Rationale:

Teachers know that when good readers use their background knowledge or schema, they are better able to understand the text. After teaching students to connect what they are reading to their previous experiences or knowledge about the world, teachers can begin to draw on the connections that exist between texts.  On one level connections can be drawn about the structure of texts. Stories have a problem and a resolution while informational texts have main ideas and details. Drawing out these structural similarities can help readers know what to expect from the type of text they are reading. On a second level, readers can gain insight when similarities are drawn from book to book between the a character’s experiences, feelings, or actions or between story themes.  In informational texts, students can recall how information from readings on a similar topic connect. Once students have mastered using text-to-text connections to aid in their comprehension, teachers can move to teaching students to analyze the similarities and differences between texts. In both the Reading Literature and Reading Informational Texts standard nine of the Common Core State Standards, students are asked to compare and contrast elements and themes in stories, as well as, key details and points of view in informational texts. By continuously strengthening the skill of making connections between texts in lessons, teachers enable students to draw more information from those texts for greater comprehension, which will build the bridge for them to the deeper thinking and analysis of comparing and contrasting.  

Application

Text to Text- How does this text relate to other texts I have read? Use these frames to help students think deeply about connections.

• The way _________________________ is written reminds me of the text ______________ because they both _____________________________________________.
• The __________________________ in this story/text reminds me of the text ________________ because they both ________________________________________.
• This text differs from the text __________________________ because _____________________________________________________________________.

How to:

Continue using the to-with-group-by method.

To- Model the thinking a reader would do when they encounter a text to self connection and articulate your thinking using a sentence frame. "The _____ in this text reminds me of the text _______ because they both...."

With- At stopping points or at the end of the story have students share out. Check that their are no misconceptions on how to correctly apply the strategy.

Group- Ask students to share out to their accountable talk group using sentence frames.

By- Ask students to try the strategy as the read independently. You can also use some of the assessment techniques listed below to monitor each reader's ability to use the strategy.

Assessment:

• Informal observation during lesson
• Accountable talk with a check sheet to record mastery
• Students place sticky notes on the reading with their thinking
• Students record their connections on graphic organizers
• Students complete a formal writing piece (compare and contrast/response to literature/expository text where information is drawn from multiple texts)