Prior Knowledge and Making Self-to-Text Connections

Classroom Examples of Prior Knowledge and Making Self-to-Text Connections

Good readers naturally make connections between their own lives and what they read. Teachers can use children’s background knowledge and experiences to enhance understanding of a text. When children understand how to connect the texts they read to their lives, they begin to make larger connections between what they read and the larger world.

Hansen, J. & Pearson, P.D. (1983). An Instructional Study: Improving the Inferential Comprehension of Good and Poor Fourth-Grade Readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 22, 821-829.

1. Activating Background Knowledge
Ask students to tell you what they know about the subject of the story, if they have had similar experiences, or if they heard or read a story like this or by same author. "You said you have a cat. Tell me what your cat does all day and who its friends are. What kind of friends do you think the cat in this book might find?" If the topic is totally unfamiliar, reconsider book choice, or take extra time to build the necessary background knowledge through some kind of concrete experiences. For example, if you choose a book about a farm and the student has never been to a farm you may want to begin by looking at pictures of farms and farm animals and having a brief discussion about what happens on farms: what animals live there, what is grown on farms, etc.

[from Bank Street School of Education:
http://www.bankstreet.edu/literacyguide/pre.html#back]

2. Slower Than the Rest
Students read “Slower Than the Rest” in Every Living Thing by Cynthia Rylant. This is a story about a boy who rescues a turtle and becomes his constant companion. The teacher reads part of the story and pauses to code an “R” when something reminds him/her of something. The teacher may write a few words on a sticky note to explain the “R” incident, thought, or feeling. Students join in and share their own connections while the teacher lists them on a chart. For example, “I had a pet iguana once” or “I feel like Leo when the special education teacher comes to get me.”

[adapted from Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies that Work (p. 69). Stenhouse Publishers.]