Ways To Activate Prior Knowledge.

 

One of the hardest things I've discovered about teaching math, is getting students to activate prior knowledge associated with the current topic.  Too often, my students have treated each topic and every problem as something new.  It was difficult to get them to connect prior knowledge with the new concept and each problem with the next and with the topic.

Research indicates that when we learn first from our prior knowledge and second from the new material being taught. Thus it is important to take time to find out what students know before introducing the new material because we construct new knowledge from what we already know.

A suggestion has been made that teacher have students take a assessment to determine what prior knowledge and skills they already have so the teacher has a place to start.

It is suggested that we take time to ask students about their prior knowledge, experience, hunches, or ideas with the topic or material, Another possibility is to have students try to relate it to their real lives such as slope can be related to the pitch of a roof or the grade of a road up or down a hill.  There are activities we can integrate into our instruction.

1.  Image Brainstorming.  In this activity, project a picture on the smart board or wall and ask students to tell you everything they see in the picture.  Select pictures that students are familiar with and allows them to connect the picture with the new topic or concept.  

2. K-W-L Chart.  This is a good activity to help activate their prior knowledge but it is easy to overuse to use sparingly.

3. Picture Books.  In recent years, there have been more children picture books written with a math topic.  I've seen a few with Sir Cumference (circumference) or that look at the size of certain numbers etc.  Let students read these picture books before introducing the topic or concept.

4. ABC Brainstorming. Give students a table with 26 boxes with a letter in each box.  Put the students in pairs and have them brainstorm a word or phrase for each letter.  There can be a restriction put on what type of words such as shapes, or solving equations and instead of 26 boxes, have them list as many words as they can starting with a different letter.

5. Class Brainstorming Web.  Place a word in a circle in the center and have students write as many different words as they can associated with the word in the center.  Connect the words to the one in the center so you have a graphic organizer.  Keep the activity visible through the new material so students can refer to it. 

6. Making Connections.  In this activity, students work in pairs to look at, analyze, and determine relationships between pre-selected topics such as tools, vocabulary, types of problems, or even math they've already learned. This activity helps students build connections between  concepts or terms and prior knowledge. It also helps students find connections and learn more about relationships they might not see otherwise.

7. Modeling and Coaching.  In this activity, students are coached into breaking down solving the problem into steps while using guiding questions to help students use self-questioning to activate prior knowledge. Sometimes, it might be having students begin with a less complex problem, identifying steps before having them solve the actual problem.

These are just a few ways to help students address prior knowledge since prior knowledge is extremely important in learning the new material.  Next column, I'll address connecting prior knowledge with the current material.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.