Goals:

1.  The students will obtain valuable factual information on coral reefs and various types of plant and animal life by reading a selection of adolescent literature.

2.  The students will work to improve communication and cooperation skills by working intensely in small groups.

Materials:

Book - George, Jean Craighead. (1989). Shark Beneath the Reef.  New York: Harper Trophy.
(one copy per student)
 

Pencils

Paper

Crayons, colored pencils, or markers

Time:

Five to ten hours over the course of five days

Procedure:

1.  The students will be divided into groups of four or five.

2.  Before reading the first chapter of the book, the students will determine their roles within the literature circles.Ý Possible roles are as follows:
 

Project Coordinator - Leads the group discussion, makes sure that all group members are completing their portion of the work, may be in charge of locating other related book titles or authors.

Quotable Quoter - Locates an important quote from the chapter that is relevant to the events of that chapter.

Essence Illustrator - Creates a picture, sketch, or collage that illustrates the events or characters in the given chapter.Ý May wish to create a new title for the chapter.

Word Wizard - Locates words from the chapter that may be unclear and finds their correct definitions.Ý The class may wish to compile a comprehensive list of all ìwizard wordsî.

Creative Connector - Relates the events or characters of the chapter to another story or to a real-life experience.
 

3.  The students will take turns playing each of the roles, rotating every one or two chapters.

Assessment:

1.  The students will be evaluated by way of teacher observation. (Criteria for success = ability to work effectively within a group utilizing quality communication and cooperation skills)

2.  The students will evaluate one anotherís performance.  Students will assess their peersí contribution and participation within the group.  (See Group Contribution Scoring Sheet)

Curricular Strands and Major Concepts:

1.  Language Arts - reading of the novel, writing skills involved with the various roles

2.  Art - creating pictures, sketches, or collages that illustrate the events of the story

Possible Extensions:

1.  The students will compile a class dictionary of all the words that were located by the Word Wizard.

2.  The class will create a large collage depicting the chronological events of the story using quotations and illustrations from the groups.

3.  The class will write a poem that summarizes the main ideas and key points within the book.

Resource:

Adapted from Adolescent Literature course

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Coral Reefs - developed by Kristen Treadway, Jenny Mavis, T. J. Beck, & Jim O'Keefe

This page submitted by the St. Norbert College Ocean Voyager Program

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