Chapter 8
Building and
Activating
Background
Knowledge is
Our Job
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2009). Background
Knowledge: The Missing Piece of the
Comprehension Puzzle. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Today’s Purposes
• Discuss the role of teachers in activating and
building background knowledge
• Analyze a unit of instruction with your
colleagues
• Revisit the background knowledge rubric to
determine your own growth
Teachers as Brain Workers
• We influence that which is stored in our
students’ heads
• We teach in ways that keep head and
heart connected
• Background knowledge isn’t basic skills-it is the foundation that new learning
rests upon
Creating Habits of Mind
• Persisting
• Thinking and communicating with clarity and
precision
• Gathering data through all the senses
• Listening with understanding and empathy
• Thinking flexibly
• Thinking interdependently
• Others? (Costa & Kallick, 2009)
Background Knowledge
is a Process
Work with colleagues in your grade or
content area to examine a unit of
instruction. The following 10 guiding
questions are for discussion.
1. Have we identified enduring
understandings for this topic?
2. Have we determined core
versus incidental background
knowledge for this topic?
3. Have we assessed students
such that we can recognize
common misconceptions?
4. Have we established a
purpose that makes learning
relevant for students?
5. Have we modeled and
demonstrated our own
understanding before
requiring students to complete
learning tasks?
6. Have we focused on
background knowledge that
moves beyond facts and
isolated skills?
7. Have we provided
students with wide reading
opportunities to facilitate
background knowledge
gains?
8. Have we planned live and
virtual experiences to build
background knowledge?
9. Are we regularly activating
background knowledge?
10. Do we remind students
that background knowledge is
critical to understanding?
Assessing Your Practice
Building Your Own
Background Knowledge
• Learn more about the habits of mind at
http://www.habits-of-mind.net/whatare.htm
• Want to build your content knowledge in virtually any
subject? Visit the MERLOT website for online
resources at http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm
• Listen to some of the most innovative thinkers today
at http://www.ted.com/