Reading Strategy: Make Connections

You know a lot about the world around you. When you connect your knowledge of the world to what you are reading, you get a much clearer picture of what the writer is saying.

Reading Strategy Make Connections
    How to Make Text-To-World Connections

  • 1. Make Connections As you read, make connections between the text and what you know about the world around you. Ask: How does this remind me of something else I have seen or heard?

  • 2. Build Your Understanding Use your connections to help you understand what you are reading. Ask: How can I use what I know about the world to help me better understand what I am reading?

Strategy in Action

Here’s how one student made text-to-world connections.

Look Into the Text
By that time the walls, ceilings, and carpet were in flames. “I knew to drop to my knees and follow the wall,” Marteney says. “I couldn’t see a foot in front of my face and it hurt to breathe.” Marteney stayed brave. She found the boy huddled behind the bathroom door. She grabbed him and rushed him out to safety.

I heard a firefighter say this once. He said it was cooler and there was less smoke on the floor.

Most teens would not want to run into a burning building. But Marteney is a member of the Dragon Slayers. They are a teenage emergency medical team.

I know the most important thing to do in an emergency is to stay calm. I think staying calm is what helped Marteney rescue that boy.

Practice Together

Reread the passage and make text-to-world connections. Follow the steps in the How-To box. Put your sticky notes next to the passage.