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L517: Advanced Study of the Teaching of Secondary School Reading PRIOR KNOWLEDGE |
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COURSE LINKS |
INDEX OF PAGE CONTENTS
Reading Assignment
LectureWhen we talk about activating students' prior knowledge, we are talking about something that happens prior to reading. (See the table below.)
Readers will have prior knowledge of both the topic of the text they will be reading as well as the genre of the text. Activating students' prior knowledge of the topic of the text Activating students' prior knowledge of the topic of the text is important for several reasons: 1. It gives students the opportunity to bring forth in their minds information that is relevant to the text they are about to read. Doing so will help students make connections while reading. 2. It gives students the opportunity to learn from one another. When students hear what other students know about a topic, they are often reminded of ideas and experiences of their own that relate to the topic of the text. Additionally, they will learn new information to add to their own schemata, which will aide in comprehension of the text. 3. It provides the teacher with the opportunity to identify serious background knowledge gaps or misconceptions that might actually get in the way of comprehension. What the "topic" of the text is really depends on how you are going to use the text (or the purpose for reading the text). For example let's say your students are going to be reading a story about a group of people who travel together to Mexico. This text may fit into any number of units, including the following:
The topic you get students to focus on when eliciting students' prior knowledge should be chosen based not only on what the text is about, but on your purpose for having students read the text. If the text described above is going to be read as an introduction to a unit on Mexico, it makes sense to elicit students' prior knowledge on Mexico. If the text is an introduction to a unit on traveling, elicit students' prior knowledge on what is involved in putting together a vacation (or whatever would be appropriate for your unit that is also a focus of the text). If the text is an introduction to getting along with others, elicit students' prior knowledge on what it is like to travel with a lot of people (perhaps their families) and the types of conflicts that can arise--as well as what can be done to deal with those conflicts. The point is, while a text may have a main topic, you want to elicit students' prior knowledge in light of the topic of the text that you are focusing on, which might not be the main topic of the text. Another important consideration when eliciting prior knowledge is the extent of prior knowledge that students may have about the topic. For example, if your students are going to be reading a text about the Peloponnesian War, you might run into problems if you ask students what they know about this war. (They may not have heard of it.) Instead, you might ask students what they know about wars, or what they know about ancient Greece. Activating students' prior knowledge of the text structure Good readers not only use their prior knowledge of the topic of the text to make sense of it. They also use their prior knowledge of text structure. Teachers often assume that if a students is a good reader of literature, for example, that he or she will have no problems with expository texts or other genres. However, understanding the complexities of one genre does not mean understanding the complexities of another. Readers need to learn the special organizational patterns of different genres and how to approach them. Textbook texts are full of challenges. They have headers, subheaders, charts, graphs, tables of contents, glossaries, etc. Do not assume that students know how to use these text supports and organizers. Start by finding out what they do know, and then fill in the knowledge gaps.
Strategies that Elicit Students' Prior Knowledge
These instructional strategies include elements that assist in providing students with the opportunity to assess comprehension:
Oncourse ActivityIf you have any questions about how to post to Oncourse or what your responsibilities are for posting to Oncourse, please visit the L517 Posting to Oncourse web page.
ORIGINAL POSTING--By the end of the day on
Tuesday of this week post your response to the
following
topic on Oncourse.
On Sunday of this week you will receive an e-mail from your instructor that includes the directions for completing a procedure. Please read through the procedure 1 time. Do not re-read it! After you read the procedure go to Oncourse and explain to your partner in as much detail as you can remember how to complete the procedure that you read about. Please wait until Wednesday to read your classmates' (and your partner's) postings. On Wednesday, please read them all.
RESPONSE TO PARTNER'S POSTING--By the end of the day on
Friday
of this week respond to your partner's posting.
In an e-mail message you will receive instructions for how to respond to your partner's posting.
CLOSING WORDS
--By the end of of the day
on Sunday, read your
group's and one other group's postings for this topic and then reflect on
both.
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Last updated:
06/30/2006, by Jennifer Conner
URL: http://www.indiana.edu/~l517/prior.htm
Comments: jmconner@indiana.edu
Copyright 2006, Jennifer Conner
