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Literacy 4-6

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Literacy 4-6 > Factors > Background Knowledge

Background Knowledge

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How Background Knowledge connects to...

We all bring our own Background Knowledge, that is, what we know and have experienced, to what we read and write. This knowledge includes everyday cultural experiences and interactions within personal communities. Helping students build and apply their Background Knowledge, and ensuring that their own personal Background Knowledge is acknowledged and built upon in school, can ensure they have and use the information they need to understand and compose increasingly complex texts.

Main Ideas

In the upper elementary grades, students transition into a stage where they are able to learn Background Knowledge through the process of reading and writing.

Understanding a text can be difficult without basic Background Knowledge in the topic for several reasons:

  • Reading often requires students to make inferences. Without appropriate contextualized Background Knowledge, this may be impossible.
  • Vocabulary is an important component of Background Knowledge, and it can be difficult to understand a text that has Vocabulary students do not understand. Specifically, academic Vocabulary can be challenging, as these words are not typically used in informal conversation (e.g., analysis, policy).
  • Many words also have multiple meanings and can be ambiguous if the student does not have the sufficient Background Knowledge to choose the correct meaning (e.g., "bank" could refer to a financial institution or to the edge of a river).
  • Background Knowledge allows students to understand and use figurative language (e.g., metaphors, idioms).

Students' typically rely more heavily on Background Knowledge as they progress through school, and they are required to build upon prior Background Knowledge to acquire new Background Knowledge. Specifically, the comprehension of informational texts requires students to have and apply more Background Knowledge than storybook texts, as informational texts typically use more complex academic or discipline-specific Vocabulary and require students to apply information from prior lessons.

Background Knowledge is less about memorization of terms and more about a deeper understanding of the topic. Students have everyday practices and life experiences, or funds of knowledge, that come from their participation in different cultures and communities which is a huge part of their Background Knowledge and can impact how they connect with readings and lessons in school. For example, a child who has never been to the beach before may know the relevant Vocabulary (e.g., waves, seaweed, sand) but may not immediately understand metaphors used in a story in the same way as a child who has experience going to the beach. Some students, including those with learning disabilities may need additional instruction to allow them to best build and use their Background Knowledge to support their reading comprehension.

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