Marj Kirkland's presentation at the Literature Circles workshop -- Hands On Literacy conference, Nov. 15, 2008, in Singapore

1. Literature Circles in the Middle School – Aquinas College Presentation by Marj Kirkland Teacher-Librarian, Aquinas College Incoming National President, Children’s Book Council of Australia, 2009 -2010 B.A., Dip.T., Grad.Dip.Lib., M.App.Sci. (Info. Studies)

4. Incoming Year 8 Reading Habits Reading – 3.5 hours per week Watching TV – 11.5 hours per week Computer – 7.1 hours per week

5. Year 8s - How often do you read? 50.4% students say they read once a month or less.

6. Reading alternatives

10. Individual workbooks means all students hand their work in.

15. Artful Artist e.g. Example: “ Keeping the Moon” I chose to do a collage representing Nicole and Kiki’s life at the beginning of the book. At this time they found it hard to live life to the fullest. They are just two very unhappy people travelling the countryside. The collage creates a different way of viewing the words in the book. It is made up of a mixture of words and pictures that describe the thoughts of the Sparks family. They travel all over the country trying to find a place where they will fit in. Sometimes people think there is just not enough room in this world for two lost, self-conscious over-weight people until...

21. Capable Connector e.g. “ I will not shut my eyes And lose the light of the sun For dread of what day brings Stark terror, crawling things Yea, and the worst that lies Within me, guessed of none; I will not shut my eyes I will not shut my eyes But face the ache of light Whatever shapes show clear Of loneliness of fear - Though fire falls from the skies Until it blind me quite I will not shut my eyes. “ The Raging Quiet” I chose this poem as I felt that it related to the feelings and thoughts of Raven, one of the main characters of the novel “The Raging Quiet”. Raven is deaf. When I imagined myself being him, not being able to hear, I thought how empty life would be without many ways to communicate. Your sense of security would be taken away from you when you closed your eyes. I could imagine Raven thinking “I will not shut my eyes”. Furthermore, the language used in the poem connects with the time period when the book was set with its word usage: “Yea”. So the poem connects with the language and feelings of the novel.

29. Designer : Make a two-sided CD cover for an album of four songs related to your book.

30. Detective : Make a police identikit of one of the characters from your book/novel. Which passages of the book gave hints about your character’s appearance?

33. Year 8s – Pre & Post reading programmes 6% increase in students reading once a week or more. 28% of students say they are reading more. No change to number of students who never read.

34. Literature Circles has encouraged me to read because… “… it gets you interested in books and you find great ones.” “ I found that if you pick a good book it can be quite enjoyable.” “… you have to read to be part of the activity.” “ You have to read because your group is relying on you.” “ I never knew that books are that good.” “ I never read at home unless I have to for school.” “ I didn’t really get into books but I do now.” “ Having a home run experience appears to typically lead to greater reading interest…” Stephen Krashen

38. “ Dedicated reading areas signify value.” - Aidan Chambers

39. Author talk – David Harris

40. Enjoy the fun and challenge of Readers’ Cup

41. Writing Workshops with Archie Fusillo & James Roy Author Talk - Markus Zusak

42. Build a reading climate!