Text-to-Self Connections: Sheila Rae the Brave

One of personal favorite comprehension lessons is teaching students to make connections to the text.  Debbie Miller has wonderful lessons in Reading With Meaning.  When I grow up, I would like to be her...sigh...

Anyway, one of my favorite October activities is making connections to Sheila Rae the Brave by Kevin Henkes. 

Students can write about a time they were scared and they had to be brave, just like one of the characters in this book (I don't want to give away any spoilers!).  You can also make an awesome bulletin board display that's Octoberish and brags about your students' ability to comprehend!

The Reading Lady has some great comprehension posters and graphic organizers.  Another useful text-to-self graphic organizer is this one...

My amazing literacy coach developed this little gem and shared it with us first grade teachers.  I added the graphics so the kids know where to write what...

Anyway, as Debbie Miller says, happy reading!

P.S.  Some of the connections the children make are quite interesting.  My first time doing this activity, one of my students wrote that he had to be brave when he was cleaning the toilet...

Don't we all...