5 Fantastic Strategies for Making Connections

In order for a reader to be able to read and understand a text there is a great deal of work that they must do in their head. As shared in The Importance of Strategies, readers use a variety of strategic actions and strategies to process what they are reading. Monitoring and self-correcting is one of twelve strategic action we will explore in this Strategic Action Series.

This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful. Visit my disclosure statement for more information.

Strategies Change Over Time

When young children begin reading, they may use very simple strategies like memorizing or remembering the words in a story and reciting them as they see the pictures. As they learn more about letters, words, and books, they will begin using strategies like:

Pausing when something doesn’t make sense (self-monitoring)
Looking at the picture, thinking about the sentence, and looking at the first letters to make sure what they have read “looks right,” “sounds right,” and “makes sense.” (cross-checking sources of information)
Reread a word to read it correctly when they misread the word the first time. (self-correcting)

As young readers have more and more time to read and experience books, they develop their ability to use more sophisticated strategic actions as they read.

IMPORTANT REMINDER

It is important to note that readers use strategic actions simultaneously. Unfortunately, many children view them as separate actions or even as their goal of their reading. This may be the case if you’ve ever heard your child say, “This week I am inferring.” This happens when strategies are talked about in isolation or if your child does most of their strategy work with worksheets. Even though we may attempt to strengthen a strategic action by talking about it in isolation, it is always important to remind your child that they use many strategic actions and strategies to understand what we are reading.

Here is an example shared by Fountas and Pinnell in Guided Reading (2e)

A child who is automatically solving words and monitoring his comprehension might realize it and pause to reread or search for more information. He might also search his background knowledge, make connections, and, by comparing present knowledge to new learning, synthesize new ideas

Even though these actions are listed in a sequence, many take place simultaneously. Our brains can work so quickly and can do such much.

Now let’s take a look at Making Connections, a strategic action identified by Fountas and Pinnell (Literacy Continuum, Expanded Edition, 2017).

Making Connections

It is important for readers to make connections as they read. Making connections simply means noticing how what they know or what they’ve learned in other places fits with what they are reading. Any time someone reads a text they use background knowledge (what they already know about the topic or situation). When readers make connections, they can empathize or identify with characters in stories. Another part of making connections is to relate books with their own lives, with other books, and with the larger world. As readers read more and more, they are able to gather more information and a greater understanding about the world leading them to make even more powerful connections.

Check out the Reading Level Specific Posts to see questions you can ask or prompts you can give to support your child’s use of this strategic action.

5 Fantastic Strategies to Encourage Making Connections

1. Integrating New Information

Great for any Reading Level

Strategy Steps

When you come to new information, think about what you already know that is related or similar to the new information.
Think about what you are learning – what is the same? What is different?
In your mind, picture what you are learning.

You can prompt your child to integrate new information by asking the following questions:

What do you know about this?
How is it similar to what you already know about _______?
How is it different from what you already know about _______?
Can you picture that in your mind?

2. Know and Wonder

Great for any Reading Level

Strategy Steps

Before reading, write down or tell someone:
- what you already know about the topic/subject.
- What you think you know about the topic/subject.
- What you wonder.
Read the text with what you know, think you know, and wonder in mind. Using what you said or wrote to help you pay close attention to new information and revise misconceptions you may have.

You can prompt your child to consider what they know and wonder about a topic by asking the following questions:

What is something you are sure you know about ______?
What is something you think about ______?
What do you want to learn more about?
What are you wondering about?
What are you learning now that you read this part?

3. Making Book to Book Connections

Great for Reading Levels K and up

Strategy Steps

Think about another books that remind you of the book you are reading.
Consider what you learned from those books.
Think about if there are any lessons or information from other books you’ve read that relate to this book

You can prompt your child to make book connections by asking the following questions:

What are some other books you’ve read that are similar to this one?
What other books does this remind you of? Why?
Can you connect this book to another book you’ve read?

4. Books in a Series

Great for any Reading Levels J and up

Strategy Steps

Think about two books in a series (Example of series: Magic Treehouse, Owl Diaries, Rainbow Magic, Flat Stanley, A to Z Mysteries). (It’s helpful if you can place the two books side by side)
Ask yourself some questions:
- What’s different in the lessons the characters learned in these books?
- What did the character seem to learn in this book? What about this book?
- What is this book mostly about? What is this one?

You can prompt your child to compare books in a series by asking the following questions:

What lesson did the characters learn in this book?
What is different about the lessons the characters learned in these books?
What is this book mostly about?
How are these books similar?
How are these books different?

5. Connecting to the World

Great for Reading Levels N and up

Strategy Steps

As you are reading, notice real-world issues that come up.
Think what you already know about this issue.
Ask yourself, “what does the author want me to consider about this issue?”
Consider why this is important.

You can prompt your child to make connections to the real world by asking the following questions:

What real-world issues are you noticing in your book?
Considering what happens in this book, what do you think the author may be saying?
What are some ideas you have about this issue now that you have read about it in this book?
Are you thinking about this issue differently now that you have read this?

Check out these posts for more strategies to support strategic actions:

Resources:

Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2017). Guided reading: Responsive teaching across the grades. Heinemann.
Pinnell, G. S., & Fountas, I. C. (2007). The Continuum of Literacy Learning, Grades K-8: Behaviors and Understandings to Notice, Teach, and Support. Heinemann.
Serravallo, J. (2015). The reading strategies book: Your everything guide to developing skilled readers (Vol. 11). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.