How+to+Make+Connections

Why Make Connections:
[|Effective Guides Junior Click Here]

==The ability to connect to text is perhaps the easiest one for children to understand and master, yet it is singularly the most powerful. Connecting creates the path for all other reading strategies to walk upon. When a reader begins to relate to a story in terms of his or her own life, the story simply makes more sense. We know ourselves better than we know anything else, so to read a book through the eyes of our own lives is the essence of "creating meaning." The notion that we bring ourselves into the books we read, that we weave our life stories into the stories that we read, is a deep truth. To teach children to learn to make sense of a text for themselves is teaching them not what to thin, but how to think. When we teach children to connect, we are teaching them to pay attention to moments, feelings, characters, and places in a story which trigger links to their own feelings, characters, and places in their life story. Reading unlocks the memoreis that are the backdrip of our lives. Adrienne Gear (2006)==

When I read a story and my brain says, "Hey!
This part reminds me of the other day!" It's called "connect" -da da da da da da da da da It's called "connect" -da da da da da da da da da When I read a story and my brain says, "Whoa! This part reminds me of my friend, Jo!" It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da When I read a story and my brain says, "Cool! This part reminds me of my school!" It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da When I read a story and my brain says "Look! This part reminds me of another book!" It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da When I read a story and my brain says, "Wow! This part reminds me of my grandpa's cow!" It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da It's called "connect" - da da da da da da da da da da

Book: Rondo in C by Paul Fleishchman or Once Upon an Ordinary School Day by colin McNaughton

 * Ask the students, "Why is it, in this book, when everyone in the room was listening to the same piece of music everyone was thinking of something different?"


 * Discuss the fact that, even though everyone was listening to the same music, each person was thinking about different things because each person has a different "life story" or different experiences.


 * Discuss that this is the same thing that happens when we read - everyone makes different connections because everyone has a different life, different memories, and different experiences stored in our powerful brains, Explian that the story of your life what will help you understand the story youa reading.

====* Model a read-aloud/think-aloud with this special Connect book, using sticky notes to mark your connections with a C for Connect or an R for "Reminds me of." Pause on a page, insert your sticky note, and model using this language:====

"This part of the story remidns me of..."
====*Follow with at least two more similar lessons using books from the suggested list. As you model, try to make sure that you are connecting to each of these: **a part of the story, a picutre, a character, and a feeling.**====

* Read aloud a book from the Connect List (see book lists that follow) and have students listen for all the connections.
====* Read the book again, and have each student come up and put one sticky note (with the student's name on it) on the page where the berst connection was made, or where the student's thinking voice"was the loudest." They are not sharing at this point, simply placing their sticky notes in the book when you get to the right page.====

====* Invite students to share their connections out loud with a partner. When partners are sharing circulate the room, listening for all connections. Choose one pair of students to come up to the front to model their connections, Choose the pair who really went beyond a simple statement "This reminds me of my brother" to sharing a "chapter" of their life stories.====

*Explain to students that, when we read, we can connect to different parts of the book: part of the story, a picture, a character, or a feeling.
====*Repeat Group Connect activity from lesson 4. After students have placed their stickies in the book,explain that you will be returning their stickies shortly. Refer to the chart and tell them you would like the stickies placed on the column where they think they made their connection today. Model with your sticky note and explain your thinking.====

====*Introduce the idea of Quick Connections (My uncle has a dog like that) and Deep Thinking Connections (That reminds me of the time when I got teased at school for wearing dresses every day and I felt really embarrassed). Spend time modelling the diference between these two, so that students can begin to expand their thinking.====

*Have students choose his own book. Provide each with their own sticky notes.
====* Ask them to read silently and mark their connections with their sticky notes. Older students can jot down notes about their connection on each sticky; younger students will simply code the sticky withy a //**C**// and their names.====

* As students fi8nish, they can find a partner and share their connections (if you are using Daily 5 in your classroom - this activity would be done during //**Read to Someone**//)

 * This lesson is important since it helps to teach children to read with a purpose.


 * ====After students read and mark their connections independently, have them choose the connection where their "thinking voice was the loudest" and expand this connection into writing. This could be done by wriitng about it in a journal, or using one of the templates //**(see graphic organizers that follow) (If you are using Daily 5 in your classroom this activity could be done during the Writing Workshop session)**//====

**//Other Connect Lessons://**

 * ====Introduce students to different connect codes: T -S (Text - to - Self), T- T (Text - to- Text), T - W (Text - to - World. //**(See Graphic organizers that follow.)**//====


 * ====Have students record their thoughts about this new strategy and what they've learneda bout connecting. "How has connecting whyile you read helped yiou to understand the story better? Show me or tell me about your thinking."====

Link to Adrienne Gear, Debbie Miller and Janet Allen for additional ideas:
[|Adrienne Gear Web Site]

[|Dr. Janet Allen - How to teach at risk students]

[|Debbie Miller Literacy Site]