ABSTRACT
A frequent concomitant of a literature-based reading program is the strategy of small group discussions. The use of the small groups in classrooms at all levels is not new. Their application, however, in developing the students’ responses to literature, to enhancing those responses, merits particular attention. One literature-based instructional technique that is gaining widespread popularity is the use of literature groups-small groups of children and sometimes their teachers, who gather to talk about books they are reading. This chapter spotlights the literature discussion group views and practices of one fifth-grade teacher and a small group of her students. "Wide reading" was an integral part of her reading program. Wide reading meant that students were required to choose and independently read a chapter book a week (on average) from the classroom library. Through their interchanges with each other and the teacher, the students mulled over and clarified their literary responses.
