- Home
- Homework
- Book Talks
- Reading Group Novels
- A Wrinkle in Time
- Literature Groups
- Literature Groups 2
- Literary Terms
- Reading/Connections
- Reading/ Summarizing
- Reading/ Questioning
- Reading/ Monitoring
- Reading State Goals & Framework
- Research
- Science Fair 2011-2012
- Field Trips
- Science Cell Links
- Web Links 2011-2012
- Important Web Links 2010-2011
- Science 2010-2011
- Shedd Aquarium Visit 2010-2011
Comprehension Strategy: Making Connections
Making Connections for Increased Understanding
Text to Self Connections
When students read, they naturally look for connections between the texts they encounter and their own lives, feelings, values and experiences. When students make a personal connection to their lives, the new information becomes personally important and understandable.
Text to Text Connections
When reading, students ask themselves how the new information connects to what they have already learned about the research topic. They consider how the information connects to and is consistent or inconsistent with their current knowledge about this topic.
Text to World Connections
Often when new topics of research are introduced, we note that the topics and ideas are unfamiliar to students. Some students who have background knowledge have an advantage in that they can connect the new ideas to what they already know. Having students who have a connection share that connection with other students builds all students background and supports them as they begin to develop a connection to the topic. Students with no direct experience of war may begin to connect to that experience empathetically by hearing how a parent or grandparent experienced war. Students with little knowledge of nuclear fission may be able to make a text to world connection when they are helped to consider that nuclear fission is the basis for the explosion of an atomic bomb. Students who make that connection may now be able to see a reason to be interested in why the behavior of atomic particles is meaningful.
Text to Self Connections
When students read, they naturally look for connections between the texts they encounter and their own lives, feelings, values and experiences. When students make a personal connection to their lives, the new information becomes personally important and understandable.
Text to Text Connections
When reading, students ask themselves how the new information connects to what they have already learned about the research topic. They consider how the information connects to and is consistent or inconsistent with their current knowledge about this topic.
Text to World Connections
Often when new topics of research are introduced, we note that the topics and ideas are unfamiliar to students. Some students who have background knowledge have an advantage in that they can connect the new ideas to what they already know. Having students who have a connection share that connection with other students builds all students background and supports them as they begin to develop a connection to the topic. Students with no direct experience of war may begin to connect to that experience empathetically by hearing how a parent or grandparent experienced war. Students with little knowledge of nuclear fission may be able to make a text to world connection when they are helped to consider that nuclear fission is the basis for the explosion of an atomic bomb. Students who make that connection may now be able to see a reason to be interested in why the behavior of atomic particles is meaningful.
Novels: Making Connections
Monster by Walter Dean Myers
Steve Harmon, 16, is accused of serving as a lookout for a robbery of a Harlem drugstore. The owner was shot and killed, and now Steve is in prison awaiting trial for murder. From there, he tells about his case and his incarceration. Many elements of this story are familiar, but Myers keeps it fresh and alive by telling it from an unusual perspective. Steve, an amateur filmmaker, recounts his experiences in the form of a movie screenplay. His striking scene-by-scene narrative of how his life has dramatically changed is riveting. Interspersed within the script are diary entries in which the teen vividly describes the nightmarish conditions of his confinement. Myers expertly presents the many facets of his protagonist's character and readers will find themselves feeling both sympathy and repugnance for him. Steve searches deep within his soul to prove to himself that he is not the "monster" the prosecutor presented him as to the jury. Ultimately, he reconnects with his humanity and regains a moral awareness that he had lost.
All Alone in the Universe by Lynne Rae Perkins
Debbie and Maureen are in middle school; they've been best friends since third grade. At least they were until Glenna Flaiber arrives on the scene and becomes a major threat to their relationship. Debbie is comfortable being "Frick and Frack," as her father calls them, and becoming like the Three Musketeers is not appealing to her. When Maureen and Glenna vacation together and begin to share secrets that exclude her, Debbie begins to feel "all alone in the universe." In truth, Maureen likes both girls, but Glenna's constant presence is hard for the jealous friend to take and Debbie is gradually pushed out of the picture. With the help of a caring teacher and some new adult friends, she realizes that Maureen, not Glenna, is ultimately responsible for ending their friendship, and that's what hurts the most. Debbie is gently guided along to reach out to some new girls, and finds that she can be friends with many different types of people. The ending is realistic. There are no magical solutions or potions that bring the former friends back together. As in real life, growth occurs, relationships change, and the girls move on.
Among Friends by Caroline B. Cooney
Through journal entries, six high-school juniors reveal their jealou sies, frustrations, fears, and hopes. The plot focuses on upper-crust super- achiever Jennie Quint and a withdrawn newcomer, Paul R. Smith. Driven by parental and self-imposed pressure to succeed, Jennie is lonely, alienated from her friends. Meanwhile, Paul faces a private trauma with his unstable mother and estranged sister. When Jen nie confronts failure on a statewide honors math test, she runs away. In contrast, Paul accepts help from class mate Emily and Jared's lawyer father. Cooney again exhibits her knack for portraying the perils of success in an adolescent world. Characters speak with candor, occasional meanness, wit, and conviction. Although Cooney's Don't Blame the Music (Putnam, 1986) is a more thematically subtle and dra matic account of alienation and friend ship, Among Friends will attract secon dary readers with its fast pace, friendships and rivalries, upbeat end ing, and believable cast of characters.