Curated OER
Reading Comprehension Strategy: Using Background Knowledge
The value of this presentation is that it not only defines background knowledge but includes exercises that show readers how to activate and use what they already know about a topic to make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world...
Curated OER
Building Background Knowledge: Stagecraft
Mise en scene? Flyrail? Ghost light? As the title suggests, the object of this group scavenger hunt, is to provide young stagehands with the background information they need to understand the specialized vocabulary of the theater.
Curated OER
Understanding the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
How did our universe really begin? Explore the Science Big Bang Theory and Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) with this multiple activity-based lesson that demonstrates that the increase of density due to the decrease of temperatures,...
Curated OER
Unit 1: Building Historical Background Knowledge: The Road to Revolution 1754–1776
What were the conditions that led to the American Revolution? What are the conditions that lead to revolution in other times and places? Class members examine primary source materials and use evidence drawn from these documents to craft...
Echoes & Reflections
Studying The Holocaust
While many young scholars are familiar with the Holocaust, they may not understand the specific history that led to the unprecedented atrocity. The first lesson in the unit helps teachers gauge their pupils' background knowledge. A...
PBS
An Attack on Syria- What Would You Do?
Has United States military intervention in the conflicts of other countries always been warranted? After reviewing a brief background on contemporary US conflicts and reading articles describing the civil war in Syria, your learners...
EngageNY
Solution Sets to Simultaneous Equations (part 1)
How are systems related? Build on your pupils' previous knowledge of solving systems of equations by introducing systems of inequalities. Learners explore similarities between systems of equations and inequalities to make a strong...
EngageNY
TASC Transition Curriculum: Workshop 15
What do a cheetah, Audi commercial, and air have in common? They're all topics of an engaging inquiry-based, hands-on workshop for educators about background knowledge, reading strategies, the CER model, and argumentative writing. The...
Curated OER
Background of Diseases-- Germs or Genes?
Students explore the background of common diseases. In this personal health lesson, students research causative agents of communicable and non-communicable diseases. Students use their research findings to create data tables in Microsoft...
Smarter Balanced
Advertising
The activities in this packet are designed to ensure that all class members have the necessary background knowledge to successfully engage in an assessment of advertisement appeals. After examining a series of ads, individuals use the...
Annenberg Foundation
Controversial Issues in Practice
Wow! This resource provides three related lessons on the First Amendment that challenge US government young scholars to explore their personal opinion on the separation of church and state. Each lesson can be adjusted in length, but is...
Virginia Department of Education
Evidence of Evolution
What an impression fossils make! For this activity, aspiring paleontologists view fossils and construct a timeline to further understand how the lack of natural adaptation caused historical organisms to become extinct. While they...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
The Dispute Over the South China Sea
Just who owns the South China Sea—and its vast resources—has been a conundrum for decades. Pupils explore the international law and disputes surrounding the resource-rich body of water, as well as China's claims over it. A background...
CK-12 Foundation
Points that Partition Line Segments: Cutting a Log
Teach ratios of line segments using an interactive approach. Scholars examine a line segment in the shape of a log and use their knowledge of ratios to divide it into various partitions. As an introductory lesson, the segment has a...
Teach Engineering
Can You Take the Pressure?
Do not let the pressure get to you. The first lesson plan in a unit of 22 introduces the concept of air pressure. Using background knowledge, the resource gives teachers the information they need to discuss how people measure air...
Curated OER
Mini-Lesson: Planning for Inferences
The five lessons in this resource are designed to teach class members how to read between the lines, how to use personal experience/background knowledge/schema, along with the information in the text, to make assumptions about...
Curated OER
Sample Lesson 1: Is This Source Credible? Useful? Why and Why Not?
Build background knowledge for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak while teaching your pupils how to determine the credibility of online sources. The plan is designed to take place over the course of two days. On the first day, model...
Illustrative Mathematics
The Intersection of Two Lines
Here is an introduction to solving simultaneous linear equations. Start by drawing a line through two points. Create a second line which goes through the intersecting point. Background knowledge of how to find the equation of a line and...
Bowels Physics
Magnetic Fields and Forces
Every knows that opposites attract! Here's a presentation that uses this background knowledge to explain magnetic fields and forces. The resource also explains the shape of magnetic fields and how to determine the direction of forces.
NASA
Dark Matter NASA Conference
Young scholars calculate the escape velocity of planets in our solar system and use that knowledge to calculate the escape velocity for NGC 2300 group. They then suggest reasons for the escape velocity to be higher than possible given...
Science 4 Inquiry
The Last Supper: Identifying Macromolecules
Why do medical examiners always state the contents of a person's stomach? Scholars learn about the importance of macromolecules through a case study of stomach contents. They perform multiple tests to determine a conclusion before they...
Curated OER
Fever 1793: Anticipation Guide
Introduce the themes of Fever 1793 and determine your class members’ level of background knowledge with an anticipation guide for Laurie Halse Anderson’s novel about the yellow fever epidemic that swept Philadelphia. For each prompt,...
Carnegie Mellon University
Hydroelectricity
Use a simple PowerPoint presentation to introduce you environmental studies class to hydropower. Hold a debate about the pros and cons of developing this form of alternative energy. Power up your class with this simple lesson on a topic...
Omaha Zoo
Monitoring Amphibians
What sort of shoes do frogs wear? Open toad sandals. If your scholars want experience collecting field samples, this is the lesson for you. After learning the proper way to collect field samples, pupils catch amphibians to test for...