What Is Activating Prior Knowledge?

Activating prior knowledge is reflecting on what you already know about the subject of a text before you read it.

How to Activate Prior Knowledge

Brainstorm

Ask questions about the subject!
• What is the subject?
• What do I know about it?
• Are there examples I can think of?

Take notes!
• Anything you think about
• Create a graph or a mind map of your brainstorm

Connect to similar experiences

Where else have you learned about the subject?
• In other texts you have read
• In other media (TV/movies/games)
• From personal experiences
• From experiences of people you know
• From real life/news

Activating Prior Knowledge at a Glance

Summary of the activating prior knowledge strategy.

Click to download.

Reading Strategies at a Glance

Summary table of the 12 reading strategies: previewing, activating prior knowledge, making predictions, decoding, visualizing, questioning, annotating, making connections, graphic organizers, inferring, summarizing and skimming & scanning.