Activating
Activating is recalling relevant prior knowledge and information or experiences
1. Anticipation guides
If the reading occurs in a classroom setting, anticipation guides can help students in their activating skills as they engage prior knowledge, think about past experiences and create curiosity about a topic. Anticipation guides can centered on an idea, theme, motif, or event and can help direct the focus and purpose of reading. This may be more difficult to do in an independent reading setting, but many books already have anticipation guide made about them. Anticipation guides can also be completed orally. When helping a student choose a book to read, you can ask a series of questions like, "have you ever had an experience like this?" or "What would you do if you were caught in a situation like this?" These oral anticipations guides can be developed on the spot and can help provide a background for students before they read. Below are some examples of anticipation guides that can be adapted and used to suit the needs of the topic at hand.
If the reading occurs in a classroom setting, anticipation guides can help students in their activating skills as they engage prior knowledge, think about past experiences and create curiosity about a topic. Anticipation guides can centered on an idea, theme, motif, or event and can help direct the focus and purpose of reading. This may be more difficult to do in an independent reading setting, but many books already have anticipation guide made about them. Anticipation guides can also be completed orally. When helping a student choose a book to read, you can ask a series of questions like, "have you ever had an experience like this?" or "What would you do if you were caught in a situation like this?" These oral anticipations guides can be developed on the spot and can help provide a background for students before they read. Below are some examples of anticipation guides that can be adapted and used to suit the needs of the topic at hand.
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2. Context Clues
When it comes to a word or concept that is unfamiliar to the student, relying on previous information can be beneficial in trying to figure it out. Context clues can be broken down a variety of ways, for my research I focused on the following:
When it comes to a word or concept that is unfamiliar to the student, relying on previous information can be beneficial in trying to figure it out. Context clues can be broken down a variety of ways, for my research I focused on the following:
- Definition/Explanation Clues - If there is an unknown word, a definition or example might follow.
- Example: Onomatopoeia is a poetic device where the word used is associated with a sound; pop, bang, sizzle.
- Restatement/Synonym Clues - This involves putting the phrase in question into your own words; words that the student understands. Having students use synonyms for more difficult words can help to show their understanding of the text and help you gauge whether the student is able to use context to determine what the text is talking about. This strategy can be used for individual words or full concepts.
- Example: "She began to berate her younger sibling." Synonyms that a student might use to describe the word berate might include scoff, angry, or get mad at.
- Example: "Pythagorean theorem is a^2 + b^2 = c^2." The student might explain this by saying, "This is the formula that you use to find the sides of a triangle."
- Contrast/Antonym Clues - This context clue is similar to using synonyms, only the student describes what the word or concept is not. This can help students come to an understanding by using the process of elimination. You might also look for words of contrast like but, however, nonetheless, and alternatively.
- Example: "She intended to go to the store with her mother, but her mother was busy."
- Inference/General Context Clues - This type of context clue useful when a word or concept is not immediately clarified within the sentence. A student may need to refer back to previous portions of the text, the title of the text, or in some cases keep looking for context clues as the concept or text continues.
- Punctuation Clues - Punctuation is a useful tool for readers to infer meaning from the text. The simple use of a question mark, a period, comma, dash, or quotation marks can show if a word or phrase has a special meaning or emphasis.
3. Predicting
Predicting what will happen next in a passage is key strategy when it comes to activating prior knowledge. Below are a series of questions that might assist a student in predicting:
Predicting what will happen next in a passage is key strategy when it comes to activating prior knowledge. Below are a series of questions that might assist a student in predicting:
- What is it?
- Why would it be important?
- What is going to happen next?
- What ideas or evidence will the author present to support his argument?
4. KWL Charts
KWL charts allow students to brainstorm ideas about the text or concept. They allow students to activate prior knowledge by listing what they already know, direct questions and predictions by allowing students to think about what they want to know or learn, and later can allow students to recall and note what they have learned. Below I have included two example templates of KWL charts that you can use with your class.
KWL charts allow students to brainstorm ideas about the text or concept. They allow students to activate prior knowledge by listing what they already know, direct questions and predictions by allowing students to think about what they want to know or learn, and later can allow students to recall and note what they have learned. Below I have included two example templates of KWL charts that you can use with your class.
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