Making Connections Text-to-Text Text-to-Self Text-to-WorldText-to-Media

What are Text Connections? Making connections will allow us to better relate and understand ways in which reading connects to: –your own life and experiences –other forms of literature –society and the world –film, theatre, television, and radio Making connections elicits thinking skills such as: comparing and contrasting, cause and effect, recalling, inferring, synthesizing, and evaluating.

How Will Making Connections Help? Recognizing connections stimulates our cognitive (knowledge and thoughts) and affective (feelings and emotions) perception. This increased awareness makes reading more relevant and meaningful. –You will become more involved, engaged, and invested in reading and viewing an abundance of different forms of literature. –You will “dive into” what you read, making it your own, and, in doing so, become proficient in the process of reading and comprehending.

Activating Prior Knowledge Also known as activating schema, this skill is simply using what we have already absorbed from reading other texts, our lively experiences, watching movies, and observing the world on a day to day basis. Prior knowledge is what we already know. When making text connections between what we already know and what we are reading, we will build a stronger base of knowledge and be better equipped to understand and comprehend.

Cognitive Connections Cognitive connections stimulate our thought processes and works with our prior knowledge as we recall concrete facts and our tactile experiences. When making these types of links we are using our reasoning skills.

Affective Connections Affective connections stimulate our emotions and feelings and can cause our moods to change. We are activating past experiences that were happy or sad, exciting or boring, painful or soothing.

Connections Improve Comprehension!

4 Types of Text Connections Text-to-Self (TS) - in this instance, we make personal connections with events or characters in the text; they remind us of people we know, things we did, places we have been, experiences we have had, etc. Text-to-Text (TT) - this is when we connect events or characters we are reading about with other texts we have read. Text-to-World (TW) - This is when we connect events, characters, or concepts in a book with real life events, people, or issues. This includes: social, political, economic, environmental, and cultural issues, as well as race relations and class systems, conflicts, and wars. Text-to-Media (TM) - this is when we connect events or characters we are reading about with a sitcom or drama we watch on television, films and plays we have viewed, or radio shows we listen to.

Making Connections Text-to-Text (T-T)Text-to-Self (T-S) Text-to-World (T-W)Text-to-Media (T-M)

Text-to-Self The easiest connection to understand is text-to-self. This category represents the personal connections we develop between a specific written text and our own experiences. When we say, “This story reminds me of my grandfather took me to the beach,” we are expressing a text-to-self connection. Making a connection between a story helps us better understand the tale. Text-to-self connections help us in visualizing a scene, sympathizing with a character, or predicting possible meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary.

Text-to-Text Text-to-Text connections can be made across: –themes –literary elements, features, devices, and techniques –fiction and nonfiction genres –paired reading selections –vocabulary Genres (a type of literature) - Fiction: fable, tall tale, legend, myth, realistic fiction, historical fiction, play, adventure, science fiction, fantasy, mystery - Nonfiction: informational article, biography, autobiography, diary, journal, magazine article, news story, book review, persuasive essay, editorial, interview Effective readers think within the text. Effective readers think beyond the text. Effective readers think about the text.

Text-to-World We all have ideas about how the world works that go far beyond our own intimate personal experiences. We encounter the world vicariously, through newspapers and the nightly news. We are observe others as they relate their personal experiences. We form ideas from our observations of and interactions with these people. We learn information and develop conceptual understandings through instruction in school classrooms, but we can see the comings and goings of everyday life. Text-to-World connections are greater connections we make to events, issues, and concerns in society. What message or universal themes can we learn from the text? Does any of the situations relate to what’s happening in the world today? Is history repeating? What’s going on in the news?

Text-to-Media Film, television, and theatre provide visual and auditory enhancement of many forms of literature. As we read we will find that we can make connections to a plethora of movies or plays we have seen. A character from a novel is more likely to come to life if we can link their personalities to that of our favorite actor or entertainer. When we make these connections we are strengthening our understanding of the text.

4 Types of Text Connections

Introductory Phrases for Connections I I have experienced a similar situation as…………………………. I have shared an experience with…… I can relate to………………………….because….…… I have also experienced………………………………………………………………. I have undergone the same trials and tribulations as……… There is a connection between myself and………….…because

Introductory Phrases for Connections II A similar connection can be made to… …brings to mind… …relates to… …provides a direct connection between… …is a contrast/correlation/comparison to… …is the epitome (best example) of… …is the antithesis (opposite) of…

T HE AUTHOR PROBABLY FEELS THIS WAY BECAUSE ……..T HE AUTHOR PROBABLY FEELS THIS WAY BECAUSE …….. T HE CHARACTER PROBABLY ACTS THIS WAY BECAUSE …….T HE CHARACTER PROBABLY ACTS THIS WAY BECAUSE ……. T HIS ALSO REMINDS ME OF …………T HIS ALSO REMINDS ME OF ………… M ANY PEOPLE FEEL THIS WAY BECAUSE ……M ANY PEOPLE FEEL THIS WAY BECAUSE …… W E SEE THIS IN SOCIETY WHEN …….W E SEE THIS IN SOCIETY WHEN ……. More “Lead-In Lines”