Thursday, October 2, 2008

Connections when Reading

Brain ReaderThe process of reading is when a person reads text and their inner voice makes connections between the meaning of the words, and relates it to their life and prior knowledge. The more closely the reader connects to the text, the higher the level of comprehension.

At times connecting is simple. At others, especially when the text is not in an area that the reader has background knowledge, comprehension is difficult. As students build their ability to connect with text, monitor their understanding of a passage, and compare it to things they already know, their ability to understand what they read increases.

Students should concentrate on their inner voice and connections.

1. Visualize. Picture yourself in the story and think about how the setting and characters look.

2. Focus on the characters. Compare them to yourself and people you know.

3. Put yourself in the story and think about how would react, and how you reacted when you were in a similar situation.

4. Look at problems. How do they compare to problems you have faced?

5. Ask yourself questions as you read. Think about how the story relates to your life, and things that you know.

6. When reading nonfiction, think about ways the information relates to what you already know.

7. If you are reading a book, and don't connect with it, ditch it and find one where you can make connections.

Please share a connection you have with a book you are reading.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

October 1, 2008


The book I'm reading is called Old Yeller authored by Fred Gipson. I had a connection in chapter one. My connection was whenever Travis, the big brother was trying to hit Little Arliss the little brother with a green mesquite sprout because he was playing in the creek(their drinking water) naked. The reason why I had this connection is because it reminded me of whenever I was little and whenever I did something wrong they would have to chase me down. That was my connection. Hope you enjoyed it and got a couple laughs out about it.

Anonymous said...

The book I'm reading is called Ghost Town written by Joan Lowery Nixon. I can relate myself to Chip because he always wants to do things by himself. His parents never really trust him. Finally after asking for awhile they finally let him do what he wanted to do. That's what happened to me because I always wanted to stay home by myself. Then after about a year of begging my mom finally let me stay home by myself. She said I was too young and she still says it. It gets on my nerves big time. That's my connection with the character in my book.

Anonymous said...

I am reading a book called The Cupid Chronicles by Coleen Murtagh Paratore. One part that I had a connect I am reading a book called The Cupid Chronicles by Coleen Murtagh Paratore. One part that I had a connection to is the part where on your cell phone you text ten things about the person you like and ten things about yourself. It tells you if the person you like should date you or not. The reason I have a connection to this is because there is a game like that where you enter the names of three people you like and it tells you who you should date. This game is called Spin The Phone and the game in my book is called The Perfect Ten. That is my connection.

By Emma Hedges

Anonymous said...

I am reading Sixth Grade Secrets, by Louis Sachar. I think the character that I have the best connection with is Laura. I think I have the best connection with Laura because she has brown hair and eyes like me. She also is tall like me. Her parents don't always like what she wants to wear like me. We both like hats and the color pink. We can both keep secrets really good. I like to keep old stuff instead of getting it new like her. We are alike quite a bit. I wonder what is going to happen next!

Anonymous said...

I am reading What Jamie Saw by Carolyn Coman I can make a connection with a part when Jamie saw his mom and dad get into a fight, because my parents got into a big fight once too. But in the book Jamie's parents get in way more fights than my parents do. Sometimes I feel sorry for Jamie because he has to liston to his parents fight. If I was in the position that Jamie was in I would call foster care and get taken away because I could not take it at all. I also feel sorry for Nin. She is Jamie's little sister. At the age Nin is she should not even hear them fight.

Anonymous said...

The tittle of my book I am reading is Diary Of A Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney. I connect with the book because this kid in this book always talks to himself and sometimes I talk to myself because I get bored and I have nothing to do. Then the kid finds out that he has never been cool so then he goes to the boy's bathroom and starts to cry. If someone came up to me and said you are not cool I would go to the bathroom or my house and start bawling. The wimpy kid thinks that he is going to grow up 10 feet tall and that he would be rich. To tell you the truth I have always have been thinking I would grow up rich but not all that tall, I would say about 6'6.

Anonymous said...

The title of the book that I am reading is called Brother, Brother, Sister, Sister. The author of the book is Helen Dunmore. The connection of the book is how the girl has two brothers and two sisters. That is a connection by me having a one brother and one sister. Also because they both fight with each other. That is another thing in the book. That's what my brother an sister do sometimes.

Anonymous said...

The title of my book is So B. It. The author is Sarah Weeks. In my book Heidi wants to know about her past because her mother has brain damage and can't remember. I feel like Heidi, I always wanted to know everything because every time somebody says my name I have to Know what they're talking about and why. In the book Heidi makes a lot of friends on her journey. I think I could make a lot of friends like that too because I am nice and friendly. I connect with the book because it is about Heidi's life full of mysteries and I feel like mine is too because my mom and dad always keep secrets.

Anonymous said...

The book I am reading is Deep Down Popular. The author is Phoebe Stone. The way I connect with my book is that we both like to discover things. One time the character in the book discovers this old house that had a old plane in the barn. The person that lived there before was the first lady plane driver. Well I discovered this really, really, old house on the hill across from my house. It had really old stuff in it like wood made things and some other old stuff. So I think that we would discover something cool if we met each other. That's the way my book and I connect.

Anonymous said...

By : Peyton Goode October,2,08


My book is Called Vidia And The Fairy Crown, The author is Laura Driscoll. In my book Vidia loses the queen's crown . Every year I am in a beauty padgent and if you win you get to ride a float and wear a matching dress with the other girls, you also get a crown. I have won five times and two years ago I lost my crown right before pumpkin show parade . I felt just like Vidia because everyone said it was my fault. At the end of the night my cousin called me on my cell phone and told me he found it, so it ended up that I did find my crown and so did Vidia!

Anonymous said...

I am reading Tree Girl. The author is Ben Mikalsen. One connection I have with the book is when their house burnt down and they have nowhere to go. I know how it feels because when we had the house fire we had nowhere to go. So we had to stay at a hotel till we found a place to rent. We stayed at the hotel four days. But when the solders burnt down their home her dad, sisters and brothers got killed. If I was her I would of just went to a country where she could start a new life. If I put myself in her shoes, that is what I would do.

by trindi

Anonymous said...

I am reading Old Yeller, by Fred Gipson. I do have a connection with the book. It's that I used to have a dog that followed me where every where I went and the dog's name was Jake. When we first got him was when I was little, I used to sleep on his stomach. But one day my dad and I went to Lancaster, my dog Jake followed us up the driveway. He has always laid on the road. When we got up there he laid on the road. When my dad and I go home he was in a ditch on the side of the road. He got ran over. Old Yeller gets hurt very badly. There are these wild pigs have horns and they cut Old Yeller up very badly

Anonymous said...

I am reading a book called The Rifle by Gary Paulsen. There is a character named Byam. I made a connection with him because we both like shooting guns. That is what we do for fun pretty much and he is close to my age. A thing we do not have in common is I do not make guns.

Anonymous said...

I'm reading the English Roses by Madonna. I can make a connection with the character Grace. I'm like her in many ways, one of the ways we are alike is we both get distracted and she always thinks there is something wrong when nothing really is. Then nothing can cheer her up and its kind of the same way with me too. I always think that something is wrong with my friend but nothing really is. Kind of like she said not even a cute boy can cheer her up at lest not any more. We also like to have sleep overs and play truth or dare. That is the connection I have with Grace have. Thank you for reading my paragraph.

Anonymous said...

I think you're right about getting a new book if you don't have connection. I think you should have a connection with the book. It's important to have a connection with the book. If you don't have a good connection with the book it's probably not the book for you. I think you should choose a book that is right for you. The book I have a book that I have has a good connection with me. I think everyone can find a book just for them. I already found a book for me.

Anonymous said...

I am reading Legally Blondie Elle Woods Blondie at Heart the author is Natalie Standford. My connection is in the first chapter. My connection is that Elle Woods and I both have glasses and braces. Its so cool having someone like me. If Elle didn't have braces or glasses I would not be writing this. I'm glad that I started this book it is really good. I hope I can read the next book of Legally Blondie. Elle and I both Love pink.
By Bailey

Anonymous said...

October 1, 2008



The title of my book is Six Months to Live. The author's name is Lurlene McDaniel. Dawn and I connect because we both have good friends. Like how Sandy and Dawn are good friends and like how Lily and I are good friends. I thought about Lily and I going to six grade camp because in my book Sandy and Dawn are at a cancer camp. I knew Dawn and I were connected about something. That was my connection with my book.

By : Jolene McNichols

Anonymous said...

One of the ways I connect to my book Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban is when Ron and Hermine fight because Ron thought Hermine's cat ate his rat. I connect to that by when my sister and I fought because she thought I let her dog out. Hermine knew her cat did not eat his rat, and I didn't let her dog out, dad did. I thought about it, but didn't. Thats how I connect to my book.

Anonymous said...

I read Harris And Me . The author is Gary Paulsen. This book is the best book to me because it relates to me by a lot of stuff. I thought that this book relates to me because ''Me'' gets kicked in the face by a cow and my grandpa got kicked in the face by a Donkey. When my grandpa was out, my dad and cousins helped him to the ambulance. Also my dad used to own 10 roosters that he couldn't handle so he sold them. My dad had a rooster that everyday we had to try and break the rooster from fighting. We did, we put him in a separate cage but he got out of it. We tried and tried but he got out every time so we let him roam free and he died because a guy on a quad ran over him. Earl was a rooster that roamed free and liked to fight and attack people. Also I was sent to my uncle's for a week to spend some time. The worst of all was looking after farm animals and waking up at 6:30 am just to get up early and if I didn't he would spill cold water on me and I didn't like it a bit. Harris and Me had to wake up really early and take after the farm animals.

Anonymous said...

I am reading A Series of Unfortunate Events written by Lemony Snicket. I have a connection to the book which is that in the book there are three kids in the Baudelaire family. The three kids are two girls and one boy. Their names are Violet, Klaus and Sonny. Also in my family I have two sisters just like Klaus because Klaus and me are both middle children. The kids in my family are named Jessica, me and Adrianna. Klaus' older sister is named Violet and my older sister is named Jessica. Violet and Jessica are smiler because they are both thinking of ways to improve things. Klaus' little sister is named Sonny and my little sister is named Adrianna. Sonny and Adrianna are smiler because they both try their best at anything put to them. Lastly Klaus and me are smiler because we try to use proper English when we talk.

Anonymous said...

I'm reading Marley by John Grogan. Marley reminds me a lot of my dog Blaize. She acts just like him. For example Blaize jumped out the car window like Marley did only we were not moving. Also this is a true story so John Grogan is in it, and he reminds me of my grandpa because John trains Marley in about a week or two and my grandpa would have had Blaize trained in about a week too.
He had trained my other dog Sadie pretty fast. John's wife Jenny, reminds me of my mom because she is a dog lover like my mom[She also gets mad easy she does].Well that's who they remind me of.

Anonymous said...

The book I am reading is called Harris and Me, written by Gary Paulsen. The main character is Harris. He likes to play with his friends all the time. I also like to play with my friends all the time. They play in the creek all the time with his friends. I like to play in the creek with my friends. They live in the woods. I live in the woods to

Anonymous said...

My book is called The English Roses the author is Madonna. I have some connections with my book. I think I'm mostly like Amy because Amy tells you the truth. I think I tell the truth like Amy, and were also alike because nobody wants to get on our bad side. We both have a lot of people that care about us. Some people that care about Amy is the English roses, some people that care about me is my friends and my family. I really enjoyed this book.