Fourth-grade gifted students participation in literature circles

Abstract

This qualitative, practitioner study explored how gifted students, who were not necessarily sophisticated readers, first participated in literature circles. The students were enrolled in a US Title I, magnet Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)/International Baccalaureate World Academy (IB) school. Students routinely participated in inquiry science activities, but rarely in literacy instruction in their mainstream classrooms. Their gifted and talented students (GATE) teacher provided an opportunity for them to participate in literature circles within their GATE instructional time. Students responded to their reading by writing, drawing, and discussing. Their earliest responses were closely tied to their reading. Later responses were inferential where they offered multiple interpretations.