Building Background Knowledge

Teachers

Building Background Knowledge

This three-session series translates the research findings of Robert Marzano into action. Focusing on his widely acclaimed findings on Direct Vocabulary Instruction and Wide Reading, teachers are engaged throughout the workshops using the very approaches they are studying.

Workshop One
Outcomes include:

To understand what it means to build academic background knowledge.
To recognize the role of wide reading in vocabulary acquisition.
To understand the characteristics of effective direct vocabulary instruction.
To practice higher order thinking strategies to acquire background knowledge.

Workshop Two
Outcomes include:

To understand three characteristics of effective direct vocabulary instruction.
To recognize how current brain research relates to these characteristics.
To explore and identify how to implement strategies suggested by these three characteristics in actual classroom practice.
To look at student work resulting from a vocabulary lesson and academic notebook

Workshop Three
Outcomes include:

To understand the final four characteristics of effective direct vocabulary instruction.
To experience and discuss ways in which different types of words require different types of instruction.
To identify and explore how to implement strategies suggested by these four characteristics in actual classroom practice.
To look at student work resulting from direct vocabulary instruction and wide-reading.