Why is Background Knowledge Important?
Background knowledge, simply put, allows readers to understand more. It also improves learning in any subject.
Here is a presentation from prezi which explains things very well.
In addition to making reading more meaningful...
In learning, the brain retains more when it can attach new information to an existing picture. One small piece of information on its own can float through the brain, meaningless. Attach lots of pieces of information together and the brain sees the big picture and attaches new learning to it. The new information is more easily understood. That's the power of background knowledge.
Allow me to reflect for a moment.
When I first moved to England in 2006 I had little or no background knolwedge about Henry the 8th.
I had heard the name, knew he was a king. That was all.
As I lived in England, watched TV (there's lots of shows about King Henry and his time in history), went to see palaces he'd lived in, saw pictures in art galleries and read some things about him I built background knowledge. What had originally seemed unimportant and uniteresting became very real and understandable. Most importantly, I learned about more than just King Henry. I learned about other people and events in history which in turn made more stories and more history understandable.
The best part was...I wasn't intentionally studying King Henry!
This is why, if you want to learn about something, you should find as many ways as you can to gain some knowledge about it. Reading, art, field trips, music, poetry, documentaries... the more you do, the more you'll learn.
Keep on learning and enjoy!
Here is a presentation from prezi which explains things very well.
In addition to making reading more meaningful...
In learning, the brain retains more when it can attach new information to an existing picture. One small piece of information on its own can float through the brain, meaningless. Attach lots of pieces of information together and the brain sees the big picture and attaches new learning to it. The new information is more easily understood. That's the power of background knowledge.
Allow me to reflect for a moment.
When I first moved to England in 2006 I had little or no background knolwedge about Henry the 8th.
I had heard the name, knew he was a king. That was all.
As I lived in England, watched TV (there's lots of shows about King Henry and his time in history), went to see palaces he'd lived in, saw pictures in art galleries and read some things about him I built background knowledge. What had originally seemed unimportant and uniteresting became very real and understandable. Most importantly, I learned about more than just King Henry. I learned about other people and events in history which in turn made more stories and more history understandable.
The best part was...I wasn't intentionally studying King Henry!
This is why, if you want to learn about something, you should find as many ways as you can to gain some knowledge about it. Reading, art, field trips, music, poetry, documentaries... the more you do, the more you'll learn.
Keep on learning and enjoy!
What is a Flipped Classroom?
...or why are my kids watching videos on how to do math at home?
As of this posting I have only tried flipping the classroom once. I found it to be a very successful strategy to increase student learning. Watch this video to understand the purpose and benefits of the flipped classroom.
As of this posting I have only tried flipping the classroom once. I found it to be a very successful strategy to increase student learning. Watch this video to understand the purpose and benefits of the flipped classroom.
What is Critical Thinking Anyway?
The term "Critical Thinking Skills" is thrown around a lot in education. But just what does this mean? Students sometimes think it means to be super "critical" or to be constantly "criticising" things Here is a video which does a wonderful job of explaining just what Critical Thinking is:
Evaluating something against a set of criteria.
Evaluating something against a set of criteria.