This video demonstrates how to effectively incorporate making connections in a classroom. These students are engaged and feel conformable with sharing their ideas. The teacher uses visual aids to remind students of books and has open ended and thinking questions.
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The middle school teacher in this video describes how making connections helps to engage students as well as helps them comprehend. She states that making connections applies throughout the curriculum. This stress the importance of integration of subjects through the use of reading strategies.
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Definition: Making connections between things read to personal experience, other text, and the world.
Purpose: To make meaning of a text by using prior knowledge and experiences. When students are making connections they are building on and developing their schema. Schema is background knowledge and experience in which readers bring to the text to help them understand. When readers draw on prior knowledge and experience it help them understand what they are reading therefore it allows them to comprehend the text (Gunning, 2012)
Tips:
- Text-to-self
- Text-to-text
- Text-to-world
Purpose: To make meaning of a text by using prior knowledge and experiences. When students are making connections they are building on and developing their schema. Schema is background knowledge and experience in which readers bring to the text to help them understand. When readers draw on prior knowledge and experience it help them understand what they are reading therefore it allows them to comprehend the text (Gunning, 2012)
Tips:
- Introduce strategy- Before Teaching for first time model for students; make connections (text to-self, text, and world).
- Use a visual aid- poster, chart, or graphic organizer.
How the strategy may be used in a lesson:
Lesson 1: Read Aloud-Modeling
- There are many ways to incorporate this strategy; read aloud, read to self, read in a group or partner, watching a movie/video, etc.
Lesson 1: Read Aloud-Modeling
- Teacher can model making connections to students. Thinking aloud when reading and making connections to self, other text, and the world, will help demonstrate to students how to make meaningful connections.
- While the teacher is reading, students can participate in a graphic organizer which is writing and or drawing their connections (example of a graphic organizer on right side). This will allow students to not only make connection with written language but also show how they visualize this. Studies show that some students learn best through visualization. After the teacher is done reading the text students can then break into small groups and share their connections and drawings. This will allow them to gain more information on the topic and to see how their classmates connected to the text.
- On chart paper record students responses of connections they make to the text (text-self, text-text, and text-world connections). By doing it as a whole class the teacher can point out what are meaningful connections with a purpose. After reading the text have students participate in a discussion. To determine if a connection is meaningful ask students questions, such as does this help us learn more about the story, can you tell us why you think that is meaningful, and what can we understand from that connection?
Writing component:
There are multiple ways to use making connections into a lesson, many of which include writing. There are multiple graphic organizers that can be used. A writing one is to the side for an example. A teacher could just focus on one of the three connections and really have students make strong meaningful connections to the text, writing down them then sharing them aloud to the class, small groups, or partners. Students could also use post-it notes to make connections, especially for middle school students and chapter books. This is an easy way to have students stop and make connections and meaning of the text. Have student make so many connections each chapter.
There are multiple ways to use making connections into a lesson, many of which include writing. There are multiple graphic organizers that can be used. A writing one is to the side for an example. A teacher could just focus on one of the three connections and really have students make strong meaningful connections to the text, writing down them then sharing them aloud to the class, small groups, or partners. Students could also use post-it notes to make connections, especially for middle school students and chapter books. This is an easy way to have students stop and make connections and meaning of the text. Have student make so many connections each chapter.
Reference/Researchers:
Harvey and Goudvis- Students naturally bring their prior knowledge and experience to reading. However Harvey and Goudvis state, "they comprehend better when they think about the connections they make between the text, their lives, and the world at large" (Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). These connections that students make help to make sense of the new material and help their comprehension skills.
Keene and Zimmerman- These two believe that students should participate in multiple different comprehension strategies, one including making connections. They believe that when students can make a connection to the new material it helps them build on their schema as well as helps them comprehend the new information. They concluded that students comprehend better when they make different kinds of connections, which include to their prior experiences (self), other text, and the world. (Keene and Zimmerman, 1997)
Harvey and Goudvis- Students naturally bring their prior knowledge and experience to reading. However Harvey and Goudvis state, "they comprehend better when they think about the connections they make between the text, their lives, and the world at large" (Harvey & Goudvis, 2000). These connections that students make help to make sense of the new material and help their comprehension skills.
Keene and Zimmerman- These two believe that students should participate in multiple different comprehension strategies, one including making connections. They believe that when students can make a connection to the new material it helps them build on their schema as well as helps them comprehend the new information. They concluded that students comprehend better when they make different kinds of connections, which include to their prior experiences (self), other text, and the world. (Keene and Zimmerman, 1997)