Knowledge Bank
Depending on the format of the text reading, organize the information you have learned into either a KWL
chart, a timeline, or a cause and effect chart.

Cause and Effect Chart

Name:_______________________________

Peruse Perspective

Part of history is being able to look at the same historical incident from different perspectives.
Your task will be to take on the perspective of one opposing force and try to understand their
motivations. Include citations from the text to support your perspective. You may have to do
some research in order to understand the whole context.

Background Information (6 sentences or less):

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Conflicting Forces: (x and y were in conflict, because…)

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Perspective:

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________

Self Check:
_____ Did I provide background information to help understand the situation?
_____ Did I completely explain the conflict?
_____ Did I provide evidence for my “other” perspective?
_____ Did I remain fair and unbiased?

Some Resources:
www.ducksters.com
www.history.com
www.about.com

Name:__________________________

Specific Citations

Using MLA format for citations, state your opinion about an issue related to the reading and be sure to provide
evidence form the text. When forming your opinion, use one of the following sentence stems.

 The text shows that (your fact) because…(citation)
 In my opinion…(your opinion) because…(citation)

Statement #1

Sentence Stem:_____________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

because___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Statement #2

Sentence Stem:_____________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

because___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Statement #3

Sentence Stem:_____________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

because___________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Self Check:

Statement #1 Statement #2 Statement #3
____Did I include the author’s ___Did I include the author’s ___Did I include the author’s
name? name? name?
____ Did I include the page ____ Did I include the page ____ Did I include the page
number? number? number?
____ Does my evidence support ____ Does my evidence support ____ Does my evidence support
my opinion? my opinion? my opinion?