Each day, the students would round robin read a page from the Dinosaurs Before Dark  chapter book and complete a chapter a day followed by a worksheet based on the reading for the day. While one student was reading, the other students had to follow along in their own copy of the book. It was amazing to witness the group helping each other out when someone wasn't sure what a word was. Without even asking, the shoulder partner would whisper the word to the student who was struggling pronouncing a word. The story include quite a bit of names of dinosaur names that were a struggle for most students to pronounce. After the third day, I noticed the students no longer struggled with the dinosaur names and this is primarily a contribute to the other students pronouncing the name often and the struggling student hearing it over and over by their peer, as well as, much practice in pronouncing the name by reading a page at a time. 

 

The students not only build their oral and aural language through reading as a group, but also while answering corresponding questions. Students were required to complete the worksheet as a group and all had to agree on the response before writing it. The students would have a debate on what they thought would be the best answer and had to support it by finding details in the book. The students really benefited from this lit circle because the students were learning from their peers, building their vocabulary, increasing their fluency and strengthening their oral and aural language. The open discussion also allowed the students to use their critical thinking skills.