Activating our Schema

Have you ever read a story and been able to connect on a personal level with a character or storyline?  Do you notice that it is easier to read and comprehend something that you have background knowledge of?  This is because readers bring information from what they already know or what they have previously read about a topic and connect it with what they are reading.  This increases their understanding of the text and helps them remember what they have read.  Using prior knowledge can help students connect their own experiences with the text to better understand and make sense of what they are reading.

Students are working on just this in our classroom. We are learning that when we activate our 'schema' we can better understand, decode, and remember the story or new information we hear. Students are also learning about how to make meaningful connections as they activate their schema and knowing when their connections help or do nothing to help them better understand what they read.   INQUIRE with your child about how they activated their schema while reading, The Snowy Day. 

How can you help your child with this strategy at home?

1. When reading with your child, pause before and during the reading of the text to relate what is being read in the story to what is already known.

2. Model for your child how you activate prior knowledge before you begin reading.
Use some of the following questions to get started:
  *What experiences have you had that might be similar to what this book cover is telling you?
  *What do you already know about this content, genre, or author?
  *While reading:
  *Does this part of the story remind you of anything you have done before or read before that will help you understand this section of the story better?
  *Using what you already knew about the topic, did that information help you understand this selection?

3.  Remind your child that a reader can connect text to many different experiences.  They can make a text to self  connection (connecting to personal experiences), a text to world connection (what they know about the world that will help them better understand the story), or a text to text  connection (the current book reminds them of a previous book read).  When your child makes a connection, see if he/she can identify what kind of connection was made.



Parts Written by: Allison Behne © www.thedailycafe.com
 Ideas and strategies are taken from: The CAFE Book, written by Gail Boushey & Joan Moser