Jody does this thing where she interviews her kids. It’s a good one:
I never “circle” in reading. (I have a lot of reasons for not doing it, but I don’t believe there are any “rules” associated with this one way or the other.) We just translate; I ask a few comprehension questions, and perhaps a grammar pop up if appropriate. We may then act out the paragraph (or chapter) with actors or everyone in small groups if its a good reading for that purpose. I put the paragraph up on the document reader so they are not just hearing it. They are reading it, too. Then, we read on.
I love the parallel story stuff. For me, that always happens after we are done with a chapter. It is a way to “cement”. I go back and find paragraphs with important structures, plot heaviness, or that are just really fun. I have always done these with one actor per every couple of paragraphs who sits in front of the room for her/his interview about the story.
I interview the student actor by reading a sentence from the paragraph and asking them if that is also true about them. They say “yes”, “no” or sometimes elaborate. I check with the class (often accompanied by the big wink “aside”) about the veracity of the actor’s statement. I even whisper to the actor that I’m going to question whether he’s lying or not to the class–and is that ok? depending on how shy they are. This exchange with the audience often sparks amazing spin-off stories which must always be “approved” by the student actors. Under no circumstances are they permitted to feel ganged up on by the other students. They control where the “parallel story” goes. We move through the paragraph (or two) until the steam runs out. We applaud, and I pick another kid.
It is a great way to get more reps of structures in the reading, ultra personalize, and since we are repeating the story, it gives the faster processors the opportunities for output they so greatly desire and gives the slower processors one more chance to hear the “original story” and the salient structures I have chosen to highlight. Slower processors often have difficulties holding on to the plot and the details of the story. This is a great reinforcer for them.