Grand Conversations, Thoughtful Responses is built upon the premise that all students can become active, independent, thoughtful readers. The structures and strategies in this book are proven to help students develop confidence and competence in their reading. Student engagement with text soars through participation in grand conversations with peers and reflecting on reading with thoughtful, written responses. This unique approach includes:

• student choice in books
• students reading at their own pace, thus creating flexible groups
• literature circles where students discuss the shared text they are reading
• strategies for teaching written response
• strategies for co-creating assessment criteria
• additional activities to develop and deepen comprehension
• book lists

This new edition has been expanded to include examples and book lists for grades K to 12.

Faye Brownlie has worked in staff development with teachers, co-planning and co-teaching, providing seminars, workshops and keynote presentations in Canada, the United States, Europe and Asia. She’s passionate about including and supporting all learners, and her work focuses on literacy, teaching for thinking, assessment and inclusion. She has co-authored many books for teachers, including

It’s All about Thinking in English, Social Studies and Humanities and It’s All about Thinking in Mathematics and Science. Faye believes, "We know enough, collectively, to teach all our students to read, and more importantly, to create readers who not only can read but want to read." Faye lives in Vancouver.

Faye Brownlie's profile page

Leyton Schnellert, PhD, (he/his/him) is an associate professor in UBC’s Department of Curriculum & Pedagogy and Eleanor Rix Professor in Rural Teacher Education. He focuses on how teachers and teaching and learners and learning can mindfully embrace Student Diversity and inclusive education. Dr. Schnellert is the Pedagogy and Participation research cluster lead in UBC’s Institute for Community Engaged Research, inclusive education research lead in the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship, and co-chair of BC’s Rural Education Advisory. His community-based collaborative work contributes a counter argument to top-down approaches that operate from deficit models, instead drawing from communities’ funds of knowledge to build participatory, place-conscious, and culturally responsive practices. Leyton works and learns on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Sinixt who were declared extinct by Canada’s government in 1956 and stands in solidarity with the Sinixt in their reclaimation efforts.  
 
Leyton has been a middle and secondary years classroom teacher and a learning resource teacher for grades K–12. His books, films, and research articles are widely referenced locally, nationally, and globally (https://ubc.academia.edu/LeytonSchnellert)
 
@leytonschenell

Leyton Schnellert's profile page

With this unique approach to literature circles, our students are reading more, are writing more and are excited about talking about their books! The enthusiasm in the class is contagious with even our more reluctant readers wanting more time – and more books – to read. It is a pleasure to join a group and participate in the conversation. Our students’ ability to make deep connections to one and other and to their reading is amazing.

Tanis Anderson, Literacy Programme Consultant, K-12 and a team of Burnaby teacher