Assign each student in each group a job. For example, one student may be required to draw pictures that illustrate all or some scenes from the book's plot, and another student keeps track of words that students in the group don't understand. One may be in charge of tracking how each character is related to the other characters; for example, for one character she might write "mother of Kristy" or "friend of Carol." Each student in each group will present her work to the rest of the group. Change roles when a new book is assigned.
The teacher writes open-ended questions on slips of paper about the book. Some questions may have one right answer, such as questions about the plot, characters and setting, and some questions can ask for students' opinions on characters' actions and the moral of the story. Students draw the questions out of a hat and the teacher reads it out for anyone in the class to raise his hand to answer. This is best done for each literary circle, though it requires teacher assistants to moderate each circle. It can be done as a whole class if there is only one teacher.
To teach a new concept about a book to your students which might not be obvious to them, have teacher assistants help you lead discussions in each literary circle. Not only will you be able to guide your students to make conclusions about the book, but you will also show them how to lead literary circle discussions. This will be important throughout their primary and secondary schooling, as you will be giving them a model to imitate.
Role-playing helps students better understand characters and what's going on in a book. Assign each student in each literary circle one character from the assigned book. Each student must assume the role of her character while the teacher and teacher assistants lead discussions that the relevant characters answer, playing out their roles. For example, if a question is, "Why did Suzy ask her aunt to help her buy flowers?" the student playing the role of Suzy should answer, "Because it was my mom's birthday." This style of discussion allows students to sympathize with the characters in the story. For any conflicts between characters in the story, have your students act out the conflicts and then ask the rest of the group how the conflict might be resolved. You can even have your students prepare their characters in advance by coming to school dressed like their characters.