WHAT IS EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION?

1. WHAT IS EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION? Activating Prior Knowledge

2. Lesson Design Component

3. Today’s Objective To understand how to activate prior knowledge and why it is important to do so. We will practice activating prior knowledge by connecting the new content to something that students have experienced, are familiar with, or have been previously taught.

4. Activating Prior Knowledge The practice of explicitly providing students with a connection between something they already know and the content they are going to learn.

5. APK helps students to • Retrieve pertinent information from long-term memory and move it into the working memory. • More easily learn the new content, and • Develop a comprehensive understanding rather than remembering bits and pieces • Move from memorizing information to meaningful learning, and • Apply learning in context

6. What APK is Not It is not a pre assessment… Who knows the definition of a right triangle? It is not asking students to tell all they know about a broad topic. What do you know about WWII?

7. How to Activate Prior Knowledge Connect prior knowledge to new learning • Use a universal experience or previous event as an example. • Review prior academic experience by reviewing a previously taught skill or concept.

8. Steps to Take with APK • Activate Prior Knowledge using a universal experience or a review of prerequisite skills and/or concepts. • Facilitate student interaction • Explain the connection to the new learning.

9. APK – Points to Remember • Activate, don’t assess • Carefully review the lesson learning objective to select the appropriate knowledge to activate • Do not use new vocabulary during APK • The APK process should take about 5 minutes • APK can precede the Learning Objective

10. APK – Review of a Prerequisite Skill Why this is important… • Can fill in gaps of student’s knowledge • Brings relevant prerequisite information into students’ working memory • Assists students in applying the previously taught skills many times over in the context of the new learning • Provides students with additional practice of the previously taught skills

11. APK – Sub Skill ReviewAn Example Lesson objective – Students will order rational numbers from least to greatest. • Sample set contains rational numbers written as common fractions and decimals • Teacher reviews the skill of converting common fractions to decimals with students actively practicing the review • Teacher connects review practice to today’s objective

12. Steps to APK • Identify the concept and/or skill in the new lesson • Set the learning objective • Plan to activate prior knowledge based on what students are expected to learn from the new lesson

13. Steps to APK - continued • Decide which process of APK will be most effective in this lesson • Decide on the order of the presentation – which to teach first, lesson objective or activate prior knowledge • Plan student engagement and CFU • Plan how to connect the prior knowledge with new learning

14. APK – Guided Practice • ELA – identifying author’s purpose • Universal experience • ELA – Compare and contrast characters in a story. • Review prerequisite • Math – adding two digit numbers with regrouping • Review prerequisite

15. APK – Independent Practice • Selected ELA standard • Develop a lesson learning objective • Plan how to review a prerequisite skill to activate prior knowledge • Connect the APK to the lesson objective • Plan for students’ interaction • Remember, APK should take not more than 5 minutes of the lesson

16. APK Summary:Three Things to Remember Link - it must LINK prior knowledge to new content All students - It must work for ALL students Short - It must be SHORT