Focused Learning Through
Direct Instruction
Session Three:
Instruction That Works:
Activating Prior Knowledge
and Checking for Understanding
Presented by: Lorna Manuel, Patty Garrison, & Doreen Fuller
Moderated by: Nancy Silva, CTAP Region 2 - BCOE
Regional System of District and School Support (RSDSS), Region 2
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Focused Learning Through
Direct Instruction
Session Three:
Instruction That Works:
Activating Prior Knowledge
and Checking for Understanding
Presented by: Lorna Manuel, Patty Garrison, & Doreen Fuller
Moderated by: Nancy Silva, CTAP Region 2 - BCOE
Regional System of District and School Support (RSDSS), Region 2
Webinar Learning Objectives
Participants will become familiar with the importance
of Activating Prior Knowledge in lesson delivery.
 Participants will be able to differentiate between
examples and non-examples of appropriate questioning
techniques for use in Activating Prior Knowledge.
 Participants will be able to recognize Activating Prior
Knowledge strategies and how to apply them to their
own lessons.

DI – Lesson Design Components
 Learning
Objective
 Activate Prior Knowledge
 Concept Development
 Lesson Importance
 Skill Development
 Guided Practice
 Lesson Closure
 Independent Practice
Activating Prior Knowledge (APK)
Defined
Is helping students to retrieve pertinent prior
knowledge so that new content is easier to learn.


Is connecting existing knowledge to new knowledge.
Why is APK Important?
In How the Brain Learns, David Sousa (2001) notes that
“Past experiences always influence new learning.
What we know acts as a filter, helping us attend to
those things that have meaning and discard those that
don’t”.
When we learn something new, we are much more likely
to understand it if we see connections that make it
relevant. When these connections are unseen,
understanding gets cloudy.
What are the Benefits?
Learning
experiences that draw on students’
prior knowledge act to
assist students in relating new information (or skills) to what they already
know and can do
allow for the surfacing of misconceptions or naïve conceptions that may
impede learning
Audience Participation:
What is an additional benefit of APK?
Please type in your response.
What are the Benefits?

Learning experiences that draw on students’ prior
knowledge act to:
assist students in relating new information (or skills) to what they
already know and can do
allow for the surfacing of misconceptions or naïve conceptions that
may impede learning
allow teachers to make decisions to augment and strength students’
knowledge before new information is engaged
identify gaps in knowledge or skills that may exist
creates a scaffold for new learning
stimulate interest, curiosity and motivation, or initiate an inquiry
process that can provide a more personalized learning experience
Prior Knowledge can be activated through
preexisting pathways.
Through Attitudes:
 Beliefs about ourselves as
learners/readers
 Awareness of our individual
interests and strength
 Motivation and our desire to read
Through Experiences:
 Everyday activities and skills


Events in our lives that provide
background understanding
Family and community experiences that
they bring to school with them
Through Knowledge:
 Of
content
 Of topics (fables, photosynthesis,
fractions)
 Of concepts
 Of academic and personal goals
Selecting Knowledge to Activate
 The
Learning Objective contains the knowledge to
activate.
 It is related to either the objective’s concept or
skill
Sample learning objective: Students will compare
and contrast the setting from two stories.
Ways to Activate Knowledge
 Universal
Experience
 Sub-skill Review
Example: Asking the class, “When reading a story,
what are some words that might give you clues
about the setting?”
Connect to Familiar Content/Concept
 Connect
information to what students are
familiar with and what they are going to be
taught.
 Do
not use new vocabulary in making these
connections
Connect to Familiar Content/Concept
Connect information to what students are familiar
with and what they are going to be taught.
 Do not use new vocabulary in making these
connections

Example
Non-example
When you are trying to convince
your mother to give you some
money, what do you do?
Who knows what persuasive
means?
Your own example
Your own non-example
Steps in Activating Prior Knowledge
 Step
1: Provide students with a universal
experience or sub-skill review
 Step 2: Facilitate student interaction
 Step 3: Connect the prior knowledge to the new
lesson
A Five Minute Process
Activating Prior Knowledge
Strategies
Think Pair Share
Metacognition is Thinking About Thinking

To invoke the process used to arrive at a response rather
than soliciting a correct answer based on the student’s
memory of the material

Think–Pair Share –strategies engage students in thinking
about their response first, and then allow students to
discuss their ideas with a partner before sharing their ideas
with the whole class.
Visual and Performing Arts Content Standard 3rd grade
1.2 Describe how artists use tints and shades in painting.
Learning Objective:
When shown different color colors, students will be able to recognize tint
from shade.
Tint/Light
Color
Shade/Dark
6TH Grade Physical
Science Thermal
Energy: So hot in
here!!
Students discover heat is conducted in a variety of ways. In this
physical science lesson, students investigate various conductors of
heat.
Students explain their findings, and discover how energy is
exchanged between objects through radiation.
To conclude the lesson, students write predictions to questions
prompted by the teacher.
After experimenting with conductors of heat, make predictions about
the following materials as heat conductors. Think.
Write you responses in your journal and discuss with a partner. Pair.
Be prepared to then share with the class. Share.
Linking Real or Personal Experiences
This technique allows students from varying
academic levels and personal backgrounds to
participate and share their experience to build a
classroom experience.
This technique also helps the teacher to assess
"where the class is at or check for
understanding."
Real Experience
Before reading a short story where the main character
experienced something frightening, ask students to free
write about a time when he/she experienced something
fearful.
Then have students share vocabulary they used to
describe their experiences. Make the link between
students experiences with fear and the characters in the
story.
Real Experience
Elementary Social Studies: Topic of unit is Westward
Movement. Teacher might ask the students, For those
who have moved or had friends/family move: What
steps must one go through to prepare to move? Why did
you move? What were you sad about and happy about
when you moved?
Anticipation/Reaction
Guide
Science Content Standard (8th grade):
Students know that compounds are formed by
combining two or more different elements and that
compounds have properties that are different from
their constituent elements.
Learning Objective:
Given examples, students will be able to identify
whether a substance is a mixture or a compound.
Activating Prior Knowledge
 Science
Example
Preview
Anticipation/Reaction Guide for Mixtures/Compounds
Directions: Read the statements below and decide if you AGREE or
DISAGREE with each statement. Write your answer underneath the
"Anticipation" column. At the end of your lesson, write your answer
underneath the "Reaction" column. Compare your answers? What
did you learn?
Anticipation
True
_______________
True
_______________
Statement
Reaction
True
____Raisin Bran Cereal is an example of a mixture__
____________
____ Vinegar is a mixture ______________________
_____________
False
English/Language Arts Content Standard:
Expository Critique (Grade 5) – Identify facts,
inferences and opinions
Learning Objective:
Through different reading examples, students will identify
examples of opinions being used in expository writing.
Title: The Book of the Pig
Author: Jack Denton Scott
Grade Level: 4-6
Summary: This book dispels many myths about pigs and provides much
information about their activities, the variety of breeds, and the many ways they
serve people.
Anticipation/Reaction Guide
Anticipation
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________
_________
Reaction
________
________
________
________
________
________
Statement
1. Pigs are dirty animals.
2. Pigs serve no useful purpose.
3. Pigs are affectionate animals.
4. Pigs are stupid animals.
5. Pigs can be trained to do tricks.
6. Pigs are fussy about what they eat.
Give One, Get One
ELA Standard: 3.3 Literary Response & Analysis
(Grade 3) – Understand characters in literature
Lesson Objective:
Students will be able to list important characteristics about the main characters in a
story.
`
Write down a character you have read about from
each of two different stories.
For Example: Freckle Juice Character: Andrew
Give One, Get One
Math Standard: Computing (Grade 7) – Calculate
percent increase/decrease
Lesson Objective:
Given a math percentage problem, students will be able to calculate the increase in
percentage.
`
Create
and solve a word problem in which you
must compute a percentage.
For Example: John wants to buy a DVD costing $10.00. Today the store is
having a 20% discount on all DVD’s. How much would John have to pay
for the DVD?
$10.00 x .20 = $2.00
the DVD
$10.00 - $2.00 = $8.00 John would pay $8.00 for
Advance Organizers
Expository Advance Organizer
Narrative Advance Organizer
Skimming as an Advance Organizer
Graphic Advance Organizer
Graphic Organizer
 Hierarchical organizers - main ideas and supporting details in
ranking order
 Comparative organizers - depict similarities among key concepts
 Sequential organizers - illustrate a series of steps or place events in a
chronological order
 Diagrams - depict actual objects and systems in the real world
(Marchand-Matella, et al., 1998),
 Cyclical organizers - depict a series of events that have no beginning
or end
 Conceptual organizers - include a main concept with supporting facts,
evidence, or characteristics (Bromley, et al., 1998).
Graphic Organizer
If you want to show……..
Series of items
A comparison
Super ordinate/subordinate
Classification
Data reporting
Part to whole
Cause and effect
Then use
Lists or sequential framework, cycle diagram
Parrell lists, Venn diagram, t-charts
Branching, web diagram
Web diagram, matrix, t-chart
Graphs/tables
Pictures, branching
Fishbone, cycle diagram, flow charts, matrix
Source: http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu/ cgibin/cgiwrap/specconn/main.php?cat=instruction&section=main&subsection=udl/graphic
Math Graphic Organizer
Math Content Standard (6th grade):
2.4 Determine the least common multiple and the
greatest common divisor of whole numbers; use
them to solve problems with fractions (e.g., to
find a common denominator to add two fractions or
to find the reduced form for a fraction).
Learning Objective:
Students will create a definition for Greatest
Common Factor.
Math Graphic Organizer
Greatest Common Factor
Synonyms for the word Greatest
Synonyms for the word Common
Recall: Factors are numbers you multiply together to get another number. Any number can be divided by factors.
In your group: Using the synonyms you identified above, create a definition for greatest common factor.
Source: http://christinamariecourtney.blogspot.com/2009/11/activating-prior-knowledge.html
ELA Content Standard (3rd grade):
2.5 Distinguish main idea and supporting
details in expository text.
Learning Objective:
Students will read a story, list supporting details,
and identify the main idea.
ELA Graphic Organizer
KEEP TRACK OF THE AUTHOR’S KEY IDEAS
Show the key ideas in a selection by filling in the chart below as you read. When you finish
reading, draw conclusions about the main idea.
Key Idea:
Key Idea:
Supporting Points:
Supporting Points:
Key Idea:
Key Idea:
Supporting Points:
Supporting Points:
The Main Idea:
Source: http://www.washingtonco.k12.nc.us/siteimages/images/uploads/Graphic%20Organizers%20for%20Reading.pdf
KWL
K
What do you
know?
W
What do you
want to
know?
L
What have
you learned?
Ogle, D.M. (1986, February). K-W-L: A teaching model that develops active reading in expository texts. The Reading Teacher 39(8), 564-570.
Activation Prior Knowledge and English
Learners
Before teachers of English learners teach a lesson, it
is important that they determine the extent to which
students have prior knowledge about a certain topic.
It's important that teachers also recognize that
students' prior knowledge of a topic may be
influenced by cultural practices from their home
language and culture, and their prior knowledge may
differ from the background experiences of the teacher.
The Three Pillars
of English Language Learning
Dr. Jim Cummins
of the University of Toronto
where he works on language
development and literacy
development of learners of
English as an additional language
Their knowledge may not facilitate learning unless
that knowledge is brought to consciousness.
Sample lesson
Students know rivers and streams are dynamic systems that erode,
transport sediment, change course, and flood their banks in natural
and recurring patterns.
1. Tell me what you know
about rivers? Where have
you seen a river? What
did it look like? What did
the land look like around
the river? Have you been
in a river before? What
did the land look like
around the river?
2. Write about what you see in the pictures . Do the pictures
look like the river you have seen? What does it look like the
river is doing to the land? Where do you think the water
came from? Why do rivers bend through the land?
3. Let’s Brainstorm some questions that
might help us answer questions we have
about rivers and what they do to the
land and how they might change the
land.
4. Let’s identify some resources that might help us answer our
questions.
What did we do?
1. Start with classroom activities about riddles & answer
question about the main topic
2. Engage interest using visuals which allow students to
engage prior knowledge
3. Quick write (from the picture & prior knowledge)
4. Brainstorm - what other unexplained mysteries do you
know?
5. Write research questions that will lead to new information
6. Introduce information to support learning objective
Revisiting Our Learning Objectives
 Participants
will become familiar with the
importance of Activating Prior Knowledge in
lesson delivery.
 Participants will be able to differentiate between
examples and non-examples of appropriate
questioning techniques for use in Activating
Prior Knowledge.
 Participants will be able to recognize Activating
Prior Knowledge strategies and how to apply
them in their own lessons.
Questions?
Next Webinar
Focused Learning Through
Direct Instruction
Session Four:
Lesson Importance
and Checking for Understanding
May 11, 2011
3:30 PM – 4:30 PM
Register on the Region 2 RSDSS website:
http://www.tehamaschools.org/department/rsdss/upcoming-rsdss-events
Contact Information
Doreen Fuller (Shasta Hub Coordinator – serving Lassen,
Modoc, Siskiyou, Shasta, and Trinity Counties):
dfuller@shastacoe.org
Patty Garrison (Butte Hub Coordinator – serving Butte and
Plumas Counties): pgarriso@bcoe.org
Lorna Manuel (Region 2, RSDSS Director and Tehama
Hub Coordinator – serving Glenn and Tehama Counties):
lmanuel@tehamaschools.org