Text-To-Self Activity
"Sometimes a reader has information in his head that isn't being used. When brought to bear, this background knowledge can be a powerful tool, helping the reader repair meaning."
-Cris Tovani, I Read It, But I Don't Get It
Students need strategies to "fix up" their confusion when they get stuck. Though there are numerous "fix up" strategies Tovani discusses in I Read It, But I Don't Get It, I believe the text-to-self activity is one of the most effective strategies teachers can use in a classroom full of students. Good readers understand that making connections with a text will enhance their comprehension. They can make these connections in a variety of ways; "memories, personal information, and textual organization can help students visualize, predict, ask questions, infer, stay focused, and remember what they've read" (p. 52). By using this strategy, students can learn to understand literacy on a personal level, creating deeper and more meaningful learning. This is what a typical text-to-self worksheet will look like:
Though this format is simplistic in design, the work that students put into this activity can create a much richer learning environment for the entire classroom.
| tovani_text-to-self_sheet.jpg |
