Intertextuality resides in the text and in the reader's interpretation. This paper describes the theoretical principles behind the design experiments that attempt to help young readers make connections between texts in order to discover trends in literature reading, clarify abstract concepts in content area reading, and to consolidate content when reading to learn. The researcher collaborated with schoolteachers to explore a variety of teaching activities that make use of multiple texts to help elementary and middle school students construct meaning from text. Five activities that make use of a variety of texts in different content areas are described in this paper: looking for different kinds of change in stories; exploring the fulfillment and consequences of wishes; constructing notions of cultural conflict, ideological conflict and power structure from historical fiction; expanding an abstract concept from the language textbook; clarifying a scientific concept. Design principles for using intertextual connections in reading activities are described. Recommendations are made for the use of design-based research as an alternative research paradigm in the development of teaching strategies and activities.