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!