Mentor Text Monday: Making Connections

The end of the year is full of so many fun activities but I like to keep my little firsties' brains fresh on the comprehension strategies we have learned throughout the year. So for the next few Monday's, I'll be sharing with you a fun read aloud and an activity to accompany the book and comprehension skill. 

Making connections are simple to do, especially when EVERYONE has a story to tell! 

And I'm not one who likes to stop and let everyone share their connections either. 

So when I saw this genius idea from Teaching in Tapas, I implemented it immediately!

Whenever I'm reading and my students have a connection, they simply make this hand signal, hold it up, and I acknowledge them by shaking my head.

You can imagine all the connections made with this week's story: Friends.

Before I started reading I gave each student 3 sticky notes. Throughtout the book, if they  had a connection, they would write their thinking down on one sticky note. Their goal was to fill up all 3 by the time I finished the book. 

We put their connections on manila paper and then they illustrated them. 

"This story reminds me of my playing with my friend."

To make sure their voice was heard, they chose a partner and each of them shared their favorite connection to the story.

Check back next week for an activity for inferring!