Literature circles: an open door to the students experiences

Abstract

This study describes students interaction process as they explored and built their aesthetic responses in literature circles. This project reports how participants constructed meaning of each piece of literature through the reading and discussion of books with their classmates, and the connections they established with their life experiences. My project seems to indicate, as Pollack et al. (2002) point out, that we can see comprehension deepen and expand as students share their experiences and questions with a group . (p.18) The idea of implementing literature circles in my classroom setting originated in my observations about my students interest and curiosity when they were exposed to reading different texts in English. Although they liked to read in English they had difficulties to understand the texts and to construct meaning. For this reason, I wanted to use and explore in my English class a different alternative by which my students could have the possibility to establish communication inside the classroom, despite their low English level and the limited number of hours they had per week.