Making Connections Finding Meaning in a Text Clipart

Making Connections Finding Meaning in a Text Clipart from www. discovery. com Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Three Types of Connections l TS Text to Self l TT Text to Text l TW Text to World Clipart from www. discovery. com Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Text to Self l How does the reading relate to you personally? Characters similar to you or your friends? l Setting remind you of a place you’ve been? l Plot remind you of something in your own life? l Situations remind you of similar situations you’ve experienced? l Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Text to Text l Does the reading remind you of another text? Are characters similar to characters in another book or movie? l Are settings similar to settings in other stories? l Are there similar situations/plots to a book, story, poem, or movie you’ve read or seen? l Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Text to World l How does the reading relate to larger world issues? Is the reading similar to current events? l Does the reading remind you of historical events? l Does the reading remind you of societal issues, problems, controversies? l Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Making Insightful Connections l Don’t settle for “Shallow Hal” connections. l Dig DEEP for “Onion” ideas: meaningful connections that lead to discussion of BIG IDEAS. Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us Clipart from www. discovery. com

The Shrek Factor l “Ogres are like onions. They have layers. ” l To discover the “real” Shrek, you have to peel beyond the one dimensional surface past his funny-looking ears, big clumsy hands, and ugly green skin. l to his complex character: loving, compassionate, loyal, humorous, l Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Peel the Layers of a Text l Layer One Literal Questions l Fact based, knowledge, comprehension level questions (Who, What, When, Where questions) l Require you to recall information given in text l Answers are found in the text or other available sources Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Layer Two l Interpretation Questions l Text-bound questions that require analysis, synthesis, and evaluation l Reader has to put together information from different parts of the text to answer l You can’t find the answers by recalling one specific passage Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Layer Three l Beyond-the-Text Questions (Open-ended) Require you to apply knowledge gained in text to new situations l Reader has to put together information from the text and information from his own thinking to answer l “Why, ” “How, ” and “What do you think” questions l Lead to discussions of other issues and concepts related to the text l Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Search for the ONIONS l Ask INSIGHTFUL questions Peel past the layer one questions l Dig through layers two and especially layer three l l Make MEANINGFUL connections Text to Self (TS) l Text to Text (TT) l Text to World (TW) l Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

Making Connections Gives Meaning “I do believe that the power of fiction lies in the fact that it is a narrative, that it tells a story, big or small, for it is through stories that we are best able to recognize ourselves and learn about who we are and might be” (Adler). Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us

“This is what comes to us in great books— moments of knowing, in an essential way, what love is, or who we are, or of what value life is, or answers to the questions we forever burn to answer but cannot. One of the most essential of all the big questions is "how ought we to live? " This question is essential to much of the worlds great literature” (Adler). Lisa Huff © 2007 lhuff@bsd. k 12. ar. us