SUMMARY OF WHY THIS PLAN

SHOULD BE USED/ WHAT NEEDS IT

MEETS

This lesson plan can be used or recreated with any text to help students make text-to-text
connections, text-to-self connections, and text-to-world connections.
When students make connections they are able to comprehend and remember what they
have read!

STANDARD

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.9-10.1
Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly
as well as inferences drawn from the text.

OBJECTIVE

Students will be able to make text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections when
reading a short story (also can be used for short text or academic readings).

INSTRUCTIONAL INPUT (TEACHING

THE SKILL)

Introduce to the student:

Text-to-text: Connections between text you are reading and text they have read before
Text-to-Self: Connections between the text you are reading and how it relates to something
about yourself
Text-to-World: Connections between the text you are reading and the world around you
(events, history)

Explain to your student that the more often we make connections with the text we read, the
more interested we become in the topic and the more we will understand and remember the
things we read!
Introduce your student to the following short story:
http://americanliterature.com/author/o-henry/short-story/the-gift-of-the-magi
Tell your student you will be making connections with this text
ACTIVITY: STOP AND JOT
On 3 different colored sticky notes (or colored paper cut into squares) write:
(Color #1) Text-to-text connections (pink)
(Color #2) Text-to-self Connections (yellow)
(Color #3) Text-to-world connections (blue)

Each time you make a text-to-text connection you will write it on a color #1 sticky note. Each
time you make a text-to-self connection you will write it on a color #2 sticky note. Each time
you make a text-to-world connection you will write it on a color #3.
Begin reading the short story with the student. About 1 paragraph in, stop and model your
thinking process.
Example: Oh, this part of the text reminds me of how I felt on my first day of school. So I am
going to grab a yellow sticky note and write a text-to-self connection.
Read another paragraph and model once more your thinking.
Example: Oh, this part of the text reminds me of another book I read that talked about a
young boy. The book was called Harry Potter. Im going to grab a pink sticky note and write a
text-to-text connection.
GUIDED PRACTICE (PRACTICING
THE SKILL TOGETHER)

Continue reading with the student. Pause after the 3rd paragraph and ask the student, What
does this paragraph remind you of? Do you have a connections to your own life? To a text? To

the world? Help student identify what their connection is and write their connection on the
appropriate sticky note.
Continue this process after the 4th paragraph.
INDEPENDENT PRACTICE

Student will now complete the rest of the stop and jots on the sticky notes by themselves.
Stop periodically and ask the student to choose a different colored sticky note to write a
connection on. Allow 1-2 minutes for student to fill out sticky note before moving on.

ASSESSMENT

Assessments can be made by evaluating students sticky notes. The three different colored
sticky notes can distinguish students understanding of text-to-text, text-to-self, and
text-to-world connections. Check the sticky notes to ensure they were able to make relevant
connections.

LIST OF ADDITIONAL WAYS THIS

PLAN COULD BE USED

This plan can also be used to check students vocabulary comprehension. Students can stop
and jot words they are unfamiliar with and practice using context skills to determine a word's
meaning.
It also be used to represent text with visuals. Students would instead draw a picture rather
than writing down something.
Lastly, it can also be used to write summaries at the end of a short story. (For higher level
students- at the end of academic texts or chapters.)