Building Prior Knowledge in History

American History FoundationsAugust 19, 2011

Fran Macko, Ph.D.fmacko@aihe.info

Framing the Session

• Why are history texts often difficult for students to comprehend?

• What skills do students need to become expert readers of history?

• What strategies can history teachers use to help their students make meaning of history texts?

What factors affect the readability of history texts?

• Lack of prior knowledge• Unfamiliar text structure or

schema• Difficulty identifying

important material from less important material

• Academic vocabulary and abstract concepts (“isms”)

• Level of analysis and synthesis

• Role of visuals, such as maps, graphs and charts, as sources of information

Our Focus Today: Activating Prior Knowledge

• I had but a few hours warning of what was intended to be done… To prevent discovery we agreed to wear ragged clothes and disfigure ourselves, dressing to resemble Indians… At the appointed hour, we met in an old building at… the wharf, and fell in one after another, as if by accident, as not to excite suspicion. We placed a sentry at the end of the wharf, another in the middle, and one on the bow of each ship as we took possession. We boarded the ship moored by the wharf, and ordered the captain and crew to open the hatchways, and hand us the hoisting tackle and rope, assuring them that no harm was intended them. Some of our numbers then jumped into the hold, and passed the chests to the tackle. As they were hauled on deck others knocked them open with axes, and others raised them to the railings and discharged their contents overboard.

• What event does this quotation describe?

• How did you know?• How did you acquire this

knowledge?• Based on this passage,

what questions might you have about this event?

• How does what we know about a topic generate further questions?

How does prior knowledge support learning?

• Prior knowledge:– supports students in making connections to the

text or the content.– creates a foundation for new facts, ideas and

concepts.– activates student interest and curiosity, and

creates a purpose for learning.

• A discussion of prior knowledge alerts the teacher to gaps in the students' knowledge and/or misconceptions the students have.

How do teachers activate prior knowledge?

• Popular strategies for activating prior knowledge are:– Brainstorming– Anticipation Guides– Semantic Maps/

Webs– KWL Charts

• All four strategies depend upon students’ having accurate knowledge about an event or individual.

• The KWL strategy also depends upon students’ having questions about an event or individual.

• To what extent do our students have prior knowledge about history?

• What can we do as teachers when students lack prior knowledge?

What are the shortcomings of the KWL strategy?

• Janet Allen in Reading History: “In my classroom, I often tried using a K-W-L approach

at the beginning of a unit or the study of an historical event. I usually met with an amazing lack of success. I would ask my students what they knew about a topic and they would say, ‘Nothing.’ When I asked them what they wanted to know, they would say ‘Nothing.’ I finally realized that K-W-L was going to work with my students only if I did something to build background and create an emotional connection to the topic that we were going to study”.

So…how can teachers build prior knowledge and create emotional

connections?

• BKWLQ or Writing to Learn is a variation of the KWL instructional strategy that helps students build prior knowledge and make meaningful connections to historical events.

What is the BKWLQ Strategy?

• BKWLQ offers students:– a variety of experiences

with several sources. – the opportunity to view an

event from several perspectives, encouraging them to record information and respond to what they have learned by making connections and asking questions.

Why BKWLQ?

• BKWLQ: – takes 40-45 minutes.– can be used to introduce a unit, a topic, or an

individual person or event.– creates background for and interest in the unit of

study.– provides a visual structure for learning.– provides a springboard for inquiry and project-

based learning.– can be referred to and built upon throughout the

unit.

What is the process?

• In BKWLQ, teachers choose three different sources on the same topic.

• They choose and order the sources so that each new one builds on the previous one by adding more information and emotional content.

• The selection of sources supports students in understanding multiple perspectives on the same event in history.

• Understanding multiple perspectives is critical as:– Historians don’t settle for one perspective on an

historical issue; they piece together many, sometimes competing, versions of events to construct an accurate interpretation.

– History is not a stagnant or closed-end subject. As new documents are analyzed and evaluated by historians, the interpretation of an event evolves.

Step One

• Students read or view the first source and identify and list 3 facts about the event that they have gleaned what they have read or viewed.

• This step supports students in distinguishing between historical fact and opinion.

Step Two

• Students then list one or more responses or connections to what they have read or viewed. These can be:– Text to text– Text to self– Text to world– Text to other events

in history

Step Three

• Finally, students list the questions that they have after reading or viewing the source.

• Students who ask questions when they read assume responsibility for their learning.

• Questioning improves comprehension in four ways:– by fostering interaction with the text– by creating motivation to read– by clarifying information in the text– by supporting inferring beyond the literal meaning

• Effective readers ask questions when they learn something new or read something unfamiliar.

• Asking questions facilitates the learning of new material and leads to more sophisticated questions.

What types of sources can be used for BKWLQ?

• BKWLQ is a flexible strategy that can be used with a variety of sources.

• Primary Sources• Non-Fiction• Fiction• Interviews• Artifacts• Videos• Periodicals• Poetry• Music• Art

What are the criteria for selecting sources?

• The first selection should be the most objective and fact-filled.

• The second selection should be more narrative and personal.

• The third selection should be the most subjective and emotionally compelling.

What is lifting text?

• BKWLQ works best when the selections are “lifted” from longer texts.

• Lifting text involves the selection of a specific piece or pieces of text from a larger selection to give students a “taste” of the content.

• The texts can and should represent diverse genres, writing styles and reading levels.

The BKWLQ Graphic OrganizerTitle of Text #1 Title of Text #2 Title of Text #3

3 Facts I Learned 3 Additional Facts I Learned

3 Additional Facts I Learned

My Response or Connection to What was Read

My Response or Connection to What was Read

My Response or Connection to What was Read

My Questions about What was Read

My Questions about What was Read

I Still Want to Know (Additional Questions)

Modeling the Strategy to Build Prior Knowledge of an Historical Event

Modeling the Strategy: The Boston Tea Party Source #1

Overview of The Boston Tea Partyhttp://www.bostonteapartyship.com/history.asp

– Generic– Fact filled– Objective

• 3 Facts:

• Response or Connection:– Text to text– Text to self– Text to world

• Questions:

Modeling the Strategy: The Boston Tea Party Source #2

Boston Gazette Account of The Boston Tea Partyhttp://www.boston-tea-party.org/account-boston-gazette.html

– Narrative– More personalized– Multiple perspectives

• 3 Facts:

• Response or Connection:– Text to text– Text to self– Text to world

• Questions:

Modeling the Strategy: The Boston Tea Party Source #3

Eyewitness Account of George Hewes http://ahp.gatech.edu/tea_party_account_1773.html

– First person narrative– Highly descriptive– Emotionally charged– Multiple perspectives

• 3 Facts:

• Response or Connection:– Text to text– Text to self– Text to world

• Questions:

Using Images for BKWLQ

Resources from Cicero

• Song: “Revolutionary Tea”

• Guided Reading Elementary – The Boston Tea

Party– Tea Anyone?– Road to the

Revolutionary War

• Young Learners:– What Happened to

the Tea?– Boston Tea Party

• Webquest: Causes of the Revolutionary War

Factors to Consider in Selecting Sources for BKWLQ

• The selection of sources for BKWLQ depends upon a number of factors:– The content introduced– The grade level– The need to differentiate based on student

strengths and areas of weakness

• However, each source should provide additional facts and should increase in level of emotional engagement.

Adapting BKWLQ to Your Classroom

• How might you use BKWLQ in your social studies classroom?

• What adaptations can you make?

• Adaptations include those:– To the selection of texts/ sources (consider

adding a source that reflects local history)– To the template– To the method of use– To the length of the texts/ sources– To the level of vocabulary– To the timeframe– To the method of presentation

Next Steps for BKWLQ

• Once students have generated a lists of facts, responses/ connections and questions about a topic, event or individual:– Organize the facts into categories using a

brainstorm or concept map (SPEC is one organizational structure).

– Add to the list of facts at the end of each lesson.– Review the questions at the end of each lesson

and have students identify those that were answered. Then have students write a response to these questions.

– Add new questions that were generated as a result of the lesson.

– At the end of the unit, have students research questions that remain unanswered.

– Add new connections/ responses at the end of each lesson.

– What other “next steps” can you think of?