Effective reading instruction depends on the explicit teaching of decoding skills, as well as thinking processes required to make meaning of the text. Several strategies can be used to teach students to deepen their thinking while reading. In this article, we will take a look at one of them.
STRATEGY: Making Connections
Readers of all ages connect to a book when something in the book feels familiar and evokes a memory. When talking to students about making connections it is important to emphasize that:
1. A reader makes a connection to a book when it brings up a memory.
2. Readers can make connections to different aspects of a book:
• title
• illustrations
• characters
• events
• emotions
3. Readers can make different kinds of connections:
• text to self (connections between some aspect of the book and the reader’s life)
• text to text (connections between the book and other books or reading material the reader has encountered in the past)
• text to world (connections between the book and events in the reader’s world)
4. There is no right or wrong way to make a connection to a book. We all have different memories and experiences.
The lesson plan below is intended for Guided Group Practice in making connections. It uses the picture book You Hold Me Up to model the strategy and to create opportunities for students to participate in the process.
In Monique Gray Smith’s words, You Hold Me Up is “a book that encourages dialogue among children, their families, their care providers and their educators. At its heart, it is a book about love, building relationships, and fostering empathy.” It highlights the many ways in which families and friends support each other. The book begins with:
You hold me up when you are kind to me, when you share with me, when you learn with me.
by Monique Gray Smith
illustrated by Danielle Daniel
Orca Book Publishers, 2017
ISBN 978-1-4598-1447-9
28 pp, ages 5 – 8
orcabook.com
Students will make personal connections to a picture book.
This lesson could be taught over a number of days.
• a pad of sticky notes
• a pencil and Thinking Sheet for each student
• a copy of You Hold Me Up
• Create a Thinking Sheet master copy and photocopy copies.
• Remind students that connections can be made to different parts of a book (a character, a setting, a part of the story, a feeling, or an illustration).
• Remind students that there is no right or wrong way to make a connection to a book. We all make different connections because we have different memories and experiences.
• Show the cover of the book to the group. Read the title aloud.
• Model the connection strategy by placing a sticky note on the part of the cover that you are connecting to.
• Model the way in which you want the students to think and share: “This part of the cover reminds me of . . . ”
• Have students think about any connection they may have to the cover. Invite them to raise a thumb if they can make a connection.
• Read the first page: “You hold me up when you are kind to me.” Show the illustration on the opposite page. Read the page again and have the students listen for a connection to their lives.
• Continue to model the connection strategy by placing a sticky note next to the text. “I put the sticky note next to the words “You hold me up when you are kind to me” because they remind me of . . . ”
• Invite the students to raise a thumb if they have a connection to this part of the story.
• Repeat this process for each page in the book. As you continue to model, be sure to include connections to a character, a setting, a part of the story, a feeling, and an illustration.
• Invite students to share one connection they have to the book with a pre-determined partner. Have them use the sentence frame: “. . . reminds me of . . . ”
• Choose several students to share their connections with the larger group.
• Distribute a thinking sheet to each student and explain that they are to draw and write about one connection they have to the book.
• Ask several students to share their connections.
• Ensure that all students understand the assignment.
• Print the following headings on the board: character, setting, part of the story, feeling, illustration.
• Have students decide which heading their connection belongs under. Help them to place their thinking sheets in the correct columns (using magnets or painter’s tape which will peel off easily).
• Re-read the book to the students.
• Have them think about the title. Is it a good title for the book? Why? Why not?
• Have each student turn to a pre-determined partner and share their thoughts about the title.
• Choose some students to share their thoughts with the larger group.
Other Suitable Titles for Making Connections
• We Need Everyone by Michael Redhead Champagne
• I’m in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Taylor Feathers and
• Fools by Mem Fox
• The Recess Queen by Alexis ONeill
• The Hockey Sweater by Roch Carrier
Brenda Boreham
Brenda has 35 years of classroom experience. She has presented workshops on literacy strategies, and has written a number of resources for teachers. She remains passionate about matching up kids with books.
This article is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Winter 2025 issue.