Learning through group effort is often effective, especially when undertaking fun and engaging assignments. There are different types of group work in schools, but all of them are tailored towards engaging students. Moreover, individuals get to improve their understanding by gathering a different perspective from their group members. Evidently, there are plenty of advantages associated with literature circles, and instructors should consider incorporating the method in their classrooms.

What Is A Literature Circle?

This circle comprises a handful of students who have regular sit-downs to discuss a certain book or novel. The book in question could be unique to that group or one that the whole class is reading. In a class, there are between 4-5 literature circles dissecting the plot, characters, and various ideas of a certain book. A literature circle is essential for learning because it involves an engaging way of understanding different literary concepts. Moreover, students tend to have fun during the reading sessions.

Advantages of Literature Circles

1. Students are more cooperative when they’re working in smaller groups towards a certain goal.
2. The group members assign themselves various roles during their gatherings. As such, the individuals feel essential as they have something to contribute towards the group’s goals.
3. The groups encourage new perspectives, which allow students to better understand their book or novel.
4. The smaller groups encourage openness, and even the shy students are free to voice any divergent opinions than if they had to face the larger class.
5. Students improve their writing skills while dissecting various concepts in a literary piece

Disadvantages of Literature Circles

1. While literature circles encourage critical thinking and comprehension when reading a book or novel, they are rarely assessed. Usually, there are multiple assessment points that instructors could consider: group member participation, the roles finalized, or project completion. 
2. Instructors are unable to closely monitor each student without overlooking the rest of the class.
3. Traditionally, group learning encourages open discussion on their assignment. However, students are bound to go off-topic and especially with minimal oversight from their instructor.
4. Some students find it difficult to work in small groups, and instructors would need to take care and ensure the circle is engaged in beneficial learning.

teachers should always inspire their students to read regularly even when they aren’t in school. Literature circles work in favor of teachers as students motivate one another to read books and novels. Also, through group participation, students can better understand different ideas in a book. Also, where the groups tackle different books, each circle has a bit of independence when choosing their literature. Therefore, literature circles can help students to cultivate critical thinking skills consequently control how they learn and interpret the book.

As an educator, you should start by assigning bite-sized challenges for the groups to avoid overwhelming your students. As they get more work done, you can increase the volume of the work done so that the circles can organize each member’s roles in completing the task.