Provide students with a choice of five or six books and let them choose which one they want to read. Choose books that are at your students' reading level yet will challenge them slightly. Allowing a student to choose which book interests him most may inspire him to read on his own outside of class. Forcing a child to a read a certain book, on the other hand, may discourage him from reading altogether, especially if he doesn't like the book.
Assign students a certain amount of pages or chapters to read each week. Hold your students accountable by asking them questions about what happened in the book or by having them write short summaries.
Conduct weekly or biweekly group sessions. Group the students together based on which of the books they chose to read. Instruct the groups to discuss the events that occurred in the latest chapter they read. Ask each group to discuss with each other things like their favorite characters and what they think the deeper meaning or message of the book is. Walk around the room and briefly eavesdrop on each group discussion to monitor the students' conversation to see who is contributing and how.
Meet one on one with each student to talk about the book he is reading. You can meet with each student midway through the literature circle cycle, at the very end, or at any point you see a student struggling. Ask him what his favorite part of the book has been so far and ask him to read a page or two so that you can evaluate his reading skills.
End a literature circle cycle with a graded project. Ask students to work on a book-related project either alone or in their literature circle groups to help inform the rest of the class about their book. Students can write a summary essay, perform a skit based on the book, or give an oral presentation complete with visual aids. Such projects will help evaluate the reading comprehension of each student.