How to Activate Prior Knowledge

To Hook Your Students into the Lesson

Have you ever moved into the modelled instruction of your lesson only to find students looking flat, disengaged or simply not interested to learn?

Or perhaps you’ve found yourself wondering why students struggle to connect today’s learning with something they’ve already been taught.

Often, the problem isn’t the new content.

It’s what happens immediately beforehand.

Activating Prior Knowledge is one of the most important parts of an explicit teaching lesson, yet it’s also one of the most misunderstood.

Many teachers unintentionally treat it as a quick revision activity or confuse it with Daily Review, when the two actually serve very different purposes.

I recorded a short audio training to unpack where Activating Prior Knowledge fits within an explicit teaching lesson, why it’s so important, and how a simple instructional routine can better prepare students for new learning.

If you’re using explicit teaching in your classroom, I think this training will give you a different way of thinking about one of the most important transitions in your lesson.

Not yet a member of the Structured Teaching Portal?

This audio training is included as part of the Structured Teaching Portal.

If you’ve been thinking about joining, you’ll get access to this training, the full instructional coaching library, classroom resources and ongoing support.

👉 Join the Structured Teaching Portal today.