One thing that made an impression on me last night and this past week with our readings was the importance of NOT reteaching students material they should have already learned in previous grades. Instead, the book suggests activating prior knowledge in other ways. For example, broadening beyond the classroom by using geographical or economic context. I feel like every teacher will be put in this position at some point, and what does one do? Are there resources and websites that help teachers expand beyond the classroom in this way? From an outsiders’ perspective this seems like a very difficult thing to do if resources are limited.
4 thoughts on “Week 5-Activating Background Knowledge”
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I’m not sure I agree that we shouldn’t reteach what students should have learned in previous grades. The whole reason for activating prior knowledge is to see what they know so we can plan accordingly. If most students know it, then we can dig deeper and move on. If they DON’T know, we MUST teach something to bring them up to speed.
Can you say more about this?
“For example, broadening beyond the classroom by using geographical or economic context.”
I’d like to respond to your question, but am not sure how.
In general, you make a good start in these posts, but you need to expand a bit. Try to make some connections between class activities, readings, and videos.
In regards to my comment about broadening beyond the classroom, I took that from the chapter we read in the book in the same area it talks about not re-teaching. I understood it as activating background knowledge in other ways, using real-life connections based on the content being taught.
Kelly, I wonder how you might connect activating background knowledge to the video we watched about Ms. Wickett’s classroom lesson? How did you feel about her activities?
Also, there are many reputable websites available to support teachers when they want to build upon content. Each social studies strand, history, geography, economics, and civics, has their own national website with great resources. One place to start is The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). This site will guide you.
I loved that video! I actually thought about it a lot that week, and even brought it up in discussion during my Reading 2 class. I thought the teacher was very creative in how she presented the information and activated her student’s background knowledge. It was also very evident that her students felt comfortable with her, and she knew them well.