Making+Connections+Background+Knowledge

PE

Name: Maggie King Strategy: Making Connections: Text to self Comprehension Area: Making connections Literature Source: Maria Sharapova Magazine article Utilized when: During and after reading Students will read the article about Maria Sharapova while reading they should write down anything that interests them in the section In the Book. After the reading they would go back and answer the questions on the right hand side. While they are answering these questions connections should be made, hopefully to understand Maria better as a person and athlete.

The importance of this strategy is to get students thinking of what in their lives are similar and spark their interest in that person/place/thing. Students start to think more about what is going on with that subject, and how to understand the text better. The words should become easier to read because of the fact that they relate it to themselves.

**Double Entry Journal** **Name:** Ben Herland **Strategy:** Double entry journal **When utilized:** During the Reading **Literature Source:** Lindblom, M. (2008, February 4). Danger in the bike lane. //The Seattle Times//. **Overview:** The students will be reading this article on bicycling and relating it to their own life and experiences. Filling out a graphic organizer attached with this lesson, the students simply write phrases from the text in one column and then their reaction to the article in the other hand. It is important to choose text that will relate to most students. This article is about bicycling and bicycling safety, so most students should have some experience towards the subject. When the students make connections content, they will be more interested and motivated to keep reading.

.**When utilized:** During and after reading
 * Name:** Zach Johnson
 * Strategy:** Comparison Chart
 * Comprehensive Area**: Making Connections
 * Literature Source**: Alters, S. (2006). //Obesity (Introducing Issues With Opposing Viewpoints).// : Greenhaven Press.

During this exercise, the students will use a comparison chart to keep track of their ideas. One column will be labeled “in the book,” and the other column labeled “In the world.” While reading the text, //Obesity (Introducing Issues With Opposing Viewpoints)////, the students will compare what is happening in the book to real world situations, or the way society portrays it. In the column labeled “In the world,” the chart prompts the reader with questions. //

** **Name:** Amie Heinzelman **Strategy:** Give one and Get one **When utilized:** Before reading **Literature Source:** Jayson, S. (2008, October 7). Health takes a hit as economy creates more stress. //USA// //Today//, p. 01a. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from EBSCOhost. **Overview:** Before reading an article, students will receive the Give One and Get One handout. The teacher will pose a question dealing with content in the article. The question I would ask my students is; how does stress affect our health? Independently, the students will take a few minutes to write down as many ideas as they can in the “Ideas that I will give” column. Next, the students will collaborate with their peers finding different ideas they did not have written down on their paper. They will write these ideas on their paper, along with the student’s name who gave the idea. Finally, I will read the article listed above using it as a springboard into a related lesson.
 * Give One and Get One

Arthur Long Strategy: ABC Brainstorm Comprehensive Area: Making Connection Literature Source: Hopkins, L. B. (1999). //Sports! Sports! Sports! A Poetry Collection//. U.S.A: Harper Collins Publishers. Retrieved January 14, 2009, from http://www.plcmc.org/bookhive/books/category.asp?whichpage=3&pagesize=5&category=sp&ageid=4 When Utilized: Before reading Overview: This activity will be done before the students read the text. It is a way for the students to use their background knowledge to generate a list of words or phrases that are associated with the unit of lifetime sports and activities. Each word or phrases will represent one letter of the alphabet. The activity will get the students to start thinking about the unit/ subject area.


 * Name:** Christina Mann
 * Strategy:** KWL
 * Comprehensive Area:** Background Info
 * Literature Source:** Swidey, N. (2005). What Makes People Gay? //The Boston Globe.//
 * When Utilized:** Before/During/After reading
 * Overview:** Before the students start reading the assigned article, I will have the students fill out the KWL worksheet. They will fill in two of the three columns; what they know and what they want to know. They will then read the article and do extra research if necessary. After reading the article and extra resources they will fill in the third column; what they learned

Traci Behnke
 * Venn Diagram**
 * Name:** Traci Behnke
 * Strategy:** Venn Diagram
 * When utilized:** After
 * Literature source:** Louv, Richard//. Last Child in the Woods//. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2008.
 * Overview:** Make a Venn diagram with the text, the world, and yourself in separate circles. You will use these to relate the text to and make connections of previous experiences. The students will pick an essential question to relate to. The students will fill this in after the reading and share their thoughts with the class when everyone is finished. **For the worksheet, you may give them the sheet below with the circles with the directions in them and give them a blank one to actually fill in, or you can draw the same diagram on the board and write the directions in there and only give them a blank diagram.**



Ben Lancour ** Name: ** Ben Lancour ** Strategy: ** Visualization ** When Utilized: ** After Reading ** Literary Source: ** Steinfeld, J., & Brady, P. (2009, January 1). Fitness: the missing ingredient to our children's success. //San Francisco Gate//. Retrieved January 13, 2009, from San Francisco Gate Web site: [|http://www.sfgate.com] ** Overview: ** This activity is to be done after they have read the text. It acts as a mind-opener for the students on how unhealthy and unfit our society is today. The form of visualization that I chose is a video game called DDR: Dance Dance Revolution. I observed this at an elementary school last year. There were 2 students using the footpad to dance on while the class would look up at the giant projection screen and dance along on the gym floor.
 * Visualization **



Fitness Program Name: **Ben Lancour **Strategy: **Fitness Program **When Utilized: **After reading **Literary Source: **Howley, K. (2008, June 24). Fat kids, Time's National Shame. //LA Times//. Retrieved January 13, 2009, from LA Times Web site: http://www.latimes.com/ news **
 * Note for Dr. Alderton ***Should have been for Questioning!!! Free of Penalization
 * Overview:** During this strategy students will read about how our nation feels about our children and what we need to do to change. In order to do so students will create a healthy menu for themselves, get the proper amount of sleep and make an exercise routine to be used for the seven days of the week. Students are to fill out the chart below with activities they have done during the day, briefly describe the meals they have eaten, while remembering responsibilities provided by their parents.
 * [[file:grid-visualization.doc]]**

Sarah Kichefski //Alcohol or Other Drugs//. Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing. 
 * Give One, Get One **
 * Name: ** Sarah Kichefski
 * Strategy: ** Making Connections
 * When Utilized: ** Before Reading
 * Literature Source: ** Packer, Ph.D, A. J. (2000). //Highs! Over 150 Ways to Feel Really, REALLY Good… Without//
 * Overview: ** Students will be writing down 3-4 physical activities that they can participate in instead of doing drugs or drinking alcohol. Prior to reading the teacher would ask his/her students a question relating to the reading and they will write 3-4 answers on their activity sheet under the heading “Ideas I will give”. After a few minutes, the teacher would have students find a partner. The pair will share the answers they had and write down their partners answers on the lower half under “Ideas I will get” on the activity sheet. The students will have a chance to think of their own answers as well as hear new ideas from a classmate.

**Name:** Kevin Murphy **Strategy:** Anticipation Guide **Comprehension Area:** Making connections/ Background Knowledge **Literature Source:** //The Swimming Drill Book// by Ruben Guzman pg 32-46 **When Utilized:** During Reading
 * Overview:** Before reading //The Swimming Drill Book pg 32-46,// students will be given an anticipation guide to fill out. The antcipation guide will help the students as well as the teacher know what they already know about the selection on swimming. The students will answer the questions with ethier a true or false statment. Once they are done with the reading they will be able to go back and change previous statements they made and give a reason why they changed it. A class discussion will take place once everyone is done with the antcipatory guide.



Nick McFadden
 * Name:** Nick McFadden
 * Strategy:** Test Connections
 * Comprehension Area:** Making Connections
 * Literature Source:** Letter Urges President Not to Give Jones Pardon by J. Longman
 * When Utilized:** Post-Reading

In this activity the students will be connecting this article to their life. All students have heard about steroids at some point. They are becoming a serious issue in sports today, especially track and field. High school students have died as a result of taking steroids. The students will be connecting this story to their lives personally as well as to other things they have experience in the world regarding issues they read about in the reading. It can be other issues regarding Marion Jones, issues regarding the Olympics, or issues regarding steroids. They then connect all their ideas to one another. In this activity the students will be connecting this story to their experiences, their life, and their opinions. This also exposes the students to the morality issues behind it. There must be something wrong if there are laws against it. It will also hopefully deter them from ever making the mistake of using them.

**Name:** Abby Lewitzke **Strategy:** Background knowledge backpack **Comprehension Area:** Dance **When Used:** Before and During This would be something that I would actually use the very first day of class. I would have students sit down and write about any of their prior experiences that they may have had with dance. I would then have them sit down and watch a compilation of clips from the popular shows “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing with the Stars” to show students that they have indeed be exposed to this type of knowledge before they just didn’t know it. This would serve as a great tool because the students can save their “backpacks” and edit them throughout the class. Then at the end of the class they can reflect back on what they have learned through out textbook //Dance a While//, and how their own knowledge has helped them. Using the backpack strategy will be a great way to encourage students to try a new subject because it shows them how to use any prior knowledge to come into the situation with a positive attitude and that there is almost no situation in which they will walk in and no absolutely nothing about it.
 * Literature Source: ** Pittman, A. M., Waller, M. S., & Dark, C. L. (2005). //Dance a While // (6th ed.). San Francisco: Pearson.

Pierce Geffers ** Name ** : Pierce Geffers ** Strategy ** : Text to World ** When Utilized ** : After Reading ** Literature Source ** : Mood, D., Musker, F. F., & Rink, J. E. (2000). //Sports and recreation activities// (12th ed.). WCB McGraw-Hill. This strategy is used after reading. Students will read from the book and find ideas of team sports that they have participated in. Students will then think of any games that they have seen either on TV or the internet. Students will relate the material they have read to the world and how they can use the media to enhance their skills when performing the certain activities they have read about. When students are able to see how professional and college athletes are performing in these particular areas, they will be able to relate their skill level and hopefully work harder to better themselves. This will also lead to greater comprehension when dealing with other materials that relate to their world.
 * Text to World **
 * Overview **


 * Name:** Lindsey Cordes
 * Strategy:** ABC Game
 * Comprehension Area:** Making Connections/Background Knowledge
 * Literature Source:** //Stretching: 20th Anniversary Revised Edition//
 * When Utilized:** Before Reading

Before reading or teaching anything from the stretching unit I would use the ABC game strategy. This could be done the very first day so you can get an idea of their previous knowledge in this topic. You can also see what kind of connections they can make to other topics while playing this game. Each student will be given a piece of paper with 26 boxes on it. They will all be lettered from A-Z. The student will try to come up with as many words that start with the letter in that box that connect to my topic of stretching. We will then go through the alphabet and see how many different connections we can make with each letter.

This would be done before reading any book to find out what their background knowledge is and if they already know some connections to the topic. This will help them realize how much can go along with this topic and the different categorizes it has.

**Name:** Jessie Scheer **Strategy:** Double Entry Journal **Comprehension area:** Making Connections **Literature Source:** //How it feels when a parent dies// // by: // J. Krementz **When utilized:** During the reading As the students read the many stories that are written by children ranging in ages from 7 to 17 that have lost a parent they must fill out the double entry journal form. When the student comes across something in the reading that reminds them of any thing that has happened in their life or in someone else’s life that they know they write it down. The students will do this for all of the stories that they read. The situations that the students are relating to do not have to be related to death and dying they can be any memory that they have that will help them make connections to the reading.

Students will be asked “what are the benefits of Strength and Cardiovascular Training?” They will be asked to think to themselves and come up with as many in their head as possible. After a minute or two, students will pair up with a neighbor and make a list on a scrap piece of paper by combining their ideas together. Once students feel their list is complete, they will access the shapeup.org website and read the article on the front page titled //Benefits of Strength Training.// Pairs will continue to add to their list until they feel it is complete. Once the list is complete, the pairs should put the benefits in their own version of a graphic organizer. Students may use a web, chart, or whatever, as long as the final product is an easy and interesting way to share the benefits with class. Each pair will present their product to the class when complete.
 * Name:** Kevin Maher
 * Strategy:** Think Pair Share
 * Comp Area:** Benefits of Strength and cardiovascular Training
 * Lit Source: http://www.shapeup.org/When Utilized:** Prior to reading


 * ENGLISH**

**Name:** Pam Benedon **Strategy:** Venn Diagram **Comprehension Area:** Connecting to Background Knowledge **Literature Source:** //America////’s Greatest Depression// **When Utilized:** After a reading After reading //America’s Greatest Depression// students will draw up their Venn diagram wit three interconnecting circles. The circles should be labeled “text to text” “text to self” and “text to world”. Students will be asked to make connections between all three of these in the areas where the circles link up. In the other area of the circles students will write in fact about each specific aspect. At the completion of this activity students will be asked to share what they have learned and connected with the class or a partner.

Conversations Across Time Name: **Sarah Nelsen **Strategy: **Venn Diagram **When utilized: **After Reading **Literary Source: **//Rosa Parks: Journey to Freedom,// by L.S. Summer and film //Remember the Titans// **Overview: **After reading about Rosa Parks and viewing the film //Remember the Titans//, students will reflect on any experiences that have ever had when they have been excluded, banned, or removed from something that they wanted to do. Focusing on the topic of being excluded, students will list all of the feelings of Rosa Parks (form the reading), Petey (from the film) and their own experiences. Then, in a 3-circle Venn diagram, students will record each of these feelings—feelings felt by all three should be in the center where all three circles overlap, etc. **


 * Venn Diagram**
 * Name:** Dave Riley
 * Strategy:** Venn Diagram
 * When utilized:** After Reading
 * Literary Source:** Ray, D. (1990). //A Nation Torn//. Dutton, NY: Lodestar Books.
 * Overview:** After reading //A Nation Torn – The Story of how the Civil War Began//, students will construct and fill out a Venn Diagram. This book goes into the multiple causes of the Civil War and presents the causes from both sides of view – The Confederacy and The Union. The students will take these differing perspectives and then fill out the diagram, first writing down the causes that both sides agreed upon to be the cause. After this, the students will write down the causes from the Confederate perspective on one side and the causes according to The Union on the other. Finally the students will compare their diagrams with one another as a way to check their answers.


 * Name**: Chelsea Ruff
 * Strategy:** K-W-L
 * Comprehension Area**: Making Connections
 * Literary Source**: //Heroines of the Jazz Age// by Jonathan Yardley
 * When Utilized**: Before and after a reading
 * Overview**: For this activity students will make use of a KWL chart. Before reading //Heroines of the Jazz Age// student will write down everything they know about the article's subject, flappers, in the K (what we know) column. Next students will brainstorm and come up with questions that they want to find the answers to. These questions go in the W (what we want to know) column. Finally students will read //Heroines of the Jazz Age// and hopefully find answers to all of the questions they asked. These answers get written in the L (what we learned) column.

The students will be instructed to keep a journal chronicling their thought process as they progress through the class. They will be required to have a certain number of “posts” per day. They can be private so the students feel freer to share things that may be well related.
 * Name**: David Fitzpatrick
 * Strategy**: Journaling
 * When utilized**: Before, during, and/or after reading
 * Literary Source**: Myers, W. D. (2002). Patrol: An American Soldier in Vietnam. Hong Kong: Harper Children's.
 * Overview**:

**Name:** Chris Mayer **Strategy:** Venn Diagram **Comprehension Area:** Making Connections **Utilized When:** During and after reading. **Overview:** After being instructed on the American political system and the after reading //The Roman Republic// by A.H. McDonald & //What Did the Romans Do for Us?// By David Mattingly students will fill in a venn diagram with similarities and differences between Rome’s Republic and America’s Democracy. This compare and contrast will stimulate their experience and background knowledge with American politics as well as ask them to revisit the main points from the readings.
 * Literary Source:**//The Roman Republic// by A.H. McDonald & //What Did the Romans Do for Us?// By David Mattingly

**Name:** Mike Schmitt **Literary Source: **//Global Warming – Opposing Viewpoints Series// Cynthia Bily, editor. **Overview:** The teacher will begin with this simple (and controversial) question – Is global warming scientific fact or theory? As a slight variation on the traditional think-pair-share, the teacher will determine by show of hands who thinks it is fact and who thinks it is theory. Wherever possible (and the class will probably not be evenly split), the teacher will pair two students with opposing view points. They will share their reasons for their belief. Each student of a pair must then summarize the other’s viewpoints.
 * Strategy:** Think-Pair-Share
 * When utilized: ** before reading


 * ART/MUSIC**

Name: **Derek Malcore** Strategy: **Personal Story** Comprehension Area: **Making Connections** Literature Source: **Goodale, G. (1998, December 31). Printmaking pioneer does it her way. //Christian Science Monitor//, p. 17.** When Utilized: **After Reading Students will read the article “Printmaking Pioneer Does It Her Way” by Goodale. After reading this insightful article, students will be asked to relate some part of Wayne’s artwork, experiences, or life to something that they have encountered in their own lives. They will write a one page long story about their experience and how it connects to the article they have read.

Mathew Lawniczak - Making Connections**

Visualization
Name: **Mathew Lawniczak** Strategy: **Visualization** Literature Source: **Music Lyrics of their choice (okayed by me).** When Utilized: **During the reading** Overview: ** In this activity using Visualization my students will pick out a poem or song lyric of their choice as long as its okayed by myself the teacher. Students will then read that poem or lyric and write down notes of things they saw in their head while reading. After they are done doing this they will take those notes from the sheet I have provided and use this information to make a ceramic sculpture based off of their visualization.

Double Entry Journal**
 * Name:** Val Yost
 * Strategy:** Double Entry Journal
 * Literature Source:** Melograni, P. (2007). //Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: A biography//. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
 * When Utilized:** During and/or after reading
 * Overview:** Students are asked to write down a specific number of ideas that come directly from the text. Afterward, students need to reflect/connect on this idea and identify what kind of connection they have made (text to text, text to self, text to world). This is very useful in getting students to understand that we make connections when we read all of the time.

K-W-L Name: Danielle Schneider Strategy: K-W-L Comprehension Area: Making Connections Literature Source: American Impressionists by Susan Frank When utilized: Before and After Reading Overview: Before reading //American Impressionists// students will be asked to write what the know about American Impressionists under that “what we think we know” heading. The Students will then be asked to write questions that they want answered in the next column titled “what we want to know”. The students will then read the text and fill in the last column of “what we learned” with answers from the prior column and other information they didn’t previously know. Strategy:** Catapult Into Literature
 * Making Connections
 * Name:** Amanda Huck
 * Brief Description:** Before reading, //Art Spirit,// by Robert Henri, students would be asked to look at the various aspects of what Catapult stands for to makec connections of what they already know. C=Cover, A=Author, T=Title, A=Audience, P=Page one, U=Underlying theme, L=Look at visuals, T=Time, place, and characters. After they write down everything they know before reading the text, art students could make a collage with pictures associated to their thoughts and writings.

**Name:** Trina Hopfensperger **Strategy:** Conversations Across Time **Comprehension Area:** Making Connections & Background Knowledge **Literature Source:** Various Research Materials **When Utilized:** Before, During, & After Reading/Research Student will use the “3-Way Venn” diagram provided to categorize the similarities and differences found between Romanticism, Classicism, and Modernism before being given their topic to assess their background knowledge. Afterwards topics will be individually drawn from a hat. Topics include: religion, politics, education, family, friends, work environment, media, artistic ownership, style, motif, property, etc. After being given their topics, students will find one scholarly journal on each of the three movements, during which they will be taking notes to use in their Venn diagram. Once having finished analyzing the texts, knowledge on the specific topic will be inserted accordingly. After completing the activity, students will pass their paper to the left, sharing their work with the neighbor to their left and receiving the work of their neighbor to the right. This process will be repeated until everyone has viewed everyone’s work.