Digging Deep:Making “Deep” Connections

Relate to Literature

In the fictional passage in front of you, the main character (“I”) is a seventh-grade girl named Rachel.

How is Rachel’s problem like a problem you’ve had in your life? Relate Rachel’s experience to your life.

Connections

Self– personal life,

experiences, community

Text– other texts, movies,

TV shows

World– Real life

Text to Self

Alexander talks about the bad day that he had.

My gramma cut my bangs so short that they were spiky and crooked. So I put a white headband on my forehead to hide the hair and people thought it was a bandage from a car accident.

Text to Text

He lost his best friend; Alexander was his 3rd best friend.

In the novel Here’s to You, Rachel Robinson, Rachel worries that her friend may like someone better than her

Text to World

He got in trouble for punching his brother.

In American schools, schools will suspend students for fighting.

Making Deeper Connections

What happens when a plug is not in the socket securely?

The light may flicker.

The plug may fall out and the connection is broken.

Making Deeper Connections

Animals might dig up the coffinHeavy rains may cause the coffin to rise to the surfaceAnd then…zombies will wander aimlessly for brains

What would happen if a grave was not dug 6 feet deep?

How Can We Make Deeper Connections When Reading? Sample connection:– The main character has a brother and I

have a brother.

This is a surface connection - it shows a student is not thinking enough about the reading.This type of connection is like the loose plug in the wall.

Making a Deeper Connection

As you try to relate to the book, think of how you can dig deeper and make meaningful connections.– Use prior knowledge

Your connections may not be exactly the same as what happened in the book - that’s OK!Think of the following prompts as you read:– This passage reminds me of . . . – This is similar to/different from . . . – This connects to the real world…

Examples ofDeeper Connections

Try to use text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections– Reading “I Escaped a

Violent Gang” reminds me of when the school bully beat me up when I was in fifth grade (Text-to-Self)

– The memoir is similar to the movie “Freedom Writers” when Eva is jumped-in (Text-to-Text)

Remember to Dig Deep!

The more meaningful your connections are, the better you will understand what you are reading!

Make sure you dig six feet deep to make good connections!