​Lesson 3:
Activating Prior Knowledge

Lesson Objective: After writing a learning objective, teachers will develop an activating prior knowledge activity piece of a lesson.  

Picture
The brain associates new information with prior knowledge to develop new learning.
Creative Commons License
"The Role of Prior Knowledge" by Erica Cardey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Introduction: 

Instruction:

Activity Directions:
  • Click the button below to read through several effective strategies for activating prior knowledge (Compiled by Ann Lewis, Laurel School District; and Aleta Thompson, Cape Henlopen School District; September 2010) .
  • As you read, identify three APK strategies that appeal to you for use in your classroom. You'll be using them in the assessment at the end of this lesson.

Lesson
​Wrap Up:
  • Activating Prior Knowledge allows the learner to associate new information with prior knowledge to construct new learning.
  • APK activities get students working on the learning activities as soon as class begins.
  • Many APK strategies exist, so teachers should establish a few standard strategies for APK that they implement in their lessons on a regular basis.

Take the Assessment: