I have used a plethora of strategies during my career to build background knowledge. The strategies include, but not limited to field trips, bringing artifacts that were pertinent to the topic, and primary sources. When I taught 8th grade social studies, I related what happened during the American Revolution and Civil War to things that were happening in our world at that time. The same idea that Wickett used in her lesson on Harriet Tubman. (Wickett Video)
It has always been my belief that if what I am presenting to the class means something to them personally, they will remember it better and longer. In reading, Building Knowledge for Academic Achievement, (Marzano. 2004), I now know that it is called fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence
