Connector - finding connections between you and the book; the book and the world.

Objective:  Have the group of students connect with something of a real-life situation that they may have personally experienced or have witnessed like the character(s) within the story.  If not, have them research an news article or current event that compares in similarity.  Students will write down a summary of the event and how it connects with what they are reading.     

Preparation Examples:

I have a sister that has some of the same kinds of behaviors that David does.  She will repeat words we tell her and she doesn't always understand what we are telling her even when we explain it over, and over, and over again.

My mother and I were at the grocery store and saw a little boy acting out in the aisle when he heard a loud crash, flapping his hands like David did when David encountered a bee and it scared him.

The Jerry Lewis Telethon does nice things for people who have disabilities.  Maybe even for someone like David. 

We have a student in our school who can’t talk and uses a speech device to talk.  Jason, in the story, had a book of words.  The student in our school uses an iPad to communicate with other people.

If the  students should use an article they have researched, be sure student includes the author, title of story, where it was published and if they can cite the source they retrieved the information from.

Discussion

Have each student share their information and ideas within their assigned literary circle.  Have the students explain what makes the connection so important, and how does it help them to understand the story line thus far.  Teacher again should ask open ended type questions such as “What is it about the experience/article that you shared is important?”, “Why do you think they are similar?”, or “How is it that….?”