'I Know! I Know!' Connect to the Text and Share Your Perspective!

• Smelly Socks  Robert Munsch  I chose this book because its about a girl about 2^nd grade who has an experience I think many of the kids have. It also has some great figurative language!
• Connecting to the text worksheet
• An old favorite thing from your house-it should look old or worn out (old teddy bear, blanket, etc)
• Connect to what you know powerpoint
• Lesson vocabulary words from the Reading/Writing word wall: literature, connecting, point of view, evidence
• Kinds of connecting chart

Underlined words below are lesson vocabulary words that are emphasized and written on sentence strips for my Reading & Writing word wall. I pull off the words off the wall for each lesson, helping students understand this key 'reading and writing' vocabulary can be generalized across texts and topics.  The focus on acquiring and using these words is part of a shift in the Common Core Standards towards building students’ academic vocabulary.  My words are color coded ‘pink’ for literature/’blue’ for reading strategies/’orange’ for informational text/'yellow' for writing/’green’ for all other words)

Get students engaged:

• Demonstrate connecting and point of view…“I brought something to show you today that I’ve had a long, long time!"
• Show your old favorite thing - mine was a teddy bear
• . “I still love my ….. but my husband/mom… told me it was time to get rid of it! I have a different point of view than them – I want to keep it!  
• Do you have something at home that you want to keep but mom or dad say is old or dirty?”  Take ideas   "Wow- you can connect to this idea too!"
• "Let's take a look at this quick video about connecting."  (see reflection)

Bring students to the same learning point

• “Today we are going to read a story about a girl who has a favorite thing."  
• Other people think she should not have it everyday. She has a different point of view than other people.”
• "I picked this story because I think you can connect to the character and what happens to her!"

The Core standards are shifting to students doing more literary analysis, including reading complex literary text and recognizing character development (RL.2.6).  This includes acknowledging differences in the point of view of characters, which this lesson builds towards. The lesson also asks students to make connections to characters and will build towards a later lesson that helps students distinguish between deep and shallow connections. A big difference with the Common Core in making connections is that the connections must be based on the text. Although connecting to outside information and experiences may enrich a students' understanding of a text, such connections are useful only insofar as they help a student understand an author's words. As we push students to make connections that are deep, we need to keep helping them understand the difference between deep, text-based connections and distracting, shallow connections. The process starts here in this lesson and builds throughout the unit. 

Explain connecting: 

• "I picked this story because I thought you could connect the main character. Connecting can really help you understand better!"
• "This story about a girl about 6 or 7 years old - raise your hand if you can connect with a 2^nd grader… who really wants something from her parents – raise your hand if you have ever really wanted something from your parents."
• "There are different kinds of connecting - I made a chart called the 'Kinds of Connecting'** and put that at the connection at the top – we’ll be discussing other kinds of connecting later." 

** I used kinds of connecting with the students to demonstrate how to make these deeper connections. This chart evidences the 3 kinds that I use: text-to-self, text-to-text, text-to-world. Here are the lessons where we discuss these other kinds of connecting -  ‘Connecting to the Text' and 'Connect to the World'.

Model demonstrating a point of view

• Powerpoint slide 1   "This book has great illustrations and a great story. When I think about point of view, I have to consider how the illustrations and words help determine the point of the view of the characters."  Here's an example of how I use that text evidence.
• Powerpoint slide 2  "Look at the girls and mom on the first page- “The girl is saying, 'I want something new', but the mom is thinking 'no'?”  Use a whiny voice for the girl and a firm voice for the mom   "I know this because the illustration shows.... and the words say...." 

Guided Practice:

• "Let's try some examples of 'point of view' together. Also, look for ideas or events that you connect to. I think you can share some of this characters' point of view and connect to how she feels."
• Powerpoint slide 3-4  Take ideas - Encourage kids to use a voice for the characters - "Do the illustrations or word help them figure out the point of view?  Do they have any connections to what's happened to her?"

Explain task:

• “It’s your turn to connect to the text and share your point of view. 
• Pass out the worksheets.  "Let’s do the first one together.” 

Guided practice:

• Read the first page and help students write one idea, such as ‘the girl wants socks’ or ‘the girl wants to go to the store’.  
• Ask for ideas for connections and offer several – encourage the kids to pick from their point of view.  Write 1-2  ideas on the board as the students copy.  
• See white board demonstration.

Independent practice:

• “Now you continue the chart yourselves as… (I read/you read- depends if you have a class set or are reading to the kids.) 
• “It's ok if you have different connections - you have a different point of view about things that happen in the story.
• There's an example of one of my student's work.