LEAven Blog
Building Brains for Better Reading
As teachers, we devote countless hours to helping students develop decoding skills, grow their vocabulary, and apply comprehension strategies. However, one of the most powerful yet underutilized tools in our teacher toolbox is background knowledge: the collection of information, experiences, and understandings that students bring with them to the classroom. A strong foundation of background knowledge allows students to engage more deeply with new material, make meaningful connections, build vocabulary, draw inferences, read with fluency, and retain what they learn. In turn, background knowledge not only enhances reading comprehension but also supports students’ writing while giving them greater confidence and purpose in their learning.
Consider this: A student reading a passage about animal adaptations, habitats, and ecosystems might stumble if these words are unfamiliar. But if that same student has watched the PBS series Wild Kratts, they already have “mental hooks” to make sense of those terms and concepts. Marilyn Adams (2014) describes this as “mental Velcro”—background knowledge gives new learning something to cling to and expand from.
Practical Ways to Build Knowledge in the Classroom
Flip the unit – Take the field trip, watch the video, conduct the experiment first before tackling the text or learning new vocabulary. These experiences provide students with a mental anchor for the vocabulary and concepts to come, while also giving a purpose to this learning.
Preview Before Reading – Use images, videos, or brief conversations to set the stage before jumping into a new unit or diving into a text.
Activate Prior Knowledge – Invite students to share what they already know about a topic and connect it to the new material.
Read Aloud and Shared Reading – Expose students to rich informational and literary texts that naturally build vocabulary and content knowledge.
Encourage Wide Reading –Provide access to diverse genres and topics so students steadily grow in their knowledge base.
Integrate across the curriculum – Reading instruction takes place across all subjects. Show how reading connects to science, social studies, the Bible, math, etc. Interdisciplinary instruction deepens understanding and reinforces key concepts. These rich opportunities build knowledge that supports reading.
The Takeaway
Building background knowledge takes intentionality, but the payoff is tremendous. It is not an “add-on” to reading instruction—it’s the backbone of comprehension. By giving students a rich foundation of experiences, vocabulary, and connections, we empower them to engage with learning more deeply, read and write with greater fluency, and discover purpose in their studies. Ultimately, we prepare them not only for academic success but also for a lifetime of faithful service in Christ’s kingdom.
Works Cited
Adams, M. J. (2014). Knowledge for Literacy. American Federation of Teachers.
