Building Background Knowledge and Academic Vocabulary

“...if schools systematically address academic background knowledge…..they can make major strides in closing the achievement gap between educationally advantaged and disadvantaged students.”
Marzano. 2004.  Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement. VA: ASCD.

“Make word meanings explicit and clear. Develop student-friendly explanations or create instructional contexts for discussing word meanings. Get students actively involved with thinking about and using the meanings right away.”
Beck, McKeown and Kucan. 2002. Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. NY: The Guilford Press.

“Visuals are especially successful in supporting English-language development because they are an excellent way to help students visualize the abstractions of language.”
Gersten and Baker. May, 2001 “Practices for English-Language Learners.” National Institute for Urban School Improvement.

Additional Resources for Building Background Knowledge and Academic Vocabulary

Allen. 1999. Words, Words, Words: Teaching Vocabulary in Grades 4-12. Maine: Stenhouse Publishers.

Curtis and Longo. “Teaching Vocabulary to Adolescents to Improve Comprehension.”

Massey. April, 2007.  “The Discovery Channel Said So… and Other Barriers to Comprehension.” The Reading Teacher.