What type of connection where you connect what you are reading to personal experiences or knowledge?

Making connections is a reading comprehension strategy that involves linking what is being read (the text) to what is already known (schema, or background knowledge). The strategy promotes engagement while reading and, in turn, a deep understanding of the text. There are three main types of connections:

  • Text-to-Text connections involve, as the name suggests, a link between the text currently being read and a text that was previously read. You can encourage students to make text-to-text connections by keeping a running list of books read as a class posted in the classroom and by using guiding questions such as Does this book remind you of any other books you have read? and How is this book similar to/different from other books you have read?
  • Text-to-Self connections involve linking the text and the reader’s personal experiences. You can encourage students to make text-to-self connections by asking students guiding questions such as Can you relate to any of the characters in the story? or Does anything in the book remind you of your own life?
  • Text-to-World connections involve linking the text to an event or phenomena that happen in the larger world. This is the most difficult of the three types of connections, especially for younger students whose schema is often limited to their own life and experiences. You can encourage students to make text-to-world connections by ensuring that students have well-developed schema before beginning to read. You can also pose questions like Does this remind you of anything in the real world? or How is this book similar to/different from things that happen in the real world?

With making connections, as with any other reading comprehension strategy, it is important that teachers model the strategy for students. Provide time for supported practice, either by working as a whole class and allowing students to share connections they’ve made or by working in small groups. Only after students show proficiency in these situations should they be expected to apply the strategy independently. Posting questions, such as the ones listed above, can provide continued support for students as they read.

The resources highlighted below provide further information about the strategy of making connections.

Making Connections
Part of the Into the Book web site, this area provides definitions for teachers and students, learning objectives, videos, lessons, books, research, and links for further information.

Making Connections
This strategy guide from ReadWriteThink includes the research basis for the strategy, a look at the strategy in practice, and related resources.

Reading Strategy: Making Connections
A slide show (16 slides) about the three types of connections. Includes examples. The slide show could be used to introduce the strategy to upper-elementary students.

Comprehension Strategies
Information and resources for teaching six comprehension strategies, including making connections.

In our article Making Connections with Literacy Lessons you will find ready-to-use ideas for lessons at different grade levels.  Each lesson is aligned with the national English language arts standards.


This article was written by Jessica Fries-Gaither. Jessica is an education resource specialist at The Ohio State University and project director of Beyond Weather and the Water Cycle and  Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears. She has taught in elementary and middle school settings. Email Jessica at .

Copyright December 2011 – The Ohio State University. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1034922. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. This work is licensed under an Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons license.

Making connections is an important reading comprehension strategy for elementary students to become proficient in. When readers make connections, they use what they already know to make sense of a story. It helps readers better understand and enjoy stories they read and listen to by connecting it to their prior knowledge and experiences. Learn all about how to teach making connections in reading below!

What is Making Connections?

Making connections is a reading comprehension strategy where students rely on their background knowledge and prior experiences with a topic. When readers make connections, they are relating what they read to something they already know about. Readers will use what they already know to understand text that is confusing or difficult for them to understand. When students make connections, they are making sense of what they’ve read. 

There are three different types of connections that readers make and it is important that students practice each. Perhaps the easiest type of connection to make is text to self. This is when students connect what they have read to their personal experiences and knowledge. Another type of connections readers make are text to text. Readers make text to text connections when they relate one book to another. The final type of connection is text to world and it is a bit more challenging for students. This is when we make connections about our community and world to what we are reading.

Why Is Making Connections an Important Comprehension Strategy?

Making connections is an important strategy for readers to understand what they are reading. If students can connect to what they read, they better understand the text. As a result, they will have a deeper comprehension of a text.

When students are making connections during reading, they are more engaged. This strategy gives students a purpose for their reading. It also requires readers to be actively involved and focused on the text. 

Making connections to the text helps readers to remember what they read. They will have a better understanding of how characters are feeling. Students are able to empathize or share excitement with characters when they can relate to their experiences. 

As students get older and text becomes more challenging, this reading strategy becomes more important. When reading to learn information, students will depend on any background knowledge they have about a topic. They will try and connect the new topic to any information they already know in order to make sense of the new information.

Teaching Standards for Making Connections

Standards for this reading comprehension topic include…

CCSS

  • The Common Core State Standards do not specifically address making connections.

TEKS

  • Grade 1
    • ELA.1.6.E – The student is expected to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society with adult assistance.
    • ELA.1.7A – The student is expected to describe personal connections to a variety of sources.
  • Grade 2
    • ELA.2.6.E – The student is expected to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
    • ELA.2.7A – The student is expected to describe personal connections to a variety of sources.
  • Grade 3
    • ELA.3.6.E – The student is expected to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
    • ELA.3.7A – The student is expected to describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts.
  • Grade 4
    • ELA.4.6.E – The student is expected to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
    • ELA.4.7A – The student is expected to describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts.
  • Grade 5
    • ELA.5.6.E – The student is expected to make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
    • ELA.5.7A – The student is expected to describe personal connections to a variety of sources, including self-selected texts.

3 Tips for Teaching Students to Make Connections

Below are suggestions for when you teach your students to make connections when reading.

1. Read Aloud Picture Books

Reading aloud picture books is a great way to model and practice this reading comprehension strategy. There are tons of great read alouds out there for teaching students to make connections. Some high-quality examples include My Name is Yoon, The Relatives Came, Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, Alice and Greta, and Ruby Finds a Worry.

2. Make Anchor Charts

Anchor charts are another great way to teach students about making connections when reading. My making connections resource includes an interactive anchor chart that successfully engages students in their learning and provides a visual learning experience for students to learn about making connections.

3. Use Videos

The third on the list of tips for teaching students to make connections is playing videos. This is another great visual learning opportunity for students to learn about what can feel like a very abstract idea. Below are some examples of videos that are great for teaching students how to make connections when reading picture books.

  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R21XJMNplLU
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHsdQvsN8ag

Making Connections Resources

These printable and digital resources for teaching elementary students about making connections make curriculum and lesson planning quick and easy. It includes teacher, parent, and student resources, so you’ll have everything you need to deliver meaningful research-based instruction rooted in current best practices. 

What type of connection where you connect what you are reading to personal experiences or knowledge?
What type of connection where you connect what you are reading to personal experiences or knowledge?

What is Included

1. Teacher Resources

There are teacher notes about the strategy, teaching ideas, a planning page with question prompts, and list of mentor texts, so you have all of the information you need to plan a research and standards-based reading unit based on this reading comprehension strategy.

2. Parent Resources

There is a parent letter and a reading log with suggested question prompts so parents can confidently support and reinforce the strategy you are teaching with their children at home.

3. Instructional Resources

There are printables to create a large anchor chart and reference charts. Both save you lots of time searching for anchor chart ideas and supplemental teaching tools.

4. Student Resources

There are 3 printables and 2 activities for students that provide meaningful opportunities to practice and make sense of the reading strategy in a fun and engaging way.

5. Digital Resources

There are digital versions of several of the resources so students can access them in school or at home using a technology device of their choice.

Why Teachers Love this Resource

  1. This collection of resources is so versatile. Use it on it’s own or use it to supplement any reading curriculum. You will be able to continue to use these resources if your school adopts a new reading program or you switch school districts.
  2. This resource is part of a larger collection of reading strategy products, so you can provide a consistent instructional approach that your students quickly learn and understand the expectations and routines for. Learn more about this collection here!
  3. It’s a huge time saver! Instead of hunting for background information on a reading strategy and then searching for resources to teach the strategy, this comprehensive resource includes all of the information and resources you need to teach a whole unit on this reading strategy.
  4. The student activities are a lot of fun for students. This helps create a productive learning environment where students are engaged and learning!
  5. It includes resources that provide a great way to create a home-school connection with students’ families and support parents/guardians in continuing student learning at home.

In closing, we hope you found this post about how to teach making connections in reading helpful! If you did, then you may also be interested in this other post about elementary reading comprehension strategies.

What are the three types of connections in reading?

Introduce the three types of connections: text-to-self, text-to-text and text-to-world. Read the text aloud. Use the Think Aloud strategy to model one of the three types of connections.

What does it mean to connect to something in your reading?

This means they are interacting with what they read, not just saying words on a page. One effective way we can do this is making connections to the text. There are three kinds of connections readers make before, during, or after reading: 1.

What are the different types of connections that a reader can make?

Using the Making Connections Posters (Text-to-Self Connection, Text-to-Text Connection, and Text-to-World Connection) as visual aids, introduce the three types of connections: Text-to-Self Connection, Text-to-Text Connection, and Text-to-World Connection.

What is a text

Reading comes alive when an example of a text-to-self connection is made which might be, "This story reminds me of a vacation we took to my grandfather's farm."