Connect: You’ve Gotta Have Connections

A third comprehension strategy is connecting to the literature.  Connecting to emotions and senses enhances comprehension skills because the reader can identify with the characters or situations in the text in extremely personal ways and make comparisons. There are three ways to connect: 1) Text to Self   2) Text to Text   3) Text to World

I never would have thought about this being a preschool skill until I was at a conference where the presenter described how these three connecting strategies were being implemented by kindergartners.  After she read a story, the kindergartners were able to connect the story all three ways, verbalizing the correct terminology.

To illustrate this strategy I will use the story of “The Three Little Pigs.”

1.      Text to Self

a.       I visited a farm and saw pigs

b.      I saw a wolf at the zoo last week

c.       I had a ham sandwich for lunch lol

d.      I was frightened by a big kid chasing me once

e.       I protect my brothers and sisters

f.        I live in a brick house

2.      Text to Text

a.       There is a bad wolf in “Little Red Riding Hood.”

b.      “This little piggy went to market …”

c.       I read the book Hamilton Pig. He got rid of the bad wolf, too.

d.      I read Walter the Wolf, but he was a good wolf.

3.      Text to World

a.       Bad wolves are like bad people.  They should be punished.

b.      Just like the first two little pigs should have taken more time to build their houses, we should make sure we take the time to do things right the first time.

Children, not unlike the rest of us, are totally egocentric.  If they learn to personalize the text they read, they will have better comprehension.

This is the School Marm,

 Ringing her bell. 

School’s out!