Reading requires us to decode the words, understand the surface code of the words and sentence construction and then use our background knowledge to fill in the picture. But what happens if you don’t know anything about what you are reading? As an adult you might do some research, reread sections of the text to clarify your understanding, utilize a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words and find synonyms for them. For our students we need to help build their background knowledge for comprehension to assist them in understanding what they are reading. How do we build background knowledge for comprehension?
Global coherence is achieved when the explicit information in a sentence or sentences is supplemented by world knowledge stored in the reader’s long-term memory (Oakhill, Cain & Elbro, 2015)
J. Oakhill, K. Cain, and C. Elbro, Understanding
and Teaching Reading Comprehension: A Handbook (New York: Routledge, 2015).
Although it is true that we learn more by reading, ironically the more we know about the topic we are reading the better inferences we can make. This is why it is crucial for us to build background knowledge prior to reading to assist the student in making connections while they read. There are a variety of ways that we can build background knowledge for comprehension.
Questioning: this is an important strategy before, during and after the reading and can be integrated and combined with other activities. These questions and the dialog with the students are an important to aid in building the student’s understanding.
- Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles This is a beautiful illustrated picture book about an Emu that is bored with who he is and explores other animals until he recognizes that he is enough. In the book companion there are questions and discussion parts for each page of the story as well as Bloom Taxonomy questions after the book.
- Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett This story has poor Annie lonesome for her cat and she seeks out other pets in the woods. This book companion has the questions throughout the book as well as some visuals about wild and pet animals.
Active Participation: This is one of my favorite ways to teach concepts or vocabulary. By involving students in an activity we are creating a memory that we can then help them link to a story. Here is some examples how I use this with some popular stories.
- The Scarecrow’s Hat by Ken Brown: In this story the chicken ‘swaps’ items to eventually get the scarecrow’s hat. To teach the vocabulary of ‘swap’ as well as to give the feeling each of the animals had when they ‘swapped’ for what they wanted I set up activities in which the students ‘swap’. One way is to have scrabble letters and give each child a number of random ones and have them ‘swap’ with others to get the letters in their name. Another one a graduate student suggested was to have each child have a simple puzzle with one piece that is not theirs and have them look for the child that has theirs and ‘swap’.
- It’s Mine by Leo Lionni: Three frogs are being very selfish in this story. To teach the ‘sharing’ makes things better I have the children sit as teams (usually the way they are already set up in the classroom or at tables (pre-COVID) ) I give each child one crayon and ask them to draw a rainbow. They usually protest that they can’t but i don’t give them a solution. Usually one child will think if they share their crayons they will be able to make a prettier rainbow and tells the children at her table. It is okay if not all the children discover this they will see when the rainbows are displayed and we discuss how sharing and working as a team helps make everything better.
Visuals: Visuals are a great way to pair activation of prior knowledge with prediction. Pairing visual images with guiding questions can help draw out student observations and prepare them for new information. Because visuals can be differentiated based on students’ age, they can be used in all grade levels. When we think about visuals we need to think that this does not just mean pictures but can include videos, adapted books and actual items. Here is examples of how I use it:
- Caps for Sale by Esphyr: This is a really fun story but the peddler in the story goes through a variety of emotions as first he can’t sell his hats, then he has no money for food, he gets tired and takes a nap and then monkeys have stolen his caps and won’t give them back. For this story I have an emotion thermometer visual to help the students recognize the variety of emotions. This visual not only helps the student understand all the feelings of the peddler but help them make some connections.
- A Pocket for Corduroy: In this story a teddy bear gets lost in the laundromat. Several visuals are used including for the setting which many students might not have experienced. There is also an after reading activity that has the student creating lost posters to aid in the finding of the teddy bear.
Think Aloud:
It is important for children to have an understanding of what good readers do while they are reading. When we share by speaking aloud our thoughts while we are reading it helps the beginner reader understand the reading process.
Graphic Organizers:
There are a variety of graphic organizers that help with building background information. If we look at the words graphic and organizer it gives clues as to why this is a powerful tool. Graphic is a visual and we have seen how visuals assists students. They are usually more concrete than verbal information and help to make connections. Organizer is something that helps put things in order. Many of our students may have information but because they are not organized they have difficulty using this information. Graphic organizers can help steer the student into making connections, predictions, and inferences.
Background knowledge helps comprehension. For our students we help build their background knowledge for comprehension by using questions while we read, having them be more active participant, using visuals, think aloud, and graphic organizers.
Related blogs:
- LISTENING COMPREHENSION VERSUS READING COMPREHENSION
- CREATING RIGOR IN READING COMPREHENSION
- HOW TO READ A BOOK TO YOUR CHILD
