Background knowledge includes all information that is relevant to the understanding of a new topic (Lent, 2012). I have often heard the analogy that teaching without providing necessary background knowledge is akin to painting over a rusty door. This basically suggests that new learning cannot take place without a strong foundation of background knowledge. While my preconceived notion of background knowledge supports this analogy, further research provided additional insights about both the importance of background knowledge and in what constitutes background knowledge. While I had normally thought of background knowledge solely in the context of content knowledge, I now realize that background knowledge encompasses other world applications, such as word meanings and cultural features.
One of the “building background” activities featured in my SIOP lesson plan (featured in an earlier post) was the use of the US Census Population Counter. This is important because it gives students an idea of the magnitude of world population. Magnitude is a motif across all science disciplines, so understanding its significance is important for all science courses that students take. Other features of my lesson plan that can serve as building background activities include the PowerPoint presentation that presents the causes for world population and visuals that remind/ inform students about the differences between farmland and cities. Although these materials were already supposed to be used as cues to background knowledge, their specific intentions described in this post are not their original intentions.
I often integrate history with my science lessons when possible. My presentation in the posted lesson incorporated a timeline of world population counts that included various historical events that greatly influenced population sizes (i.e. the Neolithic Revolution, the bubonic plague, and the post-World War II baby boom). While I had assumed that students were familiar with each of these events (and could therefore connect their probably influence on population size), I had failed to consider that students from diverse background may be less familiar with historical events that are staples of social studies curricula in US schools. In future lessons, I will consider that students from other cultures may be less familiar with certain historical events and I will use direct instruction or succinct historical texts (prior to the lesson) to ensure that all students have the necessary historical background.
Many of the abstract concepts that are taught in science lessons assume some degree of familiarity with common models (i.e. gas laws in chemistry are often described in the context of “a rigid cylinder with a moveable piston”). It is widely known that no students are native speakers of science, but it may not be obvious to all teachers that many students could benefit from direct activation of background knowledge. There are several steps science teachers can take to provide the necessary background for all students, especially ELLs. The first step is to identify the background knowledge that ELLs already have (or think they have). This can be done using diagnostic tests or “opinionaires” that allow ELLs to consider what they think they know about a given topic. Using this data, teachers then decide what background knowledge is critical for the understanding of class topics; this information is then pre-taught using appropriate texts or discussed briefly before moving onto the content-specific information.
When pre-teaching background knowledge, appropriate selection of texts is essential; texts must be relevant, appropriate in level, and detailed enough to provide the appropriate foundation for ELLs to learn a new concept in science (Fenner and Snyder, 2017). Alternatively, images or short videos can be used to provide a brief overview of the information. While some students may need further supports in developing background knowledge, it is important that the teacher does not single students out or make them feel inadequate in front of their peers. In addition to formative assessment, teachers should be in tune to their students’ concerns about concepts that they recognize but do not feel fully comfortable with (Fenner and Snyder, 2017). After the teacher ensures that all students have the background knowledge that is necessary for full understanding, construction of novel information can begin using the new scaffolds.
Fenner, D. S., & Snyder, S. (2017). UNLOCKING ENGLISH LEARNERS POTENTIAL. Place of publication not identified: CORWIN Press.
Lent, R. C. (2012). Overcoming textbook fatigue: 21st century tools to revitalize teaching and learning. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Mastering Mathematics. (2018, February 4). [Background Knowledge]. Retrieved April 30, 2019, from https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-b5dtDjRN7E/maxresdefault.jpg
Teaching English Language Learners 