In my previous post I shared a definition of background knowledge. I then provided insight to how background knowledge differs from prior knowledge, and I briefly explained why part of our work as educators involves helping student gain the background knowledge they need to engage with the texts we use to teach. I also explained how when students learn new vocabulary and information because of reading one text, it further expands the background knowledge they need to read other texts. In this post, I’ll share two instructional strategies I plan to use to support students in gaining the background knowledge they need to read. I’ll also share a quick and easy assessment strategy to gain insight to students’ background knowledge on a topic. My hope is that the ideas and information I provide may be useful for other educators. The tips below are in no specific order.
- Read Aloud to Students to Help Build their Background Knowledge and Vocabulary
In the book, What the Science of Reading Says about Reading Comprehension and Content Knowledge, authors Jennifer Jump and Kathleen Kopp explain that decades of research highlight how regularly reading aloud to students helps them to build the background knowledge and vocabulary needed to support learning about a topic. They further go on to say when selecting a text for a read-aloud educators should choose texts that are challenging and rigorous to expose students to new vocabulary and information.
Jump and Kopp note that while students may struggle to decode and comprehend the text independently, having them listen and not decode reduces the cognitive load for students so they can focus on making sense of the story and/or information. As a result, the listening experience provides students with opportunities to engage with rich content, exposes them to new vocabulary, and adds to their knowledge about a topic. This year, read alouds will be a central part of my classroom program for the reasons mentioned above. To support, I’ll use the Read Aloud Routine for Improving Vocabulary and Comprehension resource that I found on the ONlit.org website; this resource provides educators with a step-by-step read-aloud guide to help them with their read-aloud routine.
- Use Coherent and Cohesive Texts
In the article, The Role of Background Knowledge in Reading Comprehension: A Critical Review, researchers Reid Smith, Pamela Snow, Tanya Serry and Lorraine Hammond explain that the cohesion and coherence of a text determines how much background knowledge a reader needs to understand it. They go on to say that low-coherence and low-cohesion texts requires a reader to possess more background knowledge to understand it because the author or authors are writing for an audience that they assume possess enough knowledge about the topic to understand the contents so they spend less time explaining the meaning of certain words or clarifying certain ideas. On the opposite side, texts with high-coherence and high-cohesion requires less background knowledge because the author or authors make direct connections between concepts and ideas that connect sentence with paragraphs that span the entire text. Meaning, they spend more time defining vocabulary and clarifying ideas for readers.
To support all students in my class, but particularly those who may have low-levels of background knowledge and gaps in their foundational reading skills, I plan to use texts with high-coherence and high-cohesion to support building their background knowledge on a topic. One text that immediately comes to mind is the young readers edition of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. In this memoir, the authors chronicle Kamkwamba’s experience as a 13-year-old boy who constructs a windmill out of scrap material to bring water and electricity to his rural village in Malawi. Because the authors use a lot of scientific and technical vocabulary to describe Kamkwamba’s process of constructing the windmill and the memoir is intended for an adolescent audience, the text is written in a highly coherent and cohesive way to ensure it is accessible to young readers. While the Science and Technology curriculum is not part of my teaching assignment, I think helping students acquire the rich vocabulary and information about the scientific process may be useful for other texts that I may use with them during the year.
- Pose Questions to Assess and Activate Background Knowledge
Again, in the book, What the Science of Reading Says about Reading Comprehension and Content Knowledge, Jump and Kopp write, “Before reading any text, teachers can and should first activate students’ background knowledge”. Activating students’ background knowledge honours the knowledge that they bring to the classroom, provides teachers with insight to what student already know and what they need to learn, and reveals potential misinformation that needs to be clarified. Posing questions is one way that educators can assess and activate students background knowledge on a topic.
For example, when thinking about my history program which is a language-based subject, I’m thinking about using the book 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous People a Reality, by Bob Joseph. I think this book will help me to explicitly teach overall expectation A3. Understanding Historical Context: Events and Their Consequences where students will need to describe how various people and events contributed to the development of Canada between 1850 and 1890. Some the events listed in the overall expectation include the development of the Indian Act and the establishment of treaties between Indigenous Nations and the Crown. To gain insight to what students already know about the Indian Act or treaties, I may ask them simple direct questions like, has anyone ever heard of the Indian Act or a treaty? Or tell me one thing you have heard or know about either the Indian Act or a treaty? I may choose to do this as a whole class discussion or have students work in small groups so they can discuss and build on their collective knowledge before sharing their responses. From their individual and collective responses, I’ll gain insight to what next steps I need to take to inform my lesson preparation and instruction. Meaning, what background knowledge do students need to acquire before we/they read excerpts from the book.
