I enjoyed the literature circles again this week. To elaborate on what I said last week about seeing how literature circles can be beneficial to students, I think having students act in the different roles each week will allow them to constantly see the book in a different way. So for a personal example, I was the setting and summary specialist last week. I had to identify all the characters as they were introduced and interpret their role in the story. Then I had to create a timeline from the information given and record how long the expedition was and where they landed throughout. This made the fictional story more real to me. This week I was the discussion director. The other members of my group went before me, so we had mostly discussed the week’s reading already. I was nice to wrap up by asking questions that we hadn’t thought about and interpreting our reading. Literature circle discussion really gives the story more depth and value when students are able to reflect and even add new perspective to the mix.
During our continued work with primary sources this week, I was pleasantly surprised to get to work with the authentic materials from the envelopes! Like I have mentioned before, my family is big into history and collecting artifacts. I have grown up around my grandfather’s collection of civil war memorabilia (guns, bullets, confederate soldier belt buckles, etc) and I have visitied countless forts and historical sites around the country. My point is, the fact that we used real pictures and authentic papers really was meaningful to me. There is a whole new level of interest when students are able to see and handle materials or even go to a museum and experience history first-hand.
Lane, Thank you for your reflection! It seems you really got a lot out of class last week. I like that you are particularly moved by the use of personal artifacts. The connection to your family is real! I wonder if you might consider your own lesson with artifacts specifically related to you or to someone in your family. You could actually consider creating a lesson plan for this class based upon the one we used for Mr. Stohr. If you create the lesson for this class you can save it for use in your own class one day.
Lane,
I love that you are finding value in the literature circle. Some folks have mixed feelings about trying different roles. Sometimes the roles are hard for students to fill because they stretch them in different ways. I think this is a good thing.
I’m glad you enjoyed the lesson using primary sources. I think we forget how much history we can find in our own families. You have a head start on this. I imagine you might have some interesting primary sources of your own to share.