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__**RESEARCH**__

Emergent comprehension relates to the years between birth and age five and is “The period when young children, prior to conventional reading, engage in meaningful experiences that stimulate the development and use of meaning-making strategies with potential to affect later reading comprehension.” P269 There are two schools of thought on how comprehension develops. The first is that synthetic phonics instruction leads to decoding which is then followed by comprehension, and the second is that the child’s “discourse and linguistic knowledge, as well as knowledge of vocabulary and topics, provide tools for comprehension.” P 276 The process of activating prior knowledge with pre-readers on any topic builds on all of these abilities which will eventually influence their comprehension abilities once they begin decoding. McMunn Dooley, C & Matthews, M 2009, 'Emergent comprehension : Understanding comprehension development among young literacy learners', Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, vol. 9 no. 3, pp. 269-294

Activating Background Knowledge: Strategies for beginning and Poor Readers. This one has two strategies to use to activate prior knowledge with beginner readers. 1st Strategy: Yes/No…Why? With every paragraph the students as a yes question ( What they Know) a no question (what they don’t know) and a why ( How they feel about the yes and no question). Comes with some student examples. 2nd Strategy: This reminds me of… This is where students use information within the paragraph to the information from their own background. “Learning to read is, by nature, a social interactive process that necessitates the use of interesting, relevant and authentic texts” “Readers who connect what they read to what they already know are more likely to make appropriate inferences for text ideas that are not explicitly stated” = =

Richards, J. C., & Gipe, J. P. (1992). Activating Background Knowledge: Strategies for beginning and Poor readers. //Reading Teachers//, 1-3.

**OVERVIEW OF ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE**
Where does prior knowledge come from? Knuth and James (1991) described prior knowledge as some life experience, either real or vicarious; previous works read; and experience with language. Strangman and Hill (2005) contended that prior knowledge is a term for more specific knowledge dimensions such as metacognition, subject matter, strategy, personal, self-knowledge, and conceptual knowledge. These words typically describe the same basic concept of knowledge that is obtained before reading. Prior knowledge helps with reading fluency and comprehension The definition of fluency offered by the National Reading Panel (2000) takes into consideration automatic word recognition. According to the Panel, fluency is “the ability to read a text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression” (p. 3-1). When fluent readers read silently, they recognize words automatically. They group words quickly in ways that help them gain meaning. Fluent readers read aloud effortlessly and with expression. Their reading sounds natural as if they are speaking (p. 22). Reading comprehension is a process of constructing meaning from written text based on a complex coordination of a number of interrelated sources of information. In order to comprehend, one must have all attention focused on the meaning. If you’re reading slowly and struggling with individual words, sounding them out, even if you’re sounding them out correctly, all of your mental attention is wrapped up in the actual decoding. So you’re not paying attention to the point of reading, which is obviously the meaning. We find that fluency and automaticity are a very big deal. (Feldman, 2002, p. 1) One example of measuring prior knowledge, from Coiro (2206) includes the Qualitative Reading Inventory (QRI2). This includes asking students, “What do you think of when you hear the words__?” and “What do the words__ ___ mean to you?” The purpose for these questions is to help predict students’ comprehension level on the related passages and gives the examiner an idea of how familiar or unfamiliar concepts in the passage are to the student. (Warsnak, 2006)

In the pilot study, teachers and SLPs were careful to bring out students’ prior knowledge and experiences and to facilitate this process of connection. Teachers could do this for large or small groups of students in the general pedagogical setting. For example, the instructor might relate new content from the unit to children’s prior knowledge and experiences by any of the following: **1. Relating targeted information to feelings and experiences: e.g., being frightened by the unexpected appearance of a raccoon, skunk, or mouse.** **2. Bringing in a prop or contriving an experience to build shared knowledge: e.g., showing the children a nest that an animal made in a person’s home or an object chewed by a mouse that crept into a person’s home.** **3. Asking the children questions to bring out prior knowledge or experiences: e.g. “Have you ever been in a place where there were animals you hadn’t seen before (national park, camp site, etc.)?” “Has anyone had an animal make a home in your garage or attic?”** Through such experiences, children were able to relate more personally to the unit content, and the instructor could help make the new content more relevant and meaningful. (Culatta, 2010)

The strategy relates to **Early Years Curriculum Guidelines Principles for Practice:** 2. Children build deep understandings when they learn through all senses and are offered choice in their learning experiences 3. Children learn best through interactions, active exploration, experimentation and by representing their learning through a variety of modes 6. Early childhood programs are most effective when they recognise, value and build upon cultural and social experiences of children (EYCG, p. 11-12)

A goal of educators who look to Vygotsky's analysis of child development is to make effective education available to all children by creating comfortable, stimulating, and engaging environments where teaching- learning is built on students' prior experiences, natural curiosity, and developmental processes. (Kozulin et al, 2003, p. 122) - Prior Knowledge allows students to " encode and store information in long-term memory as it links to personal experience nad knowledge" -Activating prior knowledge is a “fundamental insight about learning: new understandings are constructed on a foundation of exsisting understandings and experiences” - Teachers should not be passive transmitters of knowledge by simply giving new context to students, but reather become active participants in the learning process by linking students’ prior knowledge to new material. -Activating Prior knowledge is essential to learning as it moves students from memorization to meaningful learning. = = Cason, M., Burner, K., & Miller, H. (2011). Activating Prior Knowledge with Cues and Questions as a Key Instructional Strategy to Increase Student Achievement in Low Socioeconomic Middle Schools. //Activating Prior Knowledge//, 36-45.
 * Dont know if we neded a heap more but these are just little quotes on what we are talking about,

**VALUE FOR ENHANCING YOUNG CHILDREN'S LEARNING (LINK THEORISTS AND STUDYS)**
As Barnes (2008) has stressed, the child will make sense of the lessons only by using the new ideas, experiences, or ways of think- ing in order to reorganize his or her existing pictures of the world, and how it can be acted upon. This is partly a matter of relating the new ideas to what a learner already knows. It is only the learner who can bring the new information, procedures, or ways of under- standing to bear upon existing ideas, expectations, and ways of thinking and acting. When those connections and applications are not made, learning is not meaningful for the child, and knowledge temporarily gained is soon forgotten. (Culatta, 2010)

Cognition is not just about adding to and extending existing concepts; it may necessitate radical reorganisation of existing thinking. Re- modification of these misconceptions and new learning occurs when individual children are allowed to construct their own meaning through experience with the physical environment and through social interaction. This is an active and continuous process whereby children construct links with their prior knowledge, generating new ideas, checking and restructuring old ideas or hypotheses. In this was learning is thought of as an active rather than passive pursuit and children are responsible for controlling their own learning. This is the basis of the constructivist view of teaching and learning. In the early years our role as professionals is to find out what ideas children hold and then to plan experiences that will develop, modify or challenge their existing ideas so that they move towards a more sophisticated and scientifically acceptable view of the world. (Johnston & Nahmad- Williams, 2009, p. 123)

The relevance of prior knowledge as the basis for all education has been clearly put forward by Ausubel (1968, p.IV), who simply stated that "the most important single factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows. Ascertain this and teach him accordingly." This assumption has not been challenged and still forms the basis of current research (cf. Alexander, 1996), although formulation has changed slightly over the years. In 'How People Learn,' Bransford and associates (2000) summarise: "There is a good deal of evidence that learning is enhanced when teachers pay attention to the knowledge and beliefs that learners bring to a learning task" (p.11). (Kozulin et al, 2003, p. 247)

Conscious scaffolding in a zone of proximal development reacquires that the more expert member, in this case, the teacher and curriculum designer, must understand what students take with them, including students' goals, prior knowledge, and cultural models of the world as they relate to the subject matter, in order to help the student learn to share norms for the work they are to do together. (Kozulin et al, 2003, p. 405)

**IDENTIFICATION OF KEY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN USING THE SELECTED STRATEGIC TEACHING APPROACH WITH YOUNG CHILDREN**
Some students have prior knowledge that is incorrect; this can also affect reading comprehension and reading fluency. According to Alvermann, Smith, and Readence (1985), activating prior knowledge can actually interfere with comprehension if prior knowledge is incompatible with the information in the text. (Warsnak, 2006)

SCIENCE- conflicting prior knowledge

Encourage students to make more than just one connection. Literacy for the 21st century talks about the connections chart comprehension strategy that asks students to make: Text to Self, Text to World and Text to Text connections Tompkins, 2010, p. 254)

Teachers can use a combination of experiences, visual representations, and talk to build knowledge. Involving children in authentic experiences is the best way to build background knowledge but photos, pictures, websites etc can also be used. Talk is often the least effective way, especially for English learners, but sometimes explaining a concept or listing the characteristics of a genre does provide enough information. (Tompkins, 2010, p. 260)

It is helpful to consider possible differences in children's prior experiences when interpreting their initial responses to experiences in the new context. Some differences may lie in: Children's home language and cultural background Expectations of children at home Children's prior play experiences Children's experiences in care and educational settings (EYCG, p. 16)

"Prior knowledge also includes that kind of knowledge that learners acquire because of their social roles, such as those connected with race, class, gender, and their cultural and ethnic affiliations" (National Research Council, 199, p. 60) (Kozulin et al, 2003, p. 122)

"The diversity in family life means that children experience belonging, being and becoming in many different ways. They bring their diverse experiences, perspectives and expectations, knowledge and skills to their learning" EYLF p9. This is part of what makes activating prior knowledge so valuable. The myriad experiences of the collective group becomes shared knowledge and forms a common platform or ZPD (Vygotsky, cited in Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu 2007) from which the teacher can build his or her learning activities on.

"The diversity in family life means that children experience belonging, being and becoming in many different ways. They bring their diverse experiences, perspectives and expectations, knowledge and skills to their learning" EYLF p9. This is part of what makes activating prior knowledge so valuable. The myriad experiences of the collective group becomes shared knowledge and forms a common platform or ZPD (Vygotsky, cited in Groundwater-Smith, Ewing & Le Cornu 2007) from which the teacher can build his or her learning activities on. REFERENCES

Warsnak, A. D. (2006). //The effects of activating prior knowledge before reading on students with and without learning disabilities.// Wichita State University). //ProQuest Dissertations and Theses,//, 57 p. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/304972820?accountid=14543

Article: Teaching expository comprehension skills in early childhood classrooms Author: Culatta, Barbara Journal: Topics in language disorders ISSN: 0271-8294 Date: 01/10/2010 Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Page: 323

Vygotsky's Educational Theory in Cultural Context, by: Alex Kozulin, Boris Gindis etc ( **I will be picking this book up from the library as it looks to be really relevant**) PAGES: 9, 122, 185, 247- 48, 251- 52, 260- 69, 271, 397

Tompkins, G. 2010, Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach (5th Ed). United States of America: Allyn & Bacon

Early Childhood Studies by Johnston & Nahmad- Williams

Early Years Curriculum Guidelines

Commonwealth of Australia: DEEWR, (2009). Belonging Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia. Canberrra, ACT Groundwater -Smith. S., Ewing, R., & Le Cornu R. Teaching Challenges and Dilemmas. (3rd ed). South Melbourne, VIC.: Thomson.