Activate prior knowledge children

One conclusion of this review was that under current practice it was difficult to ascertain whether every child had reactivated prior knowledge at the point at which new learning was introduced.

The development of introductory tasks sought to address this problem first. Stage One in the project was to devise tasks that would require all children to take an active part in drawing on previous learning. The material was presented in a bag containing one clause each and a blank collation sheet. For example, a strategy game required teams of two players to deal out fraction cards and place them in turns onto a zero-to-one number line.

The aim of the game was to place three in an uninterrupted row to win. For example, one of five features of a text type were written on brown envelopes, which were then rotated around the five table groups.

At each round, one child in turn was tasked with chairing a discussion on a definition for the named feature, which was then written up and placed in the envelope. In the final round, the envelopes were opened by the groups and each group chose the best definition. The common element for all of these tasks was a system for managing activity that enables participation for all children. With the very youngest children, that system used a dissemination— collation method. The teacher introduced a theme and the children produced individual responses, which were then collated by the teacher back in the whole-class group.

Increasing independence at the end of Key Stage 1 allowed the teacher to shape engagement around clusters. Material was disseminated amongst group members and the collation happened first at a group level before the teacher then drew those together with the whole class. At lower Key Stage 2, collation occurred as the resolution or outworking of a game.

And that's okay. Please share with us your strategies and activities for activating the prior knowledge of your students. The Research Behind It Constructivism proposes that new knowledge is constructed from old.

Use It or Lose It -- PK Strategies Launching the learning in your classroom from the prior knowledge of your students is a tenet of good teaching. Try these activities for firing up those young minds and tapping into prior knowledge: Image Brainstorm.

Project an image on the LCD projector or smartboard and ask students to tell you everything they can about the picture. I often would use an image of famous artwork to launch our discussion on tone and mood in a particular poem or short story.

K-W-L Chart. Tried and true, yes, though I have to say, it doesn't work with all subjects and can be an overused activity for assessing prior knowledge. Use sparingly and dynamically. What do alligators have? What do alligators eat? I demonstrated how to write a smiley face on sticky note to show that he had just read something he already knew.

Right away he discovered that American alligators live only in the southeast United States. Then he designed his own symbol to show that he sort of already knew something, but also learned something new. The sad face was meant to show how this makes the alligators feel. Jot down these questions so you have them handy as you teach students to activate prior knowledge:.

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Asking students to write or talk about it with a partner is a great way to instantly gauge prior knowledge, build background, and spark interest. Preparatory Texts: Providing simpler, preparatory texts in anticipation of a more complex reading task can be very helpful in building background knowledge and reading confidence. We often use the same text written in different Lexile levels.

There are many resources available online that make it easy to find or create these types of accessible texts. Instead, teachers can provide simplified texts addressing topics or themes similar to the ones in the complex text as a way to build background knowledge. Providing ELLs in advance with texts or videos in their home language can be another way to promote background knowledge.