Having students choose a favorite quote or scene from a book allows them to express which parts of the story resonated with them on a personal level. In this way, students are making a text-to-self connection that demonstrates their understanding of the characters and their development or the themes of the novel. Students can share their storyboards afterwards and have a short discussion about what the quotes mean to them.
Some students may end up choosing the same quote, but have different perspectives. This is always interesting for students to see and can open up a discussion as to how not everyone can read the same lines in the same way based on their own perspectives and personal experiences.
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Due Date:
Objective: Create a storyboard that identifies your favorite scene in The Wild Robot. Illustrate the scene and write why you chose it.
Student Instructions:
Engage students in full-class discussion about likes and dislikes. Before you even bring literature into it, you can talk about restaurants, sports, or snacks to get the discussion moving.
Students need to understand that their life experience matters, and that every reader brings a different set of circumstances to the story. That is why two different readers can feel so differently about the same scene in a book.
Finally, when students realize that what they think matters, they need to be willing to take a stand and develop their opinion about a story. This helps them to develop self-expression skills and to be more comfortable sharing their opinions.
When students make text-to-self connections, they engage more closely with their reading. Reading helps students build empathy and understanding for other people, so making text-to-self connections helps them to grow as emotional learners.
Teachers should create a warm classroom environment where students can feel free to be themselves and express their opinions. In this way they will continue to develop their skills of self-expression.