Please Do Now With hocked gems financing him, our hero bravely defied all scornful laughter that tried to prevent his scheme. “Your eyes deceive”, he had said. “An egg, not a table, correctly typifies this unexplored planet.” Now three sturdy sisters sought proof. Forging along, sometimes through calm vastness, yet more often over turbulent peaks and valleys, days became weeks as many doubters spread fearful rumors about the edge. At last, from nowhere, welcomed winged creatures appeared signifying momentous success. (Dooling & Lachman, 1972, p. 217)

Q & A Who is this famous hero? What does he mean in the quote about the egg and the table? Who are the three sturdy sisters? What were the turbulent peaks and valleys? What might the rumors have been?

The famous hero in this piece is… BIG GIANT HINT The famous hero in this piece is… Christopher Columbus

Activating Background (or Prior) Knowledge A Vickie Quickie Activating Background (or Prior) Knowledge

Just how important is it? “…Background knowledge is the heart of comprehension.” (Gill 2008) There is widespread agreement among researchers that students must connect new knowledge to previous knowledge in order to learn (Bransford & Johnson, 1972 ; Resnick, 1983 ).

More telling research Students connect what they learn to what they already know, interpreting incoming information, and even sensory perception, through the lens of their existing knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions. (Vygotsky, 1978 ; National Research Council, 2000 ).

A definition to consider Comprehension is the integration of new information with prior knowledge; the more we know about a topic, the easier it will be for us to understand information. (Gill, 2008)

THE BRAIN IS LIKE A MAGNET – NEW INFORMATION MUST FIND A PLACE TO “STICK”

When is the best time to tap into prior knowledge? Right before the NEW learning happens Possible techniques: Ask questions to gain student interest Show artifacts/objects to aid in recall Partner students and hold conversations/discussions about what they know Graphic organizers [charts, graphs, or labeled drawings] K-W-L (and any variants) Anticipation guides where students agree or disagree with a series of statements related to the information in the text Do Nows or Please Do Nows

More ways to access prior knowledge Ask students what they already know about the topic Brainstorm associations Create a concept map Use examples or analogies that draw on students ’ everyday lives It makes new material more understandable It creates stronger connections in students ’ minds

Some Tried-and-True Teaching Techniques A Do Now or a Warm up that starts with…. Write 5 lines (or 3) (or 10) about… Tell your partner 2 (or 5) things you know about… Do a brain dump about…(Write down everything you know and remember about…) 5 Ws and 1 H (Who, What, Where, Why, When, How) Present a scenario – Imagine that…What would it take? What would you do? Why might this have happened? KWL charts and variants

What if they don’t have any prior knowledge? Find the gaps in their knowledge Before you worry about the students, think about what your students need to know in order to learn the new information Then find out what they know (through pre-assessments, surveys, KWL charts, etc) Then fill in the gaps for your students

How do you fill in the gaps? If there are only a few students: Try a vocabulary booster that will familiarize them with terms they will encounter If there is a majority of students: First, you will need to teach them the foundational knowledge before you can build on it.

The double edged sword of prior knowledge (Pressley and Block, 2002) If a student’s background information is filled with flawed ideas, beliefs, models, or theories, it can distort new knowledge by predisposing students to ignore, discount, or resist evidence that conflicts with what they believe to be true

How to fix incorrect prior knowledge The easy way…Refute the incorrect knowledge with explicit explanation of contradictory examples and facts Misconceptions and stereotypes are harder to refute They have been reinforced as accurate over time Parts of them may be accurate Guide students away from misconceptions over time through a reasoning process that helps them build on the accurate facets of their knowledge as they gradually revise the inaccurate facets.

Food for thought Research shows that… Teachers can effectively teach such strategies Teaching even ONE comprehension strategy can (and often does) improve students’ comprehension (Duke & Pearson, 2002)

Your ticket to the great outdoors Share with someone sitting next to you (or near you)…. 1,2, or 3 things you do or will do in your classroom to activate background knowledge with your students. Thanks for listening!

Sources Ambrose, S. A. et al. (2010). How does students’ prior knowledge affect their learning? In S. A. Ambrose et al, How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching (p. 336). Retrieved 10/2/2010 from: http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/01/04704841/0470484101.pdf Gill, S. (2008, October). The Comprehension Matrix: A Tool for Designing Comprehension Instruction. The Reading Teacher, 62(2), 106–113. doi: 10.1598/RT.62.2.2 Massey, D.D. (2007, April). “The Discovery Channel Said So” and Other Barriers to Comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 60(7), 656–666. doi: 10.1598/RT.60.7.6 Santa, C.M. (2006, March). A Vision for Adolescent Literacy: Ours or Theirs?. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(6), 466–476. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.6.2