Monday, October 24, 2011

Reading Strategies, Making Connections

Can you connect with the book you are reading?  Can you imagine yourself in it?  Does it remind you of things from your life?  If not, maybe it's just not the book for you.


The process of reading is when a person reads text and their inner voice makes connections between the words, and 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. To be a better reader, think about how the story relates to your life.

Readers 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.

Here are the start to connections.

Text-to-self:
This is similar to my life . . .
This is different from my life . . .
Something like this happened to me when . . .
This reminds me of . . .
This relates to me . . .
When I read this I felt . . .

Text-to-text:
This reminds me of another book I’ve read . . .
This is similar to another thing I read . . .
This different from another book I read . . .
This character is similar/different to  another character  . . .
This setting is similar/different to an other setting . . .
This problem is similar/different to the problem in  . . .

Text-to-world:
This reminds me of the real world . . .
This book is similar to things that happen in the real world  . . .
This book is different from things that happen in the real world . . .

Students, as you read today, what connections did you have?

Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/pfala/3368846439/sizes/s/

18 comments:

Hunter H. said...

The book I am reading is Tuckets Gold by Gary Paulsen.
Some relations I have had with my book are in my book this girl named Lottie slaps her brother Billy in the head and it reminded me a lot like when my sister Hannah gets mad at me she slaps me in the head. Another relation I had with my book is Mr Tucket finds these kids Lottie and Billy in a abandon wagon and He stuck with them he did not leave them. That reminded me of how I would stick with my family and never leave them.

Jacob S. said...

One connection with Diary of a Wimpy Kid is Greg has to go get his hair cut and he has to go to a girly beauty salon. I have a connection because I have to go to one because my grandma works at one so we have to go there and they're always a lot of girls there.

gabrielle l. said...

The best connections in the book The Pinballs is when Carlie says"Do they have to be here." I can relate to that by I have said that to my dad about my brother and sister. They were visiting and they were mean to me.Another connection is when Carlie was watching TV and she said "Keep it down I'm trying to watch TV." I can relate to that by I do that to my dad and he gets mad at me.Carlie and I have a lot in common.

Haylee said...

I had several connections today. One of them was where Thomas had a date and it was at 6:00 and his date did not show. He felt like throwing in the towel and go home.
I have a connection there because I have went to Rosters and was suppose to meet my cousin there and she did not come at that time and was late. I felt like throwing in the towel and going home.
I also had another connection and it was where Thomas was wanting his friend to give him Amy’s number and Thomas was being very inpatient.
I have a connection there because one of my friends was wondering if I could come over. They were being very inpatient for my answer.

Brylee S said...

I have a connection with the book I am reading an it is called Poppy And The Rye I connect to this book because in this book they fight with the beavers for Rye's life and they fight with the beavers because they do not like the beavers because the beavers making a dam.

I connect to this book because had to fight with my parents because my aunt hates hunting and so does my mom and I'm not aloud to hunt but I did it any way with my dad.

Jordan D. said...

Diary of a wimpy kid Rodrick Rules .One Of my connections with my book is Rodrick would pretend he was running away from home and then Greg would cry. Scotty would always trick me when I was younger to get out of his room. Another connection is Every time Greg has Rowley over and Manny would stay with them while they watch the movie. I always sneak into Scotty and Eric room to watch the movie with them but then they try to kick me out.

Trinity W. said...

I have one connection with the book I am reading. The book series I am reading is called Trackers by Patrick Carman. I had a connection in this book, because they took the Raymond disk and they got caught and now the Government has them locked away somewhere.
I connect to this because I said some mean things to a person and that person told their mom and that persons mom called my house and told my mom and I got in trouble.

Cory T . said...

I had a connection with my book Diary Of a Wimpy Kid Dog Days.MY connection was that Greg and Rowley want to start a lawn mowing job. When my cousin and I wanted to start a lawn mowing job we walked up to my mom and she said "no you are not doing that."

Caleb W. said...

I have a connection with the book Stealing Freedom. The connection I have is when Ann has to leave her friend Sarah. It reminds me of when my uncle moved to Arkansas last year. I haven't seen him since. Plus that meant I wouldn't be able to see my cousins.

Emily R. said...

I had a connection with my book Double Identity. The connection I had was when the main characters (Bethany) mom was crying in the car. The reason why Bethany's mom was crying was because Bethany's dad was made them get in the car and they had been traveling for hours. When Bethany tried to comfort her mom and ask whats wrong her mom would say "Nothings wrong." Bethany"s mom is like pretty much like my mom they'll never tell you what's wrong.

Jaden H. said...

Today when I was reading Trackers I saw a sentence that said I guzzled a Monster and drank a Mountain Dew. I connect to my book because when I was at one of my friends houses we wanted to stay up all night so we drank two Monsters and a couple of Mountain Dews.

Kyle B. said...

Today I read Skeleton Creek there was a part that I would do the same. The part where he says if I just moved to Skeleton Creek. The sun would rise when the car door opens. Also a man standing at the curb looking out into the forest beyond the edge of town with three Gray fang. I would look my door and drive as fast as I could.

Keifer M. said...

I am reading 39 Clues Into The Gauntlet. I made two connections when I was reading my book. In my book Amy and Nellie made Dan go to a Romeo and Juliet play. I made a connection to this. It reminded me about the time when my mom made me go to my sister's dance recital.
In the play there was a hand that came out. It reminded me of the time I went to Tristan's house and they scared us by putting a hand in the window.

Kolton A. said...

In {315} I only made one connection and it is in chapter three when Molly tells Troy to be quiet during Mr. Mason's class. That reminds me of when I tell my brother to shut up.

Molly C. said...

The book I am reading now is called Found written by Margaret Peterson Haddix. In my book, Jonah turned around to throw the Elucidator to his sister and he knew that she would catch it. That reminds me of when I need my sister and I turn around and she's always there for me.

Other part that related to me was when this one boy started freaking out because when they went into the cave the time was ten eighteen. After they had been in there for a while it still said ten eighteen. This one girl named Emily went over to him and held his hand and said in a soothing voice that it was okay and that sometimes phones break. Any how that reminds me of when I was scared when I was little and she would hold my hand and say that everything was okay.

Austinp said...

I have connection with the book Diary Of A Wimpy Kid The Last Straw every bode in my family but dad and Dalten and I like to sleep in for four hours and we trey to wake them up and they still do not wake up.

Lexi E. said...

I am reading Letters From The Heart and I think my biggest connection with my book is how Maeves parents are going through a divorce. Maeve is sad about it but she is trying to be brave for her little brother Sam. I am pretty sure I know how she feels, my parents got divorced when I was 2. Going back and forth to both parents house was kind of weird. I didn't really like going to my dads because I was use to my moms. That is exactly how Maeve is in my book.

Another big connection in my book would have to be when Maeve through a party thanking her friends for helping her with her blanket project. The girls stayed up really late. I think I can connect to this, because when I have parties or sleepovers we usually stay up all night!

Caleb L. said...

One connection I have with Guts is Gary Paulson is around animals a lot like when he runs his dogs for the dog sled races, I also am around dogs and other animals a lot.

Another connection I have with Guts is he is in the woods a lot. Like when he goes hunting, and camping. I also go out in the woods a lot.

Another connection I have with Guts is Gary Paulson is he got stuck out in the woods in a storm while he was hunting. I also have gotten stuck out in the woods while a storm.