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.