Modeling Relevant Connections

When Making Connections was first brought to the forefront of our thinking as a comprehension strategy, we found it a bit puzzling. As readers, this was a strategy we weren't even fully aware we were using. Making connections is a comprehension strategy effortlessly used by proficient readers. The trick to teaching this strategy, like many others, is to think aloud so children can hear what is going on inside our heads as we read.

For those of us who teach our youngest learners, this can be a huge challenge. You know how it goes, the book says something about one of the characters getting a band-aid and we are inundated with a slew of hands flying into the air and voices shouting out about their boo-boos, band-aids and even a grandpa being in the hospital, which leads to a secondary barrage of random connections.

It takes time and considerable modeling to help children see how connections need to be relevant and related to the text. They need to pull us deeper into the text instead of pulling us away from it.