1.4 Introduce students to a topic
Before exploring texts, it's important to spend some time introducing the topic to students. What students know about certain topics is essential to improve learning. It's important to recognize that not every student has the same background knowledge.
As students may not have enough background knowledge or the vocabulary that collocates around this topic, we could activate their prior knowledge, frontload1 some vocabulary, or present a video to provide the necessary context or background knowledge.
1 a strategy where students are introduced to vocabulary the teacher feels may cause a comprehension break before they are introduced to the text.
"What students already know about the content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information relative to the content"
Marzano, 2004
Suggested activities to introduce a topic and activate prior knowledge using technology
Your Task
Take the time to look at the suggested activities in each tab and answer the questions below.
Previewing a Topic
“Previewing is a strategy that readers use to recall prior knowledge and set a purpose for reading. It calls for readers to skim a text before reading, looking for various features and information that will help as they return to read it in detail later.
According to research, previewing a text can improve comprehension (Graves, Cooke, & LaBerge, 1983, cited in Paris et al., 1991).”
Source: Athena Kashyap & Erika Dyquisto City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative - Link
How?
Create a list of words from the text or about the topic that will be relevant to the whole sequence. Prepare questions to engage in discussion about the words and concepts, to pique students’ curiosity and activate their prior knowledge.
Strategies developed by students
- Predicting
- Activate prior knowledge
- Inferencing
Frontloading Vocabulary
“Frontloading vocabulary is a teaching strategy that involves introducing and teaching key vocabulary words before a lesson or unit. This technique is designed to help students become familiar with important terminology and concepts before they encounter them in context, which can improve their understanding and retention of the material.”
Source: ChatGPT
How?
Before reading a text or introducing a topic, students are presented with a list of key or challenging words and expressions from the text.
- Students can regroup the vocabulary into categories (preset by the teacher or created by students) in order to preview the topic and activate prior knowledge.
- A variation is to have students imagine what the text will be about based on the keywords.
- Key vocabulary can be organized alphabetically and available for students to refer to.
Watch the tutorial "Using Wooclap to frontload vocabulary" - 3 min 42s
Strategies developed by students
- Predicting
- Activate prior knowledge
- Inferencing
Anticipation Guide
“An anticipation guide is a strategy that is used before and after reading. It can activate students' prior knowledge and build curiosity about a new topic as well as evaluate how their perception of understanding of a topic has changed after reading or learning more about it. Students receive a list of statements related to a topic.” Source: AdLit
How?
Students receive a list of statements related to a topic. They determine if these are true/false or whether they agree/disagree with them.
The goal is to activate prior knowledge about the topic, stimulate interest and set the stage prior to reading the text. Time is taken to discuss the statements and clarify the purpose for reading the text.
Watch the tutorial "Using Edpuzzle as an Anticipation Guide" - 2 min 33 s
Strategies developed by students
- Activate prior knowledge
- Inferencing
- Take risks