Here you will find a quality list of literature circle roles.
Literature circles, similar to book clubs, prompt students to express ideas, analyze literacy concepts, collaborate with peers, and apply reading skills.
These literature circle roles will motivate even your most reluctant readers to participate.
So include a selection of these literature circle roles when doing book clubs.
Literature Circle Roles
Use these engaging literacy circle roles to spark discussion among students during book clubs.
1. Character Critic
Great for analyzing characters, the Character Critic’s primary duties include observing and evaluating how one or more characters change throughout a book.
2. Connector
The Connector makes and records text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections that will help the group understand the story on a deeper level.
- Text-to-Self – Parts of the text that remind the reader of himself/herself in some way
- Text-to-Text – The book reminds the reader of another book with a similar significant “something”
- Text-to-World – Something in the book reminds the reader of a real-world situation
3. Fact Finder
The Fact Finder records interesting facts about the book topic and shares them with the group.
If you’re seeking literacy circle roles for nonfiction books, this one fits well.
4. Graphic Designer
The Graphic Designer has the opportunity to choose any graphic organizer that he or she wants to fill out and share with group members.
5. Inference Detective
Prove it! … That’s what the Inference Detective must do.
The Inference Detective infers information from the book based on pictures, word clues, and characters’ actions/words.
He or she must then provide evidence from the book to support those inferences.
If the evidence is based on prior knowledge, the Inference Detective must record and explain his/her reasoning very clearly to the group.
6. Literary Luminary
The Literary Luminary examines figurative language, vivid descriptions, and interesting uses of parts of speech (such as strong verbs).
7. Math Specialist
The Math Specialist has the task of using some of the characters and any relevant information from the book to create 1 or 2 math word problems.
Example…
If the literature circle group is reading a nonfiction book about reducing waste and recycling, the Math Specialist may share a graph with the group showing how recycling has reduced waste over a certain period of time.
8. News Reporter
Retelling the story or a significant scene/part of the story using the 5 Ws + How is the News Reporter’s main role.
9. Question Guru
The Question Guru creates and/or asks questions that will help group members understand the text better.
The QAR or Question-Answer Relationship reading strategy facilitates students in categorizing questions into four groups:
- “Right There” -answers that can be found easily within the text.
- “Think and Search” – answers can be found in the text but require a bit more looking around.
- “Author and Me” – Require students to infer the answers based on clues from the text.
- “On My Own” – Answers not found in the text but based solely on the prior knowledge and experiences of the reader.
Encourage the Question Guru to use this list of literature circle questions to prompt discussion among group members.
They make also utilize thick and thin questions and QAR-leveled questions.
10. Quizzler
Your collection of literature circle roles isn’t complete with The Quizzler.
He or she creates a true/false, short multiple-choice, or fun game-type quiz or assessment for the group.
11. Reading/Writing Connector
As the Reading/Writing Connector reads, he or she takes note of any writing strategies that the author uses to make the writing more powerful and/or easily understood by the reader.
He or she then shares these writing strategies with the group, pointing them out in the book.
Group members now have a bank of strategies they can refer to during independent writing time.
12. Researcher
The Researcher’s main job is to dig up background information about the author, book theme (s), historical references ~ and anything relevant to the topic of the book.
She or he gathers information from a variety of reliable resources and shares findings with the literature circle group.
13. Sketch Artist
While reading, the Sketch Artist sketches a drawing related to a particular scene, chapter, character, or symbol that represents a common theme.
He or she may add a few labels and captions if desired.
The fun part is having group members guess what part of the text the Sketch Artist chose to draw.
Afterward, the Sketch Artist confirms the group’s predictions by explaining his sketches.
14. Summarizer (Fiction)
The Summarizer writes a summary that includes the most important information from the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
15. Summarizer (Non-fiction)
In non-fiction texts, the Summarizer takes the main ideas from each part of the chapter, section, or book and writes a summary using those statements.
16. Symbolism Seeker
- What’s the “Big Message” in the book or chapter?
- What are the big themes or ideas?
- Is the author trying to teach me anything?
These are questions that the Symbolism Seeker must answer in some way, shape, or form.
17. Text Feature Analyzer
An important skill in comprehending nonfiction texts is analyzing text features.
Text features include, but are not limited to bold text, italics, an index, captions, headings, labeled diagrams, and a table of contents.
A Text Feature Analyzer searches for and analyzes how the author uses text features to help the reader understand the text better.
He or she then shares that information with the book club.
18. Wild Card
The “Wild Card” literature circle role chooses to share with her group any reading comprehension activity or strategy.
19. Word Whiz
Last but not least in this list of literacy circle roles is the Word Whiz.
Always on the lookout for interesting vocabulary, his/her main duty is to explain how he used context clues to learn unfamiliar words.
Additionally, he identifies multiple-meaning words from the text, explaining the various definitions.
Roles In Literature Circles: Q & A
What is the teacher’s role in literature circles?
In literature circles, the teacher’s role includes organizing the groups, introducing each activity, monitoring the groups, evaluating student learning, and nurturing a collaborative plus inquiry-based environment in the groups.
What are the types of literature circles?
The types of literature circles are traditional (students read independently and then congregate later to discuss), teacher-led, digital, genre-based, and reader-response (group members respond to a book while reading it).
How do you facilitate a literature circle?
To facilitate literature circles, first assign roles. Then provide discussion prompts, monitor the groups, assess student learning, and then create extension and/or future lessons based on data.
What are the three key features of literature circles?
The three key features of literature circles are student-centeredness, collaboration, and choice.
Final Thoughts: Roles In Literature Circles
Now you’re all set to challenge students to extend their comprehension skills using these engaging literature circle roles.