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.
1. Text to Self
2. Text to World
3. 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:
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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
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As I Gaze upon My Father
By Maren Stuart
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Mama is a Sunrise
By Evelyn Tooley Hunt
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.