litcirclesproject

=Miller's Lit Circles Wiki Project= toc

Introduction
As part of our Literature Circles discussion, each group will be posting and sharing ideas about the reading, discussion, and connections made by group members during the unit. Your group members are the publishers in charge of maintaining the content on your page. The goal of this project is to publish a personalized record of the discussion and thinking work that you completed during this unit. When the project is over, each group's wiki will also serve as an ongoing student-created resource about the novel you read. Additionally, a wiki like this provides an accessible place for students to share, read, and comment on one another's work.

Assignment
Your group is required to develop a wiki page(s) to communicate evidence of your thinking while reading and discussing your selected novel. Your page(s) should chronicle how your group members respond and react to important ideas raised in the novel. This project cannot be completed all at once, but rather it is a work in progress designed to encourage you to extend your thinking and provide you opportunities to respond to your classmates' work. Find your group's page on the menu to the left.

Content Requirements
In your wiki, each group is responsible for including the following:
 * A **summary of what was discussed** on each of the in-class discussion days - this includes an explanation of the major themes, events, characters, and other ideas that were brought up.
 * An ongoing **list of questions/reactions/responses** related to the reading - submitted by all group members - these could and should come from individual members' Post-Its. Record the page #, a brief description of what it refers to on the page, and your question/reactions/responses
 * An ongoing **list of themes** related to the novel contributed by all group members - under each theme should be an ongoing list of pages and specific references to events, characters, and conflicts in the books related to the themes.
 * An ongoing **list of vocabulary** words from the book and definitions
 * Use of the wiki to collaborate with group members, post thoughts and/or reactions, and respond to ideas and comments posed by others, including the teacher

Revision
One purpose of this project is to encourage collaboration and revision with one another. A major component of the grading rubric is collaboration. Do this by adding to group members' ideas, using each other's ideas to expand on themes or other observations, modify responses to ideas in the novel as you read through it and your perceptions and thinking changes. Just rember to leave your initials or first name next to ideas you submit.

Grading Criteria
Use the wiki to highlight evidence of your thinking related to the book. What you put here should provide you the opportunity to extend your thinking about the novel, beyond what you discuss in class, and beyond the notes you take as you read. You will be assessed on the following criteria: Click here to view the rubric for the assignment.
 * All required content elements are included
 * Information is organized in an understandable manner
 * Information posted by group members focuses on ideas and themes directly related to the books
 * Group members actively collaborate in the development of ideas on the wiki by publishing evidence, posting questions, and responding to comments raised by classmates or the teacher
 * The writing on the wiki follows rules for standard grammar and punctuation

Additionally, students will receive an individual grade for actively posting questions to classmates and commenting on other students' work. Use the discussion tab at the top of each page to post a comment or reply to a comment.

Resources
Your group's main resource are yourselves and the novel you are reading. The information on this page should focus on what you are talking about, what you are thinking, questions you have, connections you make, comments on the novel's literary quality. There is also a page of helpful materials or other links for class. Feel free to contribute anything you'd like.

Getting started
[|Click here to start a new page] - make sure you select the class project template to begin. You have to be signed in to create a new page. Record necessary information about your group and the novel you are reading Start compiling necessary information related to the novel, your discussions, and your thinking

If you need help with some of the features of wikispaces, [|click here], to view some brief informative videos.