A Sampling of Books to Use for Making Connections
Children use background knowledge in order to understand what they read. Good readers make connections between what they know and the texts they read; connections between texts; and connections between ideas in text to ideas in the world.
Text-Self Connections
Text-To-Text Connections
Pair the following books together:
The Pain and the Great One by Judy Blume and My Rotten Red-Headed Older Brother by Patricia Polacco (sibling rivalry)
The Gingerbread Baby by Jan Brett and The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone
Barn Boot Blues by Catherine Friend and Lighthouse Christmas by Toni Buzzeo
Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco and The Surprise Wednesday by Eve Bunting (learning to read)
Aunt Flossy's Hats (and Crab Cakes Later) by Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox
Oliver Button is a Sissy by Tomie de Paola and Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman
When lightning comes in a jar by Patricia Polacco and The relatives came by Cynthia Rylant
