Strategy Type Instructional strategy that becomes a learning strategy Background Strategies to help students activate what they know in order to connect it with the content of a comprehension task. Teachers have an opportunity to acknowledge and honor what students know. Activating and building background knowledge is a strategic process incorporated into effective prereading.
PReP is a teaching strategy for activating students' knowledge before a reading task.
The teacher guides the class in a discussion that begins with students making word associations to key concepts the teacher has identified. Students then reflect on these concepts, reformulating what they brainstormed. The process continues as students compare their knowledge to that of other students, self-assess their level of their prior knowledge, and predict areas of new information. Advanced Organizers and Text Previews are paragraphs written by the teacher with a formal structure engaging the students' background knowledge and fostering interest. A first section of these previews builds interest and makes connections to familiar topics.