Use Connections to Understand a Character's Choice

Have your child read the text once for the gist, then again with a pencil to mark lines that remind them of something. Ask them to finish every row of the chart, including how the connection helps. Use the key to check the text details and the questions.

Read a story about a found wallet, then use connections to explain why the character makes her choice. A connection links a text to what you know: text to self (your own life), text to text (another story or article) or text to world (real events and facts). The directions on the page read: Read the story. Then, turn the page and make connections. On page 2: Fill in all 3 columns of the chart. Then, answer 4 and 5. The answer key covers the questions on page 2.

Yes, both. We made it for 5th Grade comprehension exercises, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with making connections. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

It links the text you are reading to another story or article. Children look for the same topic, problem or idea, like the two articles about sleep or the composting story and the food waste article, and say how the texts match and differ.

Text to self links a text to your own life, like a time you felt nervous at a tryout. Text to world links it to real events and facts, like what scientists know about plastic in the ocean.

Thinking of a time they faced the same choice helps readers see why a character acts as she does. The found wallet sheet asks children to use their own connections to explain the choice Mia makes.

Yes. All eight sheets have an answer key. It gives the text details and the answers to the closing questions, and marks the personal connection columns as answers that will vary.

8 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

These are written for 5th Grade students, roughly ages 10-11. Many teachers also use them a grade up for review or a grade down as an extension, so use the preview to judge the fit for a particular child.

Yes. Each one shows the Common Core code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.