Making Connections to Text

You read all the time. Sometimes you read just for fun. Other times you read for schoolwork. No matter what you are reading, what you read has meaning. You can connect to what you read.

Making connections is important. It’s giving your brain a place to store what you read. Your brain is like a file box. The new information is kept in a safe place. You can think about it later. When you want to use the information, it’s there in your brain. The more connections you make, the better. If you have a lot of connections your brain can work faster. If you have many ways to think about something, the information will be easier to find.

There are different ways connect as you read. One kind of connection is self-to-text. This is when you realize something you read a story has happened to you in your own life. Usually, this kind of connection comes the emotions you felt at that time. It may make you feel happy, afraid, or sad. Another kind of connection is textto-text. This is when reading a story reminds you about a story you read before. The last kind of connection is text-to-world. It reminds you something you have seen happen to someone you know or have seen in the news.