Ch. 7 Activating Prior Knowledge and Increasing Motivation

Prior knowledge comes from the student’s community and experiences. As stated in the book on page 191, some students may know how computers work because they watch their parents at home. A personal experience that I have witnessed myself was the one where my one year old niece is becoming familiar with Chinese greetings. She often speaks to me in Chinese and has taught me how to do so. (Ni, Hao= Hi) On the chart on page 191 it gives phases as to how a teacher can motivate his or her students. Often students are bored because teachers do not focus on motivating students with facts that they already know. In this chapter, Conley gives ways a teacher can motivate students.

One thing that caught my eye was to create a pre-reading plan. On pg. 199, it gives students a chance to show the teacher what they already know. Teachers can then reflect on the things that their students do not know on the reading selection. Another technique is the KWL chart. I have personally used it several times. The K represents what the students know. However, the W represents what the student wants to know and the L represents what the students learned. It is an excellent way for students to self-monitor what they know and what they want to know and value. These two processes can help increase motivation because it involves the student. For example, I am more excited about my classes when I am given the opportunity to actively engaged. Some things to keep in mind when performing these activities. These things are on page 204-205. Some of them that I thought was important was to emphasize predictions that students make and provide regular feedback. This is the way students apply the knowledge that they are building. By providing feedback, the teacher shows students relevance of what the student feels is important.

The last thing in the chapter that caught my eye was CORI which stands for Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction. It is explained on page 207. It is a planning framework that will add motivation while the students are learning about a particular concept. It activates student curiosity by allowing social interaction and allowing students to become actively engaged in their classroom. CORI goes through many four phases which are mentioned in figure 7.6 on page 208. It shows how students are engaged with others in order to achieve the knowledge that they need to know or value.