From accessing to activating prior knowledge
Getting students to ‘lock into’ their prior knowledge or understanding of a topic or skill is common practice amongst teachers as a way to engage students in learning, and to ascertain what students already know, and therefore, what needs to be learned.
This small tweak looks at the difference between ‘accessing’ prior knowledge and ‘activating’ it. One provides an opportunity to think about what they already know before new learning occurs, while one makes prior knowledge ‘operative’ as it sets into motion new learning. While accessing prior knowledge gives students a way to enter or approach new knowledge, activating takes their prior knowledge along with them and becomes part of their new learning.
When we activate prior knowledge we are asking students to revisit and reflect on the ways their existing knowledge connects or adds to what they are learning, and even identify what they would like or need to know to build their knowledge further. Prior knowledge is not assumed and the ‘level’ of prior knowledge does not act as an advantage or disadvantage.
We like to think of prior knowledge that is activated as the thread in a needle, stitching together the fabric of the lesson or Unit of Study, bringing everything together to create something new. The more prior knowledge is stitched into the new knowledge, the better the quality of what is created.
Of course there is also a place for supplementing gaps in prior knowledge through front-loading. Providing important background knowledge or revisiting strategies or skills creates a solid foundation for learning. When working with activated prior knowledge, front-loading can further strengthen the learning.
Ways we can activate prior knowledge:
At the start of a topic or unit, pose an open-ended question. Have students work in small groups (3 or 4) to fill in a chart with 3 columns – what they know, what they think they know, and what they need to find out. Keep the chart visible throughout the lesson(s) and encourage, or carve out time for, students to be editing and adding to the columns (crossing out ‘need to find out’ notes when they have found out something they needed to, adding new questions or highlighting confirmed knowledge etc.).
Create a scenario or hypothetical event that is outside the expected context (a discrepant event) but requires knowledge related to what they will be learning. In groups of 3 or 4, students work through the scenario to understand what happened and why; asking questions, building upon each others’ ideas and knowledge, exploring different solutions or responses. Then throughout the lesson, or Unit of Study, find opportunities for students to discuss the connections or links to what they had discussed during the hypothetical event.
Anticipation guides: pose a series of statements that students respond with yes/no/maybe. These work well when the statements ask students to consider their opinions or views about ideas or subjects. Revisiting their responses following learning allows them to be more confident with their views (and usually now with some evidence or examples to support them), change them based on new understandings, or move from a ‘maybe’ to either ‘yes’ or ‘no.’
Following front-loading or accessing prior knowledge, have students make and justify predictions about what they will learn or what will happen in the lesson (e.g., in a book, in an experiment etc.). Throughout the lessons, students identify when a prediction is confirmed, or even amend their predictions. At the end of the lesson students confirm their predictions, or determine why it was not accurate.
Make time throughout a lesson for students to review and add to their prior knowledge; what else did they realise they actually knew? What do they now realise they know and is relevant to what they are learning? The 3-2-1 Bridge strategy from Project Zero is an example of a routine that encourages students to explain how new responses/understandings connect to or have changed from their initial thinking.
Retrieval practice routines focus on bringing information to mind that students have been exposed to before, encouraging them to ‘pull’ knowledge ‘out’ of their minds rather than being focused on ‘input.’ The focus is on retrieving knowledge from memory to boost learning. Retrieval routines can be used at the beginning, throughout, or end of a lesson or unit at a point when prior knowledge or learning needs to be reinforced or is important to what they are currently doing. There are lots of examples of retrieval strategies online, such as Tom Sherrington’s ‘Teacherhead’ post here.
