Literature circles help differentiate reading strategy instruction, build student independence & ownership for learning, and are just fun! Students collaborate with their literature circle group to divide their novel into sections, familiarize themselves with the variety of jobs, and complete all preparation work prior to meetings. During meetings, students are taught speaking and listening skills such as non-verbal eye contact and speaking cues.

In novel studies, students read a novel whole class in order to read at a higher instructional level. Readers received gradual release support in inferring themes, character motivations and development, and other literary elements.

In these project-based units, readers produce two versions of a book summary: traditional essay and creative. Students can create Minecraft worlds, lego/clay dioramas, or graphic novels to summarize their novel. The creative book summary enables students to utilize their multiple intelligences to demonstrate their reading comprehension.

Writers analyze narrative text to write informational CER paragraphs. They rely on textual evidence to explain how themes and/or details vary across modes of communication and culture.