Why Teach Text Connections?

Teaching text connections is important for young readers because it enhances their comprehension, critical thinking skills, and overall reading experience. When young readers can relate what they are reading to their own experiences or prior knowledge, it helps them understand the text better. It also provides context and relevance, making the content more meaningful and easier to remember.

For this resource, students will use pictures or words to fill in a text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connection they have made after reading a single piece of text – whether it be an entire storybook, a chapter in a novel, or a short reading passage.

Print and Go!

This resource comes as a PDF or a Google Slide. Use the drop-down menu to choose the best version for you and your students.

Print out the resource and give each student a copy to complete, or project the resource onto your dry-erase board and fill it out together as a class. Either way, it is a great way to practice making those connections!

This resource also makes for a great guided reading activity. Simply slide a copy into a dry-erase sleeve and have your students complete the recording sheet using a dry-erase marker. Then they can wipe clean when they are done, and it can be used again and again.

This resource was created by Meagan Lee, a teacher in Texas and a Teach Starter Collaborator.