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All I was ever taught about background knowledge was something like this—make sure you activate background knowledge before your lesson.
So if we were reading about turtles, I’d ask the students what they knew about turtles, and then listen as everyone tells me about the turtles they had seen and that time their dad saved a turtle off the road, while very few actually had concrete facts about said turtles.
This turtle story isn’t real, but the concept is. Week after week, I’d activate background knowledge before beginning a new topic. I might even get fancy and create a KWL chart. Some units we would go full-hog and actually finish the KWL chart. (Hey, if you’ve never had a half-finished KWL chart are you even a teacher?)
It always felt useless, because they kids didn’t really know enough about the topic to add meaningfully to the KWL chart.
Last year, I was presenting to a district out of state and looked over some lessons from their reading curriculum. The 4th grade curriculum had a unit about the Space Race. The lesson prompted teachers to ask students what they knew about the Space Race.
Seriously. They wanted 9 year olds who are just learning the names of the planets to tell them details about the Space Race.
We cannot just ask children to tell us what they know and expect that to be enough “activating background knowledge.” It is our job to actively build background knowledge. We have to take the time to ground them in the concept so that the reading of the text is not so laborious.
So today, I’m sharing 4 different ways you can actively build background knowledge with any text you are using.
As an interventionist, videos are one of my favorite ways to build background knowledge. I don’t see it as taking the easy way out. I know that for children who are struggling with comprehension, it can be difficult to build a mental model about what they are reading.
In a unit about carnivorous plants, how can we expect children to gain a mental model of a Venus Fly Trap or a Pitcher Plant if they’ve never seen it before? Many texts DO include pictures, but if we are making copies of the text, those black and white images are not the solution.
And some things just make so much more sense when you can see it in action, like watching a plant eat a bug. Or if you’re brave, that one video on YouTube where a pitcher plant actually eats a mouse.
The videos give children an idea of the concept before reading the text. They no longer have to rely fully on their own mental model, because you’ve given them something to hold on to as they grapple to understand the text.
I typically use videos from YouTube or BrainPop. As a general rule of thumb, I keep the videos to about 5 minutes. Always make sure you watch the video beforehand, because you never know when a cuss word or a naked body will unexpectedly show up on that screen (if using YouTube. BrainPop is clean!). I also keep the closed captioning on while I am playing any video.
Second only to video is an image. Especially color images. When I was doing a space unit with my students, I printed out several images for them, including the photographs of the first men on the moon, a picture of the moon’s surface, the space shuttle’s splashdown, and many others.
I handed them out and we simply talked about what we saw and what they meant. I asked them what questions they had as they looked at it, and actually answered those questions instead of saying “maybe we will find out.” As we were looking, I tried to feed some language to them that I knew they would come across. It’s easier to explain what splashdown is when you have an actual picture of it occurring.
If you are reading historical fiction, you could set up a gallery walk. Gather some illustrations/photographs to help children understand what life was like back then. If you’re reading a text about the 1800s, show them what typical houses, clothing, games, and life looks like back them. Encourage them to ask questions and try to answer as many as you can.
Look, if you gave me a physical map in real life and asked me to use it, I would probably laugh at you. Although I did print out Map Quest directions the first time I drove to my husbands house 11 years ago. Then again, I got lost on the way to his house.
When we attempt to build background knowledge, maps are still an essential tool in our arsenal. How can we read about the dust bowl and not show a map of the United States? How can we teach about World War II and not show them a map of Europe?
The one caveat is that we really need to have current maps. If you’re teaching about Russia and your map still shows USSR, it’s time for an upgrade.
Anytime you can let children physically hold something connected to the text, we are helping to build their background knowledge.
If you’re about to read a science text about plants, why not bring in actual plants for the students to look at? When you have a physical plant, you can point out all the different parts and let them actually see and touch them, making a world of difference.
If you’re about to read a nonfiction text about Jamestown, perhaps you bring in examples of tools, cooking utensils, or building materials to help them better understand the time period and the people living in it.
You’re probably thinking—should that be saved for the history and science teachers? But remember, we are not teaching children to read simply for the sake of making sure they can read the words on the page. We’re also teaching children to read so we can help them better understand the world around them. So just as all science and social studies teachers are reading teachers, reading teachers can and should also help children better understand science and social studies topics through the lens of reading.
We can only access background knowledge if we have built it in the first place. If we never take the time to teach them about the concepts we are expecting them to learn, comprehension will not improve.
I know it’s easy to think it is the job of the science or social studies teacher, but it goes deeper than that. Anytime we build background knowledge, we make reading easier. It is that simple. When I don’t have to pretend I know what the space race is because my teacher has actually told me about it, then reading an article about it will suddenly seem a lot less abstract.
We owe it to our children to take the time. Using any of these activities before reading a text can help us to do just that.
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Savannah Campbell is a K-5 reading specialist. She has taught her entire 12-year teaching career at the school she went to as a child. She holds two master’s degrees in education from the College of William and Mary. Savannah is both Orton-Gillingham and LETRS trained. Her greatest hope in life is to allow all children to live the life they want by helping them to become literate individuals.
Savannah Campbell is a K-5 reading specialist. She has taught her entire 12-year teaching career at the school she went to as a child. She holds two master’s degrees in education from the College of William and Mary. Savannah is both Orton-Gillingham and LETRS trained. Her greatest hope in life is to allow all children to live the life they want by helping them to become literate individuals.
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