9

MAKING CONNECTIONS
Learner’s Module for English 9
Quarter 2 ● Module 3

SHARON R. CONTAOI
1
 What’s In
Making connections is a critical reading comprehension strategy that helps us make
meaning of what we are reading. When we make connections to the texts that we
are reading, it helps us to make sense of what we read, retain the information better,
and engage more with the text itself.

We can make connections between:

TEXT-TO-SELF CONNECTIONS:
These are connections where we connect what we are reading to personal
experiences or knowledge. With a wide range of experiences, we will often be able
to make more insightful and complex connections. However, with more limited
experiences, we may struggle to make connections or create vague, general
connections.

Example of Text to Self: “This story reminds me of a vacation that I took to the
ocean, just like the main character.”

TEXT-TO-TEXT CONNECTIONS
These connections are made when we can connect what we are reading to other
books that we have read or listened to before. We may make connections that show
how the stories or books share the same author, have similar characters, events, or
settings, are the same genre, or are on the same topic. A solid text to text
connection occurs when we are able to apply what we’ve read from one text to
another text.

Example of Text to Text: “I read another book about spiders that explained that
spiders have venom and, in this book, I am learning about the top 10 dangerous
spiders of the world.”

TEXT-TO-WORLD CONNECTIONS
These are connections where we connect what we are reading to real events
(past of present), social issues, other people, and happenings going on in the world.
We learn about the world from what we hear on TV, movies, magazines, and
newspapers. Effective text to world connections happen when we can use what we
have learned through these mediums to enhance the understanding of the text that
we are reading.

Example of Text to World: “I saw on the news about how water pollution was
affecting marine animals, and in this book, I am learning about why pollution can
make a marine animal sick”.

2
PRACTICE MAKING CONNECTIONS

Can you connect with what you are reading? Can you imagine yourself in it?
Does it remind you of things from your life?

The process of reading is when you read a text and your inner voice makes
connections between the words, and your life and your prior knowledge. The more
closely you connect to the text, the higher the level of comprehension. To be a better
reader, think about how the story relates to your life.

Connecting with Text

• Visualize. Picture yourself in the story and think about how the setting and
characters look.
• Focus on the characters. Compare them to yourself and people you know.
• Put yourself in the story and think about how you would react, and how you
reacted when you were in a similar situation.
• Look at problems. How do they compare to problems you have faced?
• Ask yourself questions as you read. Think about how the story relates to your
life, and things that you know.
• When reading nonfiction, think about ways the information relates to what you
already know.

Use the following prompts to guide you:

Text-to-Self Text-to-Text Text-to-World

Connections Connections Connections
 This is similar to my  This reminds me of  This reminds me of the
life. . another text I’ve real world…..
 This is different from read . . .  This book is similar to
my life . . .  This is similar to things that happen in the
 Something like this another thing I read . . real world . . .
happened to me .  This book is different
when . . .  This character is from things that happen
similar/different to
 This reminds me of . . . in the real world . . .
another character . . .
 This relates to me . . .
 This setting is
 When I read this, I
similar/different to
felt . . .
another setting . . .