Leah Jones Drake University Grade Level: 6-8th grade Text: Gandhi, Wheeler, Jill.

2003 Other materials needed: post-it notes, pencils, Venn diagram graphic organizer, copies of Gandhi, Chapter 6 Lesson Focus: Comprehension Making Connections Time: 50 minutes Standards: IA.1.Employ the full range of research-based comprehension strategies, including making connections, determining importance, questioning, visualizing, making inferences, summarizing, and monitoring for comprehension. Objectives: Teacher - Given modeling and guided practice, students will be able to make connections between their prior knowledge, experiences or other texts and any grade level text to deepen their reading comprehension. Students I can make connections between my prior knowledge and any text to deepen my reading comprehension.

Instructional Technique: One comprehension strategy that supports all reading is making connections. Strategic readers draw on prior knowledge and experience to help them understand what they are reading and then use that knowledge to make connections to what they have already read or what they already know. This strategy helps readers make clearer pictures in their heads as they read. It keeps readers actively involved. It also helps readers remember what they have read and ask questions about the text. By the end of the lesson, students will be able to see how new readings can continue to build their background knowledge around a topic by making connections to the text from what they already know. Lesson Introduction: (Activate background knowledge)

When we started our unit, we learned about Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights struggle against unfair treatment of African American people under the Jim Crow laws in the South. Take a minute to think about what some of the Jim Crow laws were and what life was like for African-Americans in the South. When my hand comes down, I want you and your partner to make a list of as many things as you can remember. Remember, our social goal for today is to listen and contribute ideas with your partner. Think first, then when my hand comes down, share and make a list with your partner. (Allow them to think and work for several minutes, then have pairs share their lists.) Instructor Models and Demonstrates: (I do) Today I am going to model for you how good readers make connections when they are reading. Pay attention to what I am doing because when I am done, we will work together to make connections. We just shared how African Americans had to ride in the back of the bus, were forced to go to different schools than whites, and sometimes were even murdered. As I read chapter 6 in this biography of Gandhi, I made some connections to what I had already learned earlier in this unit. I am going to read from the chapter, then share my thinking on how I made a text to text connection. (Read page 24.) The word segregation is important because I remember from our vocabulary that it means keeping different groups of people separated. When I read about Gandhi being thrown off the train, because he wouldnt sit in the back, it reminded me of someone else being arrested because she wouldnt move from her seat in the back of the bus Rosa Parks! This made me think of the story of Rosa Parks we read about in the Martine Luther King Jr. biography. This is a text to text connection where I thought back to what I already learned and connected it to this new information about how people of races other than white were treated in South Africa. I am going to take out my Venn diagram and write Gandhis name on one side and Rosa Parks on the other. (Demonstrate on overhead and coach students to add these to their Venn diagrams as well.) I am going to write segregation and train/bus in the middle because they are things both these people had in common. Guided Practice: (We do) Now, I want you to follow along as I read the next paragraph. I want you to turn and discuss with a partner the key words or sentences that helped you make connections. Make a list and we will share them. (Read first paragraph on page 25 aloud.) Think for a minute, then when my hand goes down, turn to your partner and share the connections you made. (Have pairs share their ideas, and add to the Venn diagram on overhead. Remind students to add these new items to their diagrams.) Collaborative Learning: (You do it together)

Great work! Now we are going to practice this skill in pairs. Read the next four sentences with your partner, underline any important words or phrases and talk about connections you made. Add these to your Venn diagram. (Walk through the room observing and listening to check for understanding. Ask each group to share one new connection with the class. Add to the diagram on the overhead.) Independent Practice: (You do) Now, you will each practice making connections on your own as you read to help your comprehension. Finish reading the rest of the paragraph. Place a post-it note next to any key ideas or words that helped you make connections. Then, add to your Venn diagram. Next, we will share theses ideas with partners, then the whole class. Be prepared to support your answers with examples from the text. (Again, circulate through class, observing and checking for understanding. Assist anyone who is still struggling with this skill. Share and add to Venn diagram. Continue practicing the skill of making connections in future classes with a variety of texts.) Assessment: Informal assessment at this time based on observation of student responses and Venn diagrams.