Literature Circles: A Complete Guide for the Middle Grades is an innovative resource books for teachers than covers many of the reading standards. It presents a step-by-step approach to implementing reading discussion groups in the classroom that are modeled after adult book clubs. Literature circles can fit any schedule. It can be done in an eight-week block of time, or it can be interspersed throughout the school year. The flexibility of literature clubs makes it an asset to any reading program.

Here's how literature circles work. Students meet in small groups to share ideas, ask questions, clarify ambiguities, and evaluate self-selected literature. In these self-directed discussions, students go beyond the literal interpretation and begin to focus on higher levels of thinking and comprehension, such as interaction of literary elements, theme, and making personal and literary connections. Students are actively involved with the stories and poems in their literature circles through margin notes, sticky notes, and journal responses, reflecting on topics they want to discuss in their groups.

Literature Circles includes recommended reading lists for poetry, short stories, and novels as well as background information for the teacher, rules, procedures, timelines, evaluation criteria and ready-to-use student worksheets. So if you're looking for ways to make your reading program more exciting and meaningful to students at all levels, then Literature Circles is the book for you!