Activating and building background knowledge
Research suggests that students’ prior knowledge about the content is one of the strongest predictors of their success with learning new content (Marzano, 2004).
By building on student's previous knowledge, you are drawing on the student's previously organized relationships and correlations of concepts. According to page 55 of Dr. Mimi Miller and Nancy Veatch in their 2011 book entitled Literacy in Context (LinC): Choosing Instructional Strategies to Teach Reading in Content Areas for Students Grades 5-12, "Learners possess schemata about the world, everyday events, areas of expertise, and even different types of text. They build upon this knowledge base when they are exposed to new concepts." There are a large number strategies for teachers to employ in their classrooms that draw on student's prior knowledge. Approaches can include teaching key academic vocabulary, previewing what is ahead, and explaining difficult concepts before they are taught in depth. Activating or tapping prior knowledge strategies includes discussing, but thinking out loud, and writing. Fisher, Frey, and Lapp wrote in a January 2012 article of the Middle School Journal entitled, Building and Activating Students’ Background Knowledge: It’s What They Already Know that Counts, that teachers can draw on student's prior knowledge by incorporating Caption Writing to draw on their prior knowledge. By asking students to write captions or descriptions of illustrations/photos, student will provide teachers with a reasonable understanding of their relevant background knowledge. |
Dr. Dylan Wiliam explains how activating Prior Knowledge is a quality for of formative assessment.
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Examples
K-W-L StrategY ChartAccording to page 57 of Dr. Mimi Miller and Nancy Veatch in their 2011 book entitled Literacy in Context (LinC): Choosing Instructional Strategies to Teach Reading in Content Areas for Students Grades 5-12, Students begin by brainstorming everything they Know about a topic. This information is recorded in the K column of a K-W-L chart. Students then generate a list of questions about what they Want to Know about the topic. These questions are listed in the W column of the chart. During or after reading, students answer the questions that are in the W column. This new information that they have Learned is recorded in the L column of the K-W-L chart.
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In this lesson the teacher leads class through a K-W-L Chart about the three levels of government. She scaffolds learning by referring to text cues and communicates with students throughout the lesson and asks leading questions when necessary. Students engagement increases throughout the lesson while some students do additional research and report back to the class or answer questions about the topic.
Text Box/Bag ActitivyAccording to page 59 of Dr. Mimi Miller and Nancy Veatch in their 2011 book entitled Literacy in Context (LinC): Choosing Instructional Strategies to Teach Reading in Content Areas for Students Grades 5-12, "The purpose of the Text Box/Bag Activity is to help readers build background knowledge about a topic." With the Text Box/Bag Activity, students see and hold realia—real objects that are going to be featured in the text.
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Resources
Foundation for Teaching Economics. (2015). What is poverty? – A KWL exercise. Retrieved from http://www.fte.org/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/is-capitalism-good-for-the-poor/what-is-poverty/
Marzano, R. J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: What works in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2011). Literacy in context (LinC): Choosing instructional strategies to teach reading in content areas for students grades 5-12. Boston: Pearson.
Reading Rockets. (2015). Strategies that promote comprehension. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/strategies-promote-comprehension
Foundation for Teaching Economics. (2015). What is poverty? – A KWL exercise. Retrieved from http://www.fte.org/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/is-capitalism-good-for-the-poor/what-is-poverty/
Marzano, R. J. (2004). Building background knowledge for academic achievement: What works in schools. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2011). Literacy in context (LinC): Choosing instructional strategies to teach reading in content areas for students grades 5-12. Boston: Pearson.
Reading Rockets. (2015). Strategies that promote comprehension. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/strategies-promote-comprehension