Reading Self Help Tutor Skill: Understanding Text Connections

Pennsylvania Standard Addressed R7.B.1.2 Make connections between texts. R7.B.1.2.1 Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate connections between texts.

Objectives Student will be able to explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate connections between texts.

R7.B.1 Understand components within and between texts. R7.B.1.2.1 Explain, interpret, compare, describe, analyze, and/or evaluate connections between texts.

Vocabulary Analyze: to examine critically, so as to bring out the essential elements or give the essence of: Evaluate: To examine and to judge carefully. Interpret: to give or provide the meaning of; explain.

Connections: There are three different types of connections that we can make while reading. Text to Self Text to World Text to Text

Text to self Have you ever read a story where you can relate to the main character? If so, you have made a text to self connection. Other text to self connections can be made when you have been to similar places, have similar family backgrounds, or have similar personality traits Let’s learn some questions we can ask are selves during the reading process to create text to self connections

Text to Self Questions: Why does this remind me of in my life? What are the similarities to in my life? How and why is this different from my life? Have I experienced something like this? How does this relate to any points in my life? What were my emotions when I read this?

Text to Self Asking yourself text to self questions while reading can bolster your reading comprehension because… Questioning connections creates active reading and learning. Making a connection with the character keeps the reader involved. Searching for similarities and differences maintains focus for the reader.

Example Text to Self Terri was reading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. The book was really enjoyable because she knew how Beezus Quimby felt! She also had a younger sister named Jade who was the same age as Ramona. Jade was even more difficult than Ramona in Terri’s opinion. Jade had ruined her project for history class. How can Terri make a text to self connection?

Answers Terri was reading Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary. The book was really enjoyable because she knew how Beezus Quimby felt! She also had a younger sister named Jade who was the same age as Ramona. Jade was even more difficult than Ramona in Terri’s opinion. Jade had ruined her project for history class. Terri has identified with one of the characters in her book. She has also identified the relationship between the older and younger sister like her own.

Practice Work Sheet 1 In work sheet # 1 there will be a passage to read. After reading the passage you will complete the following questions. These questions encourage text to self connections

Text to World We all have ideas about how the world works that goes far beyond our own personal experiences. We learn about things through television, movies, magazines, and newspapers. Often it is the text-to-world connections that teachers are trying to enhance when they teach lessons in science, social studies, and literature. An example of a text-to-world connection would be when a reader says, "I saw a museum exhibit that talked about things described in this article."

Text to World Living in the city of Philadelphia provides many text to world connections through the subject of American History. In our text books we read about where the Liberty Bell and its importance in American History. We read about the who signed the Declaration of Independence and importance of this document in American history.

Text to World On field trips we walk around the streets of Old City Philadelphia where this history was actually made! We are able to visit the real Liberty Bell and learn about the process of making the actual bell. Additionally, we can walk through where the constitution was signed. The texts we read in school really applies to the world we live in.

Practice Work Sheet 2 In work sheet # 2 there will be a passage to read. After reading the passage you will complete the following questions. These questions encourage text to world connections

Text to Text Good readers actively engage in the text they read. This means they PAY ATTENTION! Often times when you are reading, you will be reminded of other books or texts you have read. Some might have similar characters or plotlines, others might be the same author or theme. The type of connections you are making are text-to-text connections.

Text to Text Making text-to-text connections makes the reader critically think. The reader gains insight about the text they are currently reading and other texts they have read in the past. The more one reads, the more text-to-text connections they can make.

Text to Text On the following slide there will be two different passages. You will read both and make connections between the two of them. Let’s see how well your connection skills have developed!!

Poetry- Connections As I Gaze upon My Father By Maren Stuart In the brownish photo, my father Sits up straight Like a wooden board, With his knees crossed And his hands folded gently over his knee, But the sheepish smile gives him away Like a pen trying to be a pencil. He wore a white oxford That was perfectly pressed And smooth as a newborn’s flesh As a second layer he wore a wool sweater That was rough as sandpaper, As if to show his life. Mama is a Sunrise By Evelyn Tooley Hunt When she comes slip-footing through the door, she kindles us like lump coal lighted, and we wake up glowing. She puts a spark even in Papa’s eyes and turns out all our darkness. When she comes sweet-talking in the room, she warms us like grits and gravy, and we rise up shining. Even at nighttime Mama is a sunrise that promises tomorrow and tomorrow.

Text to Text Questions Text-to-text questions: How do these two poems remind me of one another? What if anything makes these poems similar to one another? How are they different? Do the author’s share a similar style or voice? How is this poem similar to other poems or passages I’ve read? How is this different from other books I’ve read? Have I read about something like this before?

Poetry Connections The poems both have a similar subject matter, the poet’s parent. Both poems describe the individual’s personality. The mother is depicted as warm and loving while the father is described as mischievous and a product of his life (rough). Stylistically, both authors use metaphors to dive deeply into the subject’s character.

Practice Work Sheet 3 In work sheet # 3 there will be passages to read. After reading the passages you will complete the following questions. These questions encourage text to text connections. Some of the questions will be in between the two provided texts, others will be connecting the text to additional things you have read.