Textmasters: Bringing literature circles to textbook reading across the curriculum

A fifth-grade science teacher and university researcher challenged the notion that textbook reading follows the same archaic formula: read the textbook and answer the questions at the end of the section. Together, they adapted literature circle roles to fit textbook structures, resulting in the strategy they call Textmasters. This article describes the strategy, along with the action research project that proves its efficacy in the content area middle school classroom.