Assignment Spotlight: Literature Circles

In online classes there can be ALOT of reading assignments! I really liked the idea of reading discussion roles or literature circles discussed in a podcast episode from Faculty Focus and how they can help engage students in course readings. In today's blog post, I'll share some ways you can implement this in your online class.

In the literature circle assignment as described in the Faculty Focus podcast episode, students complete the assignment from the perspective of their assigned or selected role. Roles range from discussion leader, passage master, devil's advocate, illustrator, creative connector, and recorder/reporter.

• Discussion leader- identify 2-3 questions to ask others or discuss the main points of the reading
• Passage master- identify 2-3 passages (line or passage) that identify main ideas or things they found interesting; read their passage to the group to stimulate discussion.
• Devil's advocate- acts as a critic; provides alternate ways of thinking; discuss unpopular views
• Illustrator- draws an image, mind-map or flow chart that represents the main ideas or how they felt when doing the readings; others will try to guess what is meant by the graphic before the illustrator explains
• Creative connector- makes connections between the reading and the real world outside the classroom
• Recorder/Reporter- takes notes and provides a summary of the discussion's main points

How this can be adapted in an online class:

 This activity is very easy to adapt to the online classroom. Here are a few suggestions:

• Separate role forums: First, you can have separate discussion forums for each role. This means that there will be a forum designated to the discussion leaders to pose questions that the class must respond to. Another where the passage master leads the discussion by highlighting interesting points, etc. 
• Mixed small-group assigned forums: Create small groups and assign one person from each role to be a member of the group and each person poses a question or leads a discussion from the perspective of their role.
• Large class discussion: You can do a traditional discussion board where students simply post a point from the perspective of their role and other students respond. You can elevate this exercise a little by having small groups for each role and each group agrees on only one question to ask the class form that perspective, then post their points in the main class discussion board. 

I'd LOVE to hear your ideas of how you can use this assignment in your online courses. Share your thoughts, experiences and ideas in The Online Educator Facebook Group by clicking the link HERE. Also, as a treat don’t forget to GRAB YOUR FREE GUIDE to the 3 Secrets to Teaching Online Successfully.

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