Every year I choose a newly published book for my 4th grade class to read in literature circles. It is fun to do a brand new book each year, one that is clearly going to be a classic. For instance, we did The One and Only Ivan shortly after it won the Newbery. This year, before it received its Newbery Honor, I decided it should be Cece Bell’s El Deafo.
Once I started thinking about how to do it I realized the usual literature circle format (especially the roles) weren’t right for Bell’s wonderful graphic memoir. And so I left it more open, asking the children to consider some guiding questions and inviting them to come up with more on their own. Happily, it went wonderfully well. The group conversations were rich and when they came back together as a whole class they eagerly shared highlights.
At the end, each child wrote a blog post response to the book. Since these are private, I have posted excerpts here so you can get a taste of authentic child response to the book. Since I wasn’t at all sure how they would respond to the book or how the discussions would go, I’m delighted with their responses!
educating alice 