Advertisement

At Central Lake, fourth grade teacher Tim Vanderhart utilizes a relatively new strategy called "literacy circles" to accomplish this.

Many adults outside of the formal education universe might readily identify these with the "book clubs" in which they participate. Books are read followed by group discussion.

The significant difference is that adults attend these groups because they have already realized the joy of reading and the mental stimulation it brings. All nine and ten year olds may not have that appreciation as fully developed.

In the hands of a skilled and veteran instructor like Mr. Vanderhart, students are realizing just how enjoyable and exciting a good book can be.

"This is usually a new way of thinking for students. The club format is fun for them," Vanderhart said. "Students look forward to their clubs, and they stay engaged longer while they are reading. Of course the main objective is to increase comprehension."

Success of the literacy circle is not usually immediate and is highly dependent on the organization skills instilled in the students by the instructor before they begin. Students are guided with assignment sheets, and specifically defined jobs in their circle.

"A great deal of time is spent reviewing with the students proper behavior in a group. Learning to work together is an important key to success," Vanderhart said.

In the book, "How Do Teachers Organize Literacy Instruction," teachers are encouraged to create what is called a "community of learners" where students can respectfully and effectively work together in small groups.

Vanderhart agreed with this notion, and was realistic.

"Some students get this faster than others, but it is important to not give up on the system. Students must understand their jobs, and it takes patience. You have to model, model, model."

The rewards for both students and teachers make the organizational efforts on the front end worthwhile.

"We are just starting to track the data that indicates progress, but I can just see that students are reading more intensely and their minds don't wander quite as much," Vanderhart said.

After all the organization, the system begins with students choosing from several books that the teacher has picked out. Students are grouped by the book they have choosen (they usually make more than one selection). From there, a reading assignment is taken from a prepared assignment sheet, and initial jobs are assigned. Students rotate jobs that include: illustrator, director, word wizard, reporter, and others.

Independent reading commences. Students take notes on areas of their reading for which they have questions, particular enjoyment or any reason they might like to share the excerpt with the group. They also write down interesting words they run into along the way.

Back in the group, the director initiates discussions with questions.

Students have been coached to "actively participate," and a review of the assignment ensues.

While observing one group, their independent working abilities shown.

The garden of intellect grew as the director spurred discussion and others comfortably and eagerly chimed in: "Do you thinkÉ?" "What did she mean whenÉ?" "Why did she take her little brother's camera?" "Oh, I wondered about that." "That part made me scared."

Student Erika Thayer, who was the reporter in this group, described her feelings about the circle. "It makes you want to read more and to read all kinds of books," she said. "It helps me concentrate on what I read." Erika has trouble stopping at the end of the reading assignment, and just can't help read ahead. "I sneak-read under my covers sometimes with a flashlight," she admitted. "This (the circle) makes me want to talk more when I listen to others."

Lily Kingma was today's word wizard.

"I like being able to choose my own book, and I chose scary because I like scary. Our group is really good because we stay on task and talk about things," Kingma said.

Group director Dallas Cary claimed, "It (the group) makes you want to read more. It is more interesting, and makes me wonder what will happen next. When you discuss it with others, it makes the story more interesting."

Jacob Luchenbill was the group's illustrator. With a sly grin he said, "I accidentally read ahead sometimes. I just can't stop. We get lots of time to read. This is a time we can talk about what we read. I always wonder what others in the group are thinking."

That goal of increasing comprehension must be impacted by such a discussion. The maturity of these readers, their decision-making, their independence, the depth of their questions and the interest they showed in one another provided an enthusiastic testimony to the program's goals and intent.

After the class reconvened, Vanderhart reviewed group performance.

Students contributed their ideas on how they could improve for next time: reducing distractions and interruptions, respecting others and being polite so everyone gets a chance to talk were ideas.

Under Vanderhart's tutelage, these students are reading, but more, they are responding to each other and exploring what they have read.

Along the way, they are developing other skills that improve their abilitiey to work in a group. These are circles of literacy, but their circumferences reach beyond reading aptitudes.

Jeff Kessler can be reached at perkins90@hotmail.com