Working With Others-Literature Circles with a Twist

   This time for literature circles, instead of working by ourselves and filling the whole thing out, we had a partner and divided the work in half. Some parts were easy, while others were not. Working with others was a really good experience for me, but slightly challenging. It made me think more about the book and how to make level 3 questions and better passage responses.

   There are tons of benefits of working with your partner. Doing only part of it made the work a lot easier. It was harder to run out of questions or connections to use. Another benefit is that if you made a mistake, they could help you correct it. They can also give you feedback on how to improve your work. Working with my partner helped me concentrate more and do my best so I don't let her down. If we forgot to do something, or if we were getting close to do it at the last minute, our partners would remind us either at school or by email. Also, if you didn't know what to do, they could help you come up with ideas and get you started on something. It's also good to have someone prodding you to do your work before the last minute

   There were some challenges, but not many. One of them is how much we have to do each day. We didn't completely follow the schedule. Madyson and I sometimes did 2 things on one day or just skip a day completely. I reminded my partner to do some work so had more time to check over it. She ended up doing an excellent job. We also tried to make level three questions, which was kind of hard for me. My partner helped me though, and I think the question came out pretty good.

   I learned a lot of things about the novel from working with my partner. We had slightly different views of the book. Madyson viewed the book like an adventure. I viewed it as kind of a mystery that could happen in the olden days. I never really thought of it as an adventure. It was an interesting thought, and it makes sense. I saw how my partner interpreted the book by how she answered the question. I understood the plot better, and made the story more interesting. Instead of trying to solve the mystery of Captain Jaggery, the ship, and the crew, it also became Charlotte's adventure on a ship, where she finds a lot of new knowledge, as how to sail a ship and parts of a ship.


   We did our literature circles by collaborating constructively with our partners. We learned how to work well and improve our answers. You were able to have a second opinion on your work before you submitted it. It was easier to get a better grade with it, since you didn't want to let your partners down. It was a really good experience and I enjoyed it a lot.

True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: Literature Circle Reflection

  My literature circle group consisted of Aishah, Caomhie, Josephine, Madyson, Nick, and me. We read The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi. Everyone but Madyson had their literature circle paper, but she didn't have her's because her printer went out of ink! Even so, she still participated and contributed ideas to the discussion.

  Our discussion definitely helped me understand the book better. We all had different ideas and had different interpretations of the meaning of the book. Some of us inferred that Captain Jaggery was evil, but the rest of the group said, "Maybe Zachariah is the bad guy because he gave her the dirk to frame Charlotte when he committed a crime." I think that it wasn't very possible, but it still made sense. My group helped me think more about the characters and what was happening.

  A few of us had the same connections. Similar things had all happened to us, such as getting blamed for something we didn't do. Whenever someone shared their connection with the book, I think of a similar thing that had happened to me before. Then, we would talk about how our connections were similar with the book.

  Some of us predicted that Zachariah was probably evil and gave Charlotte the knife to frame her. They guessed that Zachariah was going to kill a crew member with the knife that he gave Charlotte then hide it under her bed again. The rest of us thought that Captain Jaggery was evil because the porter showed a negative feeling toward Captain Jaggery. We also thought that was why Zachariah gave her the knife; to protect herself from Captain Jaggery. We also suspected Mr. Keetch, who said that he put on a show to try to get Charlotte off, so the other crew members wouldn't notice. I guessed that he was a spy.

  I think that having the discussions helped me understand the book and the plot better. We all had different ideas to what could happen. Even though I dislike filling in the discussion sheet, I believe that it is worth it after our literature circle group discussion. The discussions are always interesting, no matter what the book is. Before for Call it Courage, we only had 4 people to talk about the book. For The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, my group had six people, including me. That gave us more ideas to talk about. It is fun hearing other group member's thoughts and telling your own.  I certainly can't wait for our next group discussion!