LITERATURE CIRCLES / PLANNER · GRADE 8 WORKED EXAMPLE

Plan a circle: “The Gettysburg Address”

Abraham Lincoln (1863) · public-domain speech (nonfiction) · grades 6–12 · ~2–3 class sessions. Rights: Public domain.

Kit section 5 (group agreement & calendar) filled in for one text — a finished plan students see before writing their own. Tinted italic = sample answers.

Text, group, and target

Text / author / edition	“The Gettysburg Address” — Abraham Lincoln (1863). Public-domain speech (nonfiction).
Group / period / dates	Ana’s group · Period __ · Meetings ___ & ___
Grade / TEKS target (p. 3)	Grade 8 · §110.24 — 9(D): rhetorical devices; 8(D): argument/claim; 1(D): student-led discussion. (Nonfiction: replace the literary focus with your course’s informational/argumentative expectation.)
Learning intention	We are learning to explain how Lincoln’s structure and word choices advance his purpose.
Success criteria	I bring one open question, cite two details with locations, respond to a peer, and name how my thinking changed.

Reading map & calendar

Chunk	Read through	Meeting date · leader
1	“Four score” — the founding and the present dedication of the cemetery.	Day 1 · Leader: Ana
2	The living’s “unfinished work” and the “new birth of freedom.”	Day 2 · Leader: Jon

Members & first-meeting jobs (p. 7 roles)

Member	First job	Rotates to (next meeting)
Ana	Questioner	Summarizer
Jon	Summarizer	Clarifier
Mia	Clarifier	Evidence tracker
Cole	Predictor	Questioner

Text-specific discussion questions (open — more than one answer)

Predict: A speech at a battlefield cemetery — what will Lincoln ask the living to do? What in the opening hints at it?
Question: Why might Lincoln spend so little time on the dead and more on the living?
Clarify: What is the “unfinished work” and the “great task remaining”?
Summarize: State Lincoln’s main claim in one sentence, without opinion.
Interpret the theme: How do repetition and contrast (past / present / future) advance his purpose? Use two details.

Optional Jigsaw lenses (p. 4): Purpose (why Lincoln speaks) · Structure (past → present → future) · Language (repetition: “dedicate,” “we cannot”) · Rhetoric (appeals to shared ideals) · Context (the Civil War, 1863).

LITERATURE CIRCLES / STUDENT PREP WORKED EXAMPLE

Sample 3–2–1 notes: Mia, structure lens

Name: Mia · Home group: Ana’s group · Period __ · Meetings ___ & ___ · Section: “The Gettysburg Address,” whole speech · Expert lens: Structure

What a finished prep looks like. Kit section 6 / Organizer A completed for one reader, so students can compare their notes to a strong model.

Questions

Why say the world will “little note” the speech?

What is the “new birth of freedom”?

3 · Important ideas

1. Lincoln opens with the nation’s founding in 1776.

2. He turns to the present dedication of the cemetery.

3. He ends by charging the living with the unfinished work.

Vocabulary

consecrate = to make sacred.

proposition = a claim put forward.

2 · Supporting details

1. “Four score and seven years ago” (opening) roots the nation in its founding ideals.

2. “government of the people, by the people, for the people” (ending) names the goal to preserve.

1 · Summary in my own words

Lincoln honors the dead briefly, then calls the living to finish the work of preserving a government by the people.

Bring to the circle

My interpretation: The speech reframes a burial as a call to continue the nation’s founding ideals.
Synthesis (two lenses): The past-present-future structure serves the purpose: by moving from 1776 to “unfinished work,” Lincoln turns mourning into commitment. Text points: the opening and the closing line.
After discussion: My thinking became clearer once the group compared evidence.

TEKS evidence: 6(C,D) supported inference; 7(A) theme through characters/events; 1(D) response to a peer. · Pair with the PlotPoint “The Gettysburg Address” room.