Chapter 2Placing Background Knowledge in Daily Teaching

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2009). Background Knowledge: The Missing Piece of the Comprehension Puzzle. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

• Examine a structured approach to teaching

• Discuss examples of how a gradual release of responsibility is used to activate and build background knowledge

Today’s Purposes

Table Talk

What are the biggest challenges for your students regarding background knowledge? What approaches do you use to overcome these?

3 Practices Linked to Background Knowledge

• Assess what students already know• Plan lessons and activities that build

background knowledge• Design ways to activate students’ knowledge

by having them interact with content

TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY

Focus Lesson

Guided Instruction

“I do it”

“We do it”

“You do it together”

Collaborative

Independent “You do it alone”

A Model for Success for All Students Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better Learning Through Structured Teaching: A Framework for the Gradual Release of Responsibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

• 8th grade social studies• Core knowledge for the course is on growth and

conflict• Major theme for the course: This period of U.S.

history was marked with successes and failures brought about by the decisions of leaders and citizens.

Activating and Building Background Knowledge in One Classroom

Assessing Background Knowledge: Opinionnaire

What’s your opinion? SA A D SD

A patriot is heroic.

Sometimes the only thing left to do is fight for what you believe in.

The American Revolutionary War could have been avoided if both sides had compromised on taxes.

All the colonists were in support of the war.

Choosing Sides

As American colonists heard about these battles in Lexington, Concord, and Bunker Hill,

they faced a major decision. Should they join the ___1___ or remain loyal to ___2___?

Those who chose to __3__ with Britain, the Loyalists, __4__ not consider unfair taxes

__5__ regulations good reason for __6__. Some remained loyal to __7__ king because

they were __8__ who would lose their __9__ as a result of __10__ Revolution. Others

were people __11__ had no been part __12__ the wave of discontent __13__turned so

many Americans __14__ Britain. Still others expected __15__ to win the war

__16__wanted to gain favor __17__the British. The Patriots, on the other hand, were

determined to fight the British to the endŃ until American independence was won.

Assessing Background Knowledge: Cloze Passage

• “Loyalists” and “Patriots” use a list of reasons offered by each to produce a broadside (newspaper)

• Posted the broadsides in the hallway• Read and debated

Activating Background Knowledge: Role Play

She says, “I’ve heard about Parliament before. That’s the name of the group of representatives in Britain that made laws. I learned about Parliament when I read about England taking over the colonies from the Dutch one hundred years earlier. I recall now that Parliament also came up with the plan to ship prisoners from English jails to the colonies. Hmmm…it seems like Parliament didn’t always have the colonies’ best interests in mind when they made decisions.”

She reads, “The colonists objected to paying King George’s taxes without having a voice in Parliament. They called it taxation without representation. And while the tax on tea was a small one, just three cents a pound, it was regarded as a symbol of British tyranny” (p. 2).

Building Background Knowledge: Think-aloud

• Teacher provides a range of reading materials

• Differentiated texts reflect the range of readers in the room

• Wide reading is effective for building background knowledge IF the text isn’t too difficult

Building Background Knowledge: Independent Reading

Building Background Knowledge: Guided Instruction

Name of Act What Was It? Why Did It Make Colonists

Angry?

Result

Boston Port Act Closed port of

Boston af ter

Tea Party

It punished

everyone instead

of jus t the ones

who did it

Colonists

from far away

sent supplies,

and this

helped them

learn to work

together

Massachusetts Government Act

Britain took

over

Massachusetts

government

Now they

couldn’t rules

themselves

Town meetings

couldn’t be

held without

permission

Administration of Justice Act

British could

have trials in

England

Cost too much

for people to go

to the trials

Made it easier

for Britain to

win trials

Quartering Act British soldiers

could stay in

empty buildings

They didn’t like

having soldiers

hanging around

This would be

a part of the

Consititution

Quebec Act Gave land to

French west of

Appalachian

mountains

Pennsylvania and

New York

thought th is

was their land

Made lots of

Canadians

friends with

the colonis ts

Table Talk

In what ways does a gradual release of responsibility model of instruction interact with background knowledge?

Assessing Your Practice

• Learn more about a gradual release of responsibility model of instruction in Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Releasing responsibility. Educational Leadership, 66(3), 32—37.

• Read an excellent summary of scaffolded instruction from the Ohio Department of Education at http://ims.ode.state.oh.us/ode/ims/rrt/research/Content/scaffolding_what_we_know.asp

Building Your Own Background Knowledge