Running Head: LITERATURE CIRCLES AND GUIDED READING

Literature Circles and Guided Reading: The Keys to Comprehension Mastery

EDUC 6326/Spring 2015

University of St. Thomas

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Literature Circles and Guided Reading: The Keys to Comprehension Mastery

According to the U.S. Department National Center for Education Statistics, concern
should rise if students in a country display massive gaps in reading comprehension and literacy.
This is a sure sign that educational services provided to the public are unequal and ineffective.
Shockingly, the United States has fallen into this category after participating in the IEA
International Reading Literacy Study. Researchers have varying hypothesis on the causes for the
variations in student literacy and reading comprehension. Blame is attributed to socioeconomic
differences, environment, school community, and more. School districts around the nation are
not concerned with what is causing the gap; however, they want to know what will close it.
Many public schools are adopting the implementation of literature circles and guided
reading into literacy classrooms in an attempt to boost fluency and comprehension amongst
students. The program provides a great deal of hands-on and student centered instruction that
engages children and draws them into reading. Nonetheless, educators are concerned with how
effective the program is, and how successfully can it prepare the students for standardized tests.
After accumulating abundant research on literature circles and guided reading, I have discovered
the following.
Guided reading is a teaching strategy, created by Irene Fountas and Gay Pinnell, which is
used to encourage students to work on their personal levels of reading comprehension. While the
teacher aids a student on their individual level, he or she is also pushing that pupil towards
accomplishing more complex learning goals. In order to do this, the classroom is arranged so
students are able to work independently while the educator is able to teach in small groups. The
focus during small group instruction is to work with students on understanding what they read,

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and developing skills to help them meet more demanding text overtime. According to Fountas
and Pinnell, a student must be able to think about the text before reading it, grasp the meaning of
the text while reading, and share thoughts about the text after reading. Some ways students are
able to accomplish understanding a text is through critiquing, monitoring and correcting reading,
summarizing, making connections, predicting, and more (Fountas & Pinnell, 2012, p.273).
Research has shown that teachers who correctly utilize guided reading in the classroom
see unbelievable academic growth with all students. For example, a research company collected
data on students who were taught using the guided reading method. Of the 8,500 children
[t]he primary findings showed that: The average rate of student learning increased by 16% in the
first implementation year, 28% in the second year, and 32% in the third year (Fountas &
Pinnell, 2012, p. 283). In addition, the 12 systems of strategic activities are all important skills
students need to master in order to successfully pass a state standardized test (Fountas & Pinnell,
2012, p. 273). Therefore, using guided reading seems to provide the support a student needs to
improve fluency and comprehension while challenging a student enough for him or her to
experience rigorous instruction.
Similar to guided reading is the practice of literature circles, which encourage thought
provoking discussions about student selected text. Students are allowed to independently read,
analyze, and discuss various topics in a book club like setting. The students rotate serving
various roles in their groups which can range from summarizer, illustrator, connector, question
director, and more. According to the article, researchers have learned that teachers who create
invitations for children to identify, reflect on, interrogate, and resolve dilemmas they face in their
daily classroom lives enhance academic growth and build strong classroom communities (Mills
& Jennings, 2011, p. 590). From personal experience this is exactly what takes place in literature

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circles. Students are able to engage in meaningful conversation that encourages them to explore
the literature they are reading. In addition, the students are able to provide deep feedback by
using the 12 strategies taught in guided reading.
As far as contributing to academic success, literature circles push students to take control
of their personal learning experiences and comprehend text that is of interest to them. Such
learning experiences allow students [to take] with them literacy and inquiry practices that they
[can] use to reflect on their interactions in other settings. They [learn] to take both reflective and
reflexive stances and to pay attention to talk and their own engagement in it (Mills & Jennings,
2011, p. 597). Incorporating higher level thinking practices in the classroom effectively prepares
students to better comprehend the reading passages on standardized tests and enhance the
probability of answering questions about passages correctly.
From the articles Guided Reading: The Romance and the Reality by Fountas and Pinnell,
and Talking About Talk: Reclaiming the Value and Power of Literature Circles by Mills and
Jennings, I have learned that both practices lead to academic improvement in reading. The catch
is that both programs have to be implemented correctly and diligently. This may be why so
many teachers are skeptical about the positive reviews surrounding guided reading and literature
circles. Nonetheless, data shared in both articles show that utilizing either instructional strategy
will lead to academic gains in the classroom and real life situations.

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References
Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2012). Guided Reading: The Romance and the Reality. Reading
Teacher, 66(4), 268-284.
Mills, H., & Jennings, L. (2011). Talking About Talk: Reclaiming the Value and Power of
Literature Circles. Reading Teacher, 64(8), 590-598.