This term, students were able to choose a book to read from a selection of mystery novels. Each week, they responded to the section of the novel they had read by completing a different role sheet and sharing it with their group. This led to focused, in depth conversations about their novel and allowed them to express their understanding in a variety of ways. For example, they could choose to take on such roles as illustrator, word wizard, literary luminary, connector, travel tracer and many others. It was exciting to sit in on group discussions where students shared their work and asked each other questions to deepen their understanding.