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Building Background Knowledge

Background knowledge is an important topic to discuss surrounding students' reading comprehension. Providing students with background knowledge in advance helps to facilitate comprehension (McKenna & Stahl, 2015). Two important ways to build background knowledge are to use fiction texts with students and to teach vocabulary. 

Vocabulary

Building a child's vocabulary knowledge helps him or her comprehend text better. When teaching vocabulary, it is important to provide students with kid-friendly definitions of the words and contextual experiences with vocabulary (McKenna & Stahl, 2015). The IES Practice Guide, Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School (Baker, 2014) gives many strategies that work for English learners and native speakers alike to build vocabulary knowledge. Read below to learn more about the importance of vocabulary instruction in primary grades.

Nonfiction Text

Many young students find nonfiction texts highly engaging. Nonfiction texts are a great way to expose students to topics in school that they might not otherwise encounter in their daily lives. Below are some examples of lessons in which I have used nonfiction texts to help students gain more content knowledge for science and social studies lessons. Use of nonfiction does not have to be limited to meeting the needs of science and social studies content. 

Click here to read more about how I scaffolded my students' reading so they could learn more about traditions and customs celebrated around the world. 

The video above is a reflection on a coaching experience in which I gave support to a colleague for vocabulary instruction in addition to a few other strategies. 

Standards Addressed:

Science:

1.E.1.2 Recognize patterns of observable changes in the moon's appearance from day to day. 

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Social Studies:

1.H.1.2 Explain the importance of folklore and celebrations and their impact on local communities. 

1.H.1.3 Explain why national holidays are celebrated

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ELA:

RI.2.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topic or subject area.

RI.2.2 Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text.

RI.2.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

RL.2.10 By the end of grade 2, read and understand literature within the 2-3 text complexity band proficiently and independently for sustained periods of time. Connect prior knowledge and experiences to text.

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