Chapter 3 - Paula

The examples given on page 57 and beyond are very good to explain activating prior knowledge and building background. If a student doesn't have any knowledge of the subject you are studying, you can talk about a similar subject they know, show a video that will give them knowledge of the subject, read a story about the subject, give a pretest activity with a partner, or use the Insert Method. Prior knowledge would be a lot more general, perhaps, than you would be looking for, but is very important to build on to help the child understand. Building background would be specific facts about the subject that the student could relate to which would build his understanding.