*Note that each week's reading must be completed before the class so you can participate in the discussion, including the first week! The video will be available for anyone who is not able to attend or participate during the first class. (See the reading schedule below.)

FORMAT

What is a literature circle?

A literature circle is fun and lively. There is a discussion leader (the teacher, in this case), but each student will take an active part in preparing for and leading each literature circle (class). A literature circle is when a group of students (or anyone) pre-reads the selected chapters and then discusses the literature deeply and passionately. Our classes will be filled with discussion and creativity because you will be presenting your observations based on your reading! Each student will have a specific role to fill each class (and it will change each week). The discussion leader (the teacher) will invite you to lead the discussion when it is your turn. Before that, you should also participate actively as others lead the discussion. As you are reading before the class, you should pay attention to what you will be doing in class (your role - see below). 

*Choose your first role as soon as possible. As long as no one else has chosen the same one, it's yours! Be quick!

STUDENT ROLES
*The students will use our class site to share guiding notes, quotations, or passages to help them guide the discussion, but they can also prepare a small PowerPoint presentation to share each week (optional). LibreOffice is free and has a great Presentation program. The students can upload their presentation files to the class site or have them open on their screens for screen-sharing. (Tip: I recommend saving files as PDFs so the slides will look the same when they are opened on other computers.)

Writer:
Write a short riddle or a poem about an important idea in this week’s reading or write a brief letter from a character’s point-of-view based on their experiences in the chapters. You must share your riddle, poem, or letter on our class site BEFORE the class to help everyone recall the chapters and move into literature mode! Your job is very important because your riddle, poem, or letter will become a summary and will set the tone of the class!

Designer:
Design something to help a character based on their needs, preferences, and personality. Think about what a character could use to face or resolve a conflict. Post your picture or design on our class site BEFORE the class.

Reporter:
Prepare some well-thought-out questions to ask the characters about what they felt, thought, or experienced in this week’s chapters. Imagine that the characters will actually be in the class and that you will have the opportunity to interview them. Your classmates will imagine that they are the characters and try to answer from their point-of-view! Add your questions and your responses to our class site AFTER the class. 

Anthropologist:
Your job is to connect the novel to Chinese history or culture by looking up one or two references to clothing, plants, animals, places, names, characters, stories, events, setting clues, etc. Look for references to a Chinese folktale or myth. Add some background information to our class site BEFORE our class.

Magnifier:
Your job is to become our "magnifying glass" and help us to narrow in on one short, well-written section of the reading and to explain what makes the writing powerful. First, choose a passage that seems powerful. Then, think about why it is powerful. Is it the diction (word choice)? Is it the syntax (sentence style: length, punctuation, grammar, word order, etc.)? Think about why some sentences are long and some are super short. Is it the creativity (imagery, personification, simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, alliteration, allusion, etc.)? Add your passage and analysis to our class site BEFORE the class.

Word Master:
Your job is to list the most powerful words from the chapters and explain how they strengthen the passage. Why did the author choose that word and not another one? How does it change the feeling of the passage? What’s the word’s connotation (negative/positive)? Add the words with a description of why they are important and powerful BEFORE class on our class site.

Theme Tracker:
Your job is to connect the chapters to previous chapters. Consider the subjects of friendship, identity, self-doubt, confidence, gender, feminism, strength, family, love, loss, fear, bravery, heroism, honour, responsibility, storytelling, power, abuse, neglect, manipulation, and fate. Choose one or two subjects that stand out to you as being important in the novel. What are the author’s big ideas (opinions)? Support your choice by explaining how the story reveals the themes. Share quotations or examples from the plot. Then, ask your classmates if they noticed any other big ideas in the novel. Share the quotations and conclusions BEFORE class on the class site.

Librarian:
Your job is to explain how this novel is similar to another book, story, poem, play, or film. Consider whether the genres are the same or different and whether the messages are identical or not. Share your work on our class site BEFORE class.

Connector:
Your job is to find connections between the chapters and the real world (your own life, current events, the news, or history). Have you ever felt like the character? When and why? Has a similar event happened in your country? What about in another country?
Could the same thing happen in the world today? Why? When? Where? How? What are the similarities? Be ready to share your story during class. Share any pictures or additional content on our class site with your connection BEFORE class.

Predictor:
Your job is to spot the author’s clues (foreshadowing) and guess what will happen in the story. If you already know the story, do not give the ending away! List some clues and explain probable directions the story could take. Remember that great stories are full of new conflicts and plot twists! Add the quotations and your predictions to our class site BEFORE the class.

SCHEDULE
*Be careful not to include any information from the later chapters! No spoilers, please! Some students will be reading this novel for the very first time!

Lesson 1: Read chapters 1 to 7
Lesson 2: Read chapters 8 to 14
Lesson 3: Read chapters 15 to 22
Lesson 4: Read chapters 23 to 30
Lesson 5: Read chapters 31 to 38
Lesson 6: Read chapters 39 to 45