Year 7I's Love of Reading!

Building a love of reading through Literature Circles

Students in Year 7I have begun Term 4 by setting up Literature Circles. This approach to improving student reading comprehension and engagement has been around since the 1980s, and allows students to work in small groups, reading, studying and enjoying the same novel in much the same way that book clubs work. 

“What I love about Literature Circles is that it’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,” said English Teacher Jamie Greenwood. “They allow more capable readers to challenge and extend themselves, while building a love of reading in students whose reading skills may be less developed.”

Students are already responding positively to this approach. “We get to choose a book we are interested in instead of a book we may not be interested in,” said Ella Smith who chose to read “The Honest Truth” by Dan Gemeinhart because “it sounded interesting and it’s a story that I understand”.

Charlie Hann also chose “The Honest Truth” because he “liked the idea of a kid who’s running away. It sounded like a fun story.” Charlie likes Literature Circles because “everyone can share their ideas and it’s easier to talk to everyone if it’s a little group.”

Isla Cahill, who chose to read “Coraline” by Neil Gaiman agrees. “You can choose something that you are interested in. You don’t just have to read it for the sake of it”. Abbey Mudford said that she liked Literature Circles because “You can help each other out with questions or things you don’t understand”

Mr Greenwood also sees value in Literature Circles as they set students up well for year 10 and VCE. “By building students capacity to summarise, interpret and discuss books at Year 7 they can then focus on higher level analytical skills in later years. Though for now, it’s just nice to look across at a group of students enjoying reading a novel of their choice that is pitched at their level.”

Simon Lasslett