What is a reading circle?

What is a reading circle?

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Introduction
	People who are learning to read need to be encouraged to continue using and developing their new skills.
	Reading circles are one way to promote literacy use among new readers. They also encourage participants to think about relevant topics or problems and to study and solve them themselves.
	Here are some purposes of a reading circle:
	To establish a reading habit To promote reading fluency and comprehension To provide a social context for promoting literacy To teach readers to find information in printed text To promote community development To provide a context for discussion and problem solving To provide writing practice by recording research findings writing letters of request or complaint to officials, or preparing public information.

Background

The idea of reading circles is often credited to Paulo Freire. Freire developed "culture circles," or problem-solving study groups to guide discussion and learning experiences.

See:

The Freire instructional program

Definition
	A reading circle is a group that meets to research and discuss a particular problem.
	Also known as:
	study circle critical literacy culture circle

Features
	Here are some features of a reading circle:
	Chooses and discusses a subject which is based on the real needs or problems of the community, such as agriculture health technical skills industrial concerns, or spiritual matters. Needs access to a good supply of materials on a variety of topics that the group might choose to research
	Should have a leader, or facilitator to help with reading explain new words, and encourage dialogue.

See also
	What is a reading club?
	See the following online articles for more information:
	Reading clubs, reading circles (study circles), and libraries

Sources
	Bendor-Samuel 1977 Marmor 1989

Context for this page:

Concept module: reading circle
In overview module: Glossary (Literacy): R
In modular book: Glossary of literacy terms
In document collection: Reference materials

Page content last modified: 16 September 1999