What makes for a productive Literature Circle?

Homework due Thursday, January 14^th: For language arts students should be ready for their Weekly Work Study quiz. They should bring in their completed Weekly Word Study sheets, as well as five sentences using their five spelling words.
Homework due Tuesday, January 19^th: Students should bring in the five words they plan to study for their Weekly Work Study quiz

Homework due Wednesday, January 20^th: Students should read from chapter 23 to chapter 26 of the Island of the Blue Dolphins, and then complete their Literature Circle tasks for that week.

Homework due, Monday, January 25^th: Students should come to drama class with the piece of writing they chose memorized.

Ongoing Homework: Students should remember to read for thirty minutes each evening. Reading the assigned novel does count towards the nightly reading. Remember there are no restrictions on what you choose to read, as long as you make sure you get your assigned reading done. Please remember to record the date, the title of what you read, and how many pages you read on your Reading Journal entry form. Please turn in your entry forms on Friday, so that I can review how your reading is going. I will return them to you on Monday. I would encourage you to keep up with your reading over the weekend.

In language arts today the students ran their own Literature Circles, focusing on chapter 20 to chapter 22 of Island of the Blue Dolphins. Halfway into the class we stopped to share what was working in the various groups, and what qualities made for a productive Literature Circle. We ended the class with a general discussion of some of the questions presented by the discussion directors.