effect of skill-focused minilessons on students' independent use of reading skills during literature circles

Increased accountability in contemporary public elementary schools requires that teachers provide evidence they are using research-based strategies that reinforce skills assessed on standardized tests. There is a need to provide empirical evidence that literature circles can reinforce skills assessed on these tests. A literature circle is a research-based strategy that is common in language arts classrooms. This study investigates the connection between these skills and student discussion that takes place during literature circles. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of skill-focused minilessons on students' independent use of reading skills. The study investigated whether application of skill-focused minilessons prior to literature circles would have an effect on students' independent use of reading skills within student discussions during literature circles. Sixteen students participated in the study. The study also investigated the impact that minilessons prior to literature circles had on students' scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) in reading. Students were randomly assigned to the researcher's fifth grade class in the 2008/2009 school year. All students read the same material and received the same treatment. During the course of the study, students first took the FCAT diagnostic in reading and then engaged in five literature circle meetings, each preceded by a minilesson. Students then engaged in five literature circles with a different book and without skill-focused minilessons, followed by the administration of the reading FCAT. The data, which included content analyses of transcriptions of students' discussion and the collection of FCAT scores, yielded several findings.