Making connections while you read

Class started with a mini-lesson on how to make rich, meaningful connections when you read.  We discussed that connections can usually be categorized three ways: text to self, text to world and text to text (visual or written).  We worked through the first two pages of The Five People You Meet in Heaven as our model text, and I discussed the connections I made as I read.

Then, Literature Circles met to discuss chunk two of the book.  After discussions, groups filled out a "Discussion Review" and completed a peer/self assessment of each group member's contribution to today's discussion.  Groups chose their third chunk of reading, and read until the end of class.