Would you be friends with the giant next door?

   Everyone has felt left out and lonely at some point in their life. Today in reading we are going to hear a story about a boy named Jake that befriends a new kid at school when nobody else would be his friend. After hearing this story,you may  think about a time in your life when you became friends with someone when nobody else would.

   This book How to Make Friends with a Giant is a story about two friends, Jake and Jacomo. Jake is much smaller than all the other kids in his class. One day, Jacomo moves next door to Jake. Jacomo is much bigger than all of the other kids in his class. No one wants to be Jacomo's friend because he is so different. Jake tries to be his friend and at first it is very difficult. By the end of the book, Jake and Jacomo have figured out how to be best friends. The illustrations in this book are very simple yet interesting.
   I am going to use this book by teaching the strategy making connections. To practice making connections I would first read How to Make Friends with a Giant to the class. Then I would model to the students what it would look like to make a connection between the text and my own experience. I would tell the students about a time when I was the new kid at school and struggled to make friends.  For example: 'My family and I moved to a new town when I was in 2nd grade. I had a broke arm at the time and was very embarrassed because of the big ugly cast I had to wear on the first day of school. I felt like nobody wanted to be my friend because of my broken arm. When I arrived at school on the first day the girl that sat next to me had a broke leg. We began talking about our injuries and she took me in as a friend that day."  I would also show the students a drawing of my experience.

   After showing the students how I made a connection with the text , I would instruct the students draw a picture of a time when they had to make a new friend and write a few sentences about their experience. When everyone is done I would have a few students show their drawing to the class and tell about their experience.
   I think this is a great activity for teaching students to make connections with the text they are reading. I think presenting my connection with the book will get students \to thinking even more about how they can connect with their own experience of making a new friend.