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How To Build Background Knowledge: 10 Strategies To Try
Christy Walters
May 8, 2025
Nobody puts background knowledge in a corner.
Did you catch that reference? If not, you probably don’t have background knowledge of the classic 1980s movie “Dirty Dancing.” It can be a frustrating experience when it seems like everyone else understands the inside joke and you don’t.
Imagine feeling that way every day in the classroom.
Background knowledge is a crucial component of language comprehension. It enhances students’ reading abilities and reinforces literacy skills. But you need time and quality resources to make it happen.
Today, we’re looking at how to build background knowledge in your classroom to see the results your students need without sacrificing too much prep time looking for the right resources.
Background knowledge is the amount of information or knowledge students have on a particular topic. They build this background knowledge through life experiences, personal interactions, and through reading and learning. It’s a critical yet sometimes overlooked component of reading comprehension that helps students better understand and engage with new information.
Reading comprehension comes from students being able to decode written words and understand the setting and context those words are in, also known as building background knowledge. To build students’ reading comprehension, they need to be able to do both of these things fluently.
Generally, students are able to read and decode words fluently starting in the third grade, but building background knowledge is a continuous process. Teachers can use it to enhance learning across subjects—including in social studies and science—which in turn boosts students’ reading comprehension.
Background knowledge vs. Prior knowledge
Background knowledge and prior knowledge are often used interchangeably. However, some educators may make a slight distinction between the two.
Some educators say that prior knowledge refers to the information students bring to the classroom on a particular topic. These are the things they’ve learned through their personal experiences and interactions. In contrast, they say background knowledge is contextual and supplemental information that a teacher provides to help students understand a lesson or topic in the classroom.
Whether you make this distinction or not, both background knowledge and prior knowledge work together to help students better understand a topic. It’s okay to use the terms interchangeably if you’re not concerned with how the students acquired the background information on a topic, as long as they have it and can use it effectively.
[Why does building background knowledge matter?](id-why)
Background knowledge is essential for helping students understand the variety of texts they’ll encounter inside and outside the classroom. Research consistently shows that readers who have strong background knowledge of a variety of topics can better comprehend texts, make inferences, and make text connections.
Providing background knowledge in the classroom when starting a new lesson or topic can help level the playing field for those who may have had varying life experiences or interactions outside the classroom.
For example, when sharing historical texts in social studies or historical fiction books in ELA, providing background information about the period and setting can help students understand the characters’ motivations and actions—without having to experience those events firsthand.
[10 ways to build background knowledge](id-ways)
When students lack prior knowledge about a topic covered in school, it’s like starting from scratch. They lack the experiences necessary to make connections and understand the content completely. That’s one reason background knowledge is so critical. It gives students the reference material they need to understand new topics and information.
Wondering how you can build up your students’ memory banks? Try helpful strategies like:
1. Identifying prior knowledge
Each student comes to your classroom with different knowledge and experiences. For example, one student might know a lot about Greek mythology because they love the Percy Jackson series. Another might be lost when they see names like Icarus and Apollo in a text. It’s important that you know how much context your students already have on a topic before you deep dive into a lesson.
Formative assessments can help you find out. Polls, quizzes, or emoji reactions are just a few ways to collect information about students’ prior knowledge and comfort or confidence with a topic. From there, you can adjust your lessons accordingly to build the background knowledge they need to understand the lesson.
Students remember more of what they read when they connect with the material. That’s hard to do without background knowledge. Sometimes, students have some background knowledge on a topic. They just need help making the connection between what they already know and what they’re learning.
Help students build background knowledge by teaching them how to make text connections. There are three types of connections to cover:
Text-to-self: Connections related to personal experiences
Text-to-text: Connections to other media
Text-to-world: Connections to things going on in the world
For example, let’s say you’re teaching “The Catcher in the Rye” by J.D. Salinger and want to explore the theme of an unreliable narrator. Have students do a research project on a topic like social media, which is full of unreliable narrators. This exercise helps them understand what an unreliable narrator is and how the concept affects different aspects of their lives and the world outside the novel.
3. Teaching with text sets and collections
Teachers spend an average of 7 to 12 hours per week searching for and creating instructional resources. Not only is it time-consuming, but when you can’t find the information you need, it’s easy to turn to unvetted resources to fill the gaps. Even if they’re not always age-appropriate for students.
A better way to save time and get vetted resources is to use text sets and collections. They include a variety of texts themed around one topic to build background knowledge and expand learning. It’s even better when the content is vetted, accessible, and standards-aligned.
The collections and text sets in Newsela’s subject products offer all those benefits and more. Our Curriculum Complements pair authentic, accessible content with your current curriculum materials. For example, if you’re creating a lesson for Amplify ELA’s sixth-grade unit on the Greeks, you can choose Newsela ELA text sets that build background on Greek mythology or make text connections with real-life examples of the hero’s journey.
Or, if you teach whole books in your class, our Novel and Book Studies collection offers curated text sets and practical guides to enhance instruction for over 500 of the most commonly taught books, like “Of Mice and Men.” Each text set includes current event connections, background reading, and thematic connections that pair with each book.
4. Increasing students’ vocabulary
According to Scarborough’s reading rope, vocabulary, like background knowledge, is a language comprehension skill students need to construct meaning from what they read. Vocabulary and background knowledge work together to help students understand context through word choice.
For example, when teaching Shakespeare, it helps to familiarize students with the common language of 16th- and 17th-century England. The more you can build their vocabulary, the more you can boost their background knowledge and comprehension.
Newsela ELA’s Power Words give in-context definitions of Tier II vocabulary words throughout an article. Those that include Power Words have between three and five new words embedded at each reading level. Students can click on a Power Word to reveal the definition as used in the article and have the words read aloud to hear them spoken.
5. Making read-alouds interactive
The best read-alouds aren’t just simple question-and-answer-based sessions. They’re interactive, conversational discussions that engage students and encourage them to respond. The more you get students to talk and ask their own questions, the more background knowledge you can build.
When they feel comfortable and relaxed enough to speak up, you can learn more about what they know and don’t know about a topic. A conversational flow also gives you the time and space for an organic conversation to cover what students want or need to know based on the knowledge gaps they share in their questions.
6. Adding multimedia
Reading more texts is a great way to make text-to-text connections and build background knowledge, but it’s not the only way. Incorporating multimedia content into your lessons helps, too. Adding video or audio content can help turn learning into an experience for students.
Visuals, sound effects, and spoken dialogue in different languages or accents all help students make additional connections between new information and previous knowledge. Plus, multimedia can make content more accessible to all students.
Newsela’s knowledge and skill-building products have a vast library of educational videos that explain key concepts in ELA, social studies, and science and boost students’ background knowledge in each discipline. Beyond video, other multimedia sources that are helpful for building background knowledge include photos, songs, and primary source artifacts, like journals.
7. Having a guest speaker or taking a field trip
Sometimes, you can create the experiences your students need to build background knowledge and make text connections. Pairing background information with a hands-on activity or event can help engage students, make connections, and retain what they learn.
For example, if you’re teaching a text that includes the theme of fire safety, you may take students on a field trip to a firehouse or invite a local firefighter to come talk to the class. If you don’t have the resources or time for those types of experiences, you can take your students on a field trip without ever leaving your classroom.
Newsela Science customers have access to our Virtual Field Trip collection. Each trip includes articles, videos, and vetted external resources to help your students explore new worlds by visiting places like zoos, science museums, or even outer space. Newsela Social Studies subscribers also have access to our Virtual Vacation collection, where students can visit the capitals of all 50 states and Washington D.C. and learn about some of each city's most engaging and important landmarks and attractions.
8. Acting it out
A 2018 study found that students who play pretend—such as pretending to be pizza chefs during imaginative play—outperform students who don’t play pretend on their content knowledge of the activities they acted out. The results show that play-based learning and imaginative play can help students build background and content knowledge even if their experiences with the topic or activity aren’t real.
For younger students, encouraging imaginative play and engaging in it with students to introduce them to new experiences—like washing pretend dishes in a fake sink—can give them what the study called “world knowledge.” Playing pretend may not work for older students, but you can incorporate reader’s theater or acting activities into your lessons to mimic the results.
9. Doing a jigsaw activity
Jigsaw activities help students collaborate with their classmates to gain a deeper understanding of a topic's background information. Students break off into small groups to learn about one niche area of the topic, then combine their learnings and fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle.
You can assign each student a subtopic that connects to a greater content topic in your lesson. For example, if you want to build background knowledge on the American Revolution, you may assign students subtopics like causes of war, battles, or outcomes.
Students work independently to research their subtopics. Then, they come together with their small group to share information and piece everything together. The small group typically presents its information to the class to show what they learned and share it with everyone.
This activity builds background knowledge by turning each student into an “expert” on one area of the topic. When they combine all their findings, they can make connections to see how each small piece relates to the whole, expanding their knowledge of the topic.
Have you ever started a book or TV series halfway through and felt confused? You might not understand the characters’ relationships or miss a key event from a past book or episode that would help you catch key references. You might wish you had a flowchart of a family tree diagram to keep up with everyone and everything.
Graphic organizers can work that way for students. These tools help them keep track of what they know and what they learn to organize and connect the information in their brains. Some types of graphic organizers that may help students build background knowledge include:
Storyboards: Track a story’s plot and sequence of events
Flowcharts: Order key ideas and how they relate to each other
Venn diagrams: Compare and contrast a topic or idea with another
Still have questions about background knowledge and strategies for building it with your students? Get the answers you need:
How does background knowledge support English language learners (ELLs)?
Background knowledge is critical for ELLs and can make a huge difference in their reading and lesson comprehension. Yet, this group may often be at a disadvantage when it comes to the common background knowledge that their peers have.
For example, students in your classroom who were born in different countries may have had different experiences growing up or different family or household dynamics than those who were born and raised in the same town where they attend school.
You can use several strategies to emphasize your ELL students’ existing prior knowledge and help them fill in some of those common background knowledge gaps, so they have a similar understanding of specific topics as their peers. Here are some strategies you can try:
Accessing knowledge in students’ home language: Allowing ELLs to access background knowledge resources in their home language can help them pick up the material more quickly.
Using visuals or multimedia to reinforce concepts: Showing visuals of concepts can help transcend language barriers that may come with calling things by their English names.
Preteaching vocabulary words: Pre-teaching vocabulary words can help all students, not just ELLs understand and prepare for new words they may encounter when exploring topics and concepts.
Labeling in English and students’ home languages: Using dual language labels on images or objects can help ELL students build background knowledge in multiple languages.
Avoiding assumptions about students’ background knowledge: ELL students may not have all the same experiences and background knowledge as strictly English-speaking students. Don’t assume all your students know all the same things, and instead try formative assessments to pulse check their background knowledge.
How can I help students with learning differences build background knowledge?
Similarly to ELL students, you may find that using different techniques to share and help students build background knowledge can help students with varied learning differences.
Focus on differentiating the ways you share background knowledge with students to address varied learning needs. Your students’ individualized education programs (IEPs) or similar documentation may help you choose what methods will best help them build new knowledge.
For example, students with auditory processing disorders may build background knowledge best from reading, looking at multimedia visuals, or using graphic organizers rather than listening to a lecture or a video.
Discover all Newsela’s subject products can do for you and your students
You deserve resources that help students tap into their curiosity and understand the content they’re reading. Newsela ELA, Newsela Social Studies, and Newsela Science give you the tools you need to differentiate engaging materials and contextualize lessons with background knowledge to deepen students’ literacy skills.
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