Readers+Make+Connections

=__**Teach students how to activate their prior knowledge and connect it to what they read.**__=

What are connections/background knowledge?

 * 1) Text to self (familiarity though reader’s personal experience)
 * 2) Text to text (familiarity with an author, similarities between books, familiarity with a writing style or text format/structure)
 * 3) Text to world (familiarity with a subject/content area based upon having known about it from the larger world)

Why teach this?

 * 1) Provides students with a source from which to draw inferences
 * 2) Provides students with a context in which to place new information
 * 3) Brings memories and ideas together for greater comprehension
 * 4) Helps students recognize potentially challenging text formats/structures
 * 5) Helps students identify when they have inadequate background information to understand a text – what else they need to learn before going on

How to teach this?

 * 1) Model, Model, MODEL! (Demonstrate)
 * 2) Read aloud to students, pausing to “think aloud,” about the connections you are making as a reader. Be sure your “think alouds” show 2 things:
 * Exactly how your own connection to the text helps you understand the text better
 * How your own “knowledge bank” is changed by what you read.
 * 1) Begin by just demonstrating one type of connection, then have the students practice doing the same, before moving on to another type of connection.
 * 2) Guided Practice: Students make connections with the facilitator during a shared reading.
 * 3) Independent Practice: Students use sticky notes/margin notes/reflection to indicate points in the text where they made connections.