Making Connections: Text to World

I'm always looking for books that I think my students would enjoy.
Recently I found this non- fiction book depicting how a whale rescue is conducted.  

We loved the beautiful illustrations and we were amazed at the bravery of the rescue divers as they attempt to free the whale from a fisherman's net.

At the same time I heard about a whale rescue attempt off the coast of California.  I found a video clip of a news channel covering the event which I showed the crew.  
http://kfor.com/2015/09/05/by-air-and-sea-crews-search-for-blue-whale-trapped-in-net-off-california/

We experienced a text-world connection!  This led me to share one of my favorite books, BIG AL.

BIG AL was also caught in a fishing net but was rescued in a different way.  Now we made a text-text connection, comparing and contrasting the two books.

Good readers make connections when they read.
Connections can be:  
Text-text: connections between two books
Text-self: connections between something we've experienced and experiences in a book
Text-world:  connections between a book and the world

Look for ways to make connections during your nightly reading!

What are we Reading?

Every year my students LOVE hearing me read these two stories. 
They love that the main characters are animals.  They love that the animals are on adventures that include finding clues and solving problems.  They love the fabulous illustrations and the humor within each chapter.  

I have many reasons for choosing these great books.
Here are some of my thoughts...

1.  Great books motivate children to read.  And these books never fail to do just that.  Now that I've finished reading the first one, some of them are reading it aloud to each other during choice time.  And with fluency and character voices! Priceless!
2.  Great books keep children captivated and asking for more.  They can sit for a long time listening to these stories, but each day I shut the book just when the action gets good.  And we all yell "cliffhanger!" I love that they are getting the beauty of reading!

  I also have learning targets for the children that these books help me meet.
1. I can understand the importance of getting to know the characters in the books I'm reading and how this helps me predict what might happen next in a story.
2.  I can describe what a character trait is and I can share my character traits with other people.
3. I can write a family book including the character traits of my family members.
4.  I can notice who is talking in a story and I can sound like the character when I'm reading.

Ask your child about these 4 characters!  They should be able to describe these characters to you and share how they each help find the keys  to the Treasure Tree!