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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Response skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student responds to an increasingly challenging variety of sources that are read, heard, or viewed.

Observe student responses and keep a checklist. Ask questions that will allow students to describe personal connections through speaking, drawing or writing.

Example Questions:

  • What does this story remind you of?
  • Does it remind you of anything in your own life?
  • How is this similar to your life? How is it different?
  • Can you relate to any of the characters in the story?
  • How does this make you feel? Why?

Note:
The student should be assessed on the quality of his connections, not simply on his ability to make a connection. For example, if observing oral responses, consider the relevancy of the connection and the student's ability to articulate his connection.

When students explain personal connections they have made to something read, heard, or viewed, they are demonstrating how they have interpreted the explicit and implied ideas expressed. Personal connections are students' reactions to an idea and connections the readers make between themselves and the sources.
Sources are any communication medium. In kindergarten, they could include books, poems, digital texts, songs, videos, illustrations, graphs, charts, or interviews with people.