Role+Requirements

What is the role of each student in the literature circle? For each reading section/lit circle there are three required roles. They are: The director/summarizer is responsible for three main tasks.
 * 1) Discussion director/Summarizer
 * First, you must create a brief summary of the key points of the assigned reading section. This can be completed in paragraph form, as a time line, as bullet points, or in another way that you find to be helpful to your understanding of the text.
 * Second, you must prepare a list of four to six questions that will help your group members come to a deeper understanding of the assigned reading. Refer back to your Socratic Seminar information to see what types of questions we are looking for.
 * Finally, you are responsible for keeping your group on track during the in-class discussion.
 * The brief summary, as well as your list of questions, must be submitted before the lit circle begins.

2. Literary Illuminator/Investigator The literary illuminator/investigator is responsible for bringing attention to key lines, details, and passages from the text.
 * Your selections should focus on lines which you find to be significant, funny, powerful, puzzling or otherwise worth sharing.
 * One of the key qualities needed for this role is the ability to recognize what is significant and what is not.
 * Also, you will analyze the author’s voice, tone, and overall purpose for writing the story as it is displayed in your reading section. The way in which you present this information is up to you; however, you should have direct textual references that support your analysis.
 * A list of 2-3 key quotes and accompanying information, must be prepared and submitted before the lit circle begins.

3. Vocabulary Enricher The vocabulary enricher is responsible for identifying five significant, unfamiliar words in the assigned reading section.
 * You should then provide the page on which the word is located, the definition of the word and how this word is significant to the author’s purpose. You should consider how each vocabulary word contributes to the author’s voice, tone, and overall purpose for writing the story.
 * Your words, definitions, and explanation must be prepared and submitted before the lit circle begins.

Additionally, for each reading section/lit circle you can choose from four elective roles to include in your lit circle. They are:

Option 1: Connector The connector is responsible for identifying and analyzing at least two real world connections that go along with the reading selection.
 * These may include, but are not limited to, current events, videos, poetry, or other fiction that relate to the themes of the book.
 * Additionally, you must prepare a brief (about one paragraph) response that analyzes the relationship between the text and each of your real world connections.
 * Your responses must be prepared and submitted before the lit circle begins.

Option 2: Travel Tracker The travel tracker is responsible for keeping a visual map of Lenny and George’s journey and locating information about the locations they visit in the assigned reading selection.
 * You may choose to represent the journey by tracking locations on a map, by finding images of each of the locations they visit in the selection, or through another creative project.
 * Additionally, for each location you should explain why Steinbeck highlights this place as a significant stop on the journey and how it expresses the life of a migrant worker and the American Dream.
 * Your visual map and summary of locations must be prepared and submitted before the lit circles begin.

Option 3: Illustrator The illustrator is responsible for creating/finding images that are representative of significant events in the assigned reading (the images may be literal or symbolic).
 * For each section, you must choose at least two significant events to represent through images.
 * Additionally, each image must be accompanied by a written justification that explains why the event you have chosen is significant and how your image relates to it.
 * Your work must be prepared and submitted before the lit circles begin.

Option 4: Historian The historian is responsible for finding a reliable article that illuminates and connects to the assigned reading. The bigger task, however, is that you must make historical sense of how what we are reading connects to the time period that it is set in. Research additional information about the events described in the story to provide more historical context for the article that you find. Make clear connections to the article and be sure to cite your research. You may want to include primary sources (texts, pictures, etc.) that bring historical accuracy and depth to the article. A copy of your images as well as your written justification must be prepared and submitted before the lit circles begin.

**Each student in your literature circle should have an opportunity to try out each of the required jobs and a number of the optional jobs. This means that you should switch assigned roles for each reading section.