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This blog post by Rebecca Alber reminds us of the importance of activating prior knowledge before presenting new content. I think we, as teachers, all know how important that is, but in the rush to make sure we've "covered" everything for the year, do we always take the time to put that knowledge to good use? I know I, for one, sometimes forget how important it is to pre-assess the students' knowledge, thus missing a valuable opportunity to see where they already are in their knowledge of a topic, or where there might be gaps that I need to fill in before I begin the lesson on the topic we are studying. Sometimes even the lack of understanding of a few vocabulary terms can make a huge difference in whether or not the student understand the new concept.
To help in activating prior knowledge, Alber offers a few strategies. Some are very familiar, such as K-W-L charts, and some are novel, such as "Image Brainstorm." I am grateful for the helpful hints, and for the reminder of the importance of activating prior knowledge.
The complete blog post, "Are You Tapping Into Prior Knowledge Often Enough in Your Classroom?" posted by Rebecca Alber on July 19, 2011, can be viewed at: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/prior-knowledge-tapping-into-often-classroom-rebecca-alber
I had bookmarked that article to read later and hadn't gone back to it yet. I am with you on the rush to cover material some times the most basic things can get overlooked. I teach alternative high school and my students come to me at some many different levels, I too need to do a better job of pre-assessing. Other times what I catch myself doing is using a pre-assessing strategy like a K-W-L chart, we complete the "K" and the "W" and never return to complete the "L". After reading your post I am interested in what other prior knowledge strategies are suggested.
ReplyDeleteI think this is so important to know where your students knowledge lies. I have experienced that were your students cannot understand the subject material because of a few terms. I do not teach in a traditional classroom, but I know that each student I do teach has a completely different background and knowledge base. Unfortunately, I have to teach to the student at the lower end of spectrum because I want all my students to get the material I am teaching.
ReplyDeleteBetty, I too blogged on this same article. What an important part of teaching that sometimes I admit I forget to do. This was a refresher for me to remember that this part of the learning process is benefitial to my students, even though it takes additional time, in the long run it will help my students.
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