At Redwood Literacy, our team has identified several key resources that have proven highly effective in supporting students with dyslexia. We are committed to sharing these valuable tools with educators, parents, and school leaders, as we believe their broader application can greatly enhance students' learning experiences. The more individuals who benefit from these resources, the greater the impact we can collectively make.

In this post, we’ll explore the importance of building background knowledge in students and highlight one amazing resource for doing so: the Core Knowledge® Foundation. Let’s dive in.

The Importance of Expanding Background Knowledge for Struggling Readers

Expanding background knowledge is crucial for students because it forms the foundation for understanding new information. When students have broad, relevant background knowledge, they can more easily make connections, understand context, and interpret new concepts in meaningful ways.

The Knowledge Gap Theory, developed by Tichenor, Donohue, and Olien (1970), highlights the disparities in understanding that arise when people have different levels of prior knowledge. According to this theory, individuals with more background knowledge tend to acquire new information more effectively than those with limited prior knowledge. The gap between these groups can widen as those with more knowledge continue to learn at a faster rate, while those with less knowledge struggle to keep up. In educational settings, this highlights the importance of building background knowledge to prevent students from falling behind, ensuring equitable learning opportunities.

Expanding background knowledge is particularly important for students who struggle with literacy because it can help compensate for weaknesses in decoding and comprehension skills. When students have a strong foundation of knowledge on a topic, they can better grasp meaning from text, even if they struggle with word recognition or fluency. Here are a few reasons why background knowledge is essential for struggling readers:

1. Contextual Clues Aid Comprehension: For struggling readers, understanding every word in a text may be difficult. However, if they have background knowledge about the subject, they can use that information to make educated guesses about unfamiliar words or concepts, helping them make sense of the overall message. This reduces the cognitive load required for reading, allowing them to focus more on comprehension rather than just decoding.
2. Boosting Confidence and Engagement: Students who struggle with reading often feel frustrated or disengaged. Having background knowledge on a topic makes it easier for them to participate and understand, thus boosting their confidence.
3. Overcoming Vocabulary Limitations: Struggling readers frequently have limited vocabulary, which can hamper their ability to understand complex texts. Background knowledge helps fill this gap by allowing students to infer the meaning of new words from context, reducing their reliance on decoding skills alone.

So, how can we expand students’ background knowledge in a low-lift and low-cost way?

This is where our highlighted resource, the Core Knowledge® Foundation, comes into play. The Core Knowledge® Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting educational excellence and equity by ensuring that all students, regardless of background, have access to a shared body of foundational knowledge. The foundation believes that a strong knowledge base is essential for reading comprehension, critical thinking, and overall academic success. Their approach is built on the premise that knowledge is cumulative and interconnected and that students who have a rich understanding of diverse topics are better equipped to succeed academically and in life.

Core Knowledge® provides a wealth of free resources for educators and parents, including comprehensive K-8 curricula that cover subjects such as language arts, history, geography, mathematics, science, and the arts. By offering clear guidance on what to teach, the foundation ensures that students across the country have access to a common core of knowledge, helping to close the achievement gap and prepare students for future learning.

Core Knowledge®'s free resources, including lesson plans, student readers, and teacher guides, support students in expanding their background knowledge by introducing them to a wide range of historical, scientific, and cultural topics. These materials are designed to build upon one another, reinforcing and deepening students’ understanding as they progress through the grades. By fostering curiosity and promoting a broad-based education, Core Knowledge® helps students develop the critical thinking skills and knowledge necessary to become informed and engaged citizens.

At Redwood, we are proud to integrate Core Knowledge® resources into the Writing Our World™ curriculum. These materials provide students with rich and rigorous writing opportunities that strengthen comprehension pathways as writing skills are developed.

Whether you are looking to enhance classroom instruction or provide additional support at home, the Core Knowledge® curriculum can help empower your students to deepen their understanding of key concepts, grow academically, and foster a lifelong love of learning.

Click here to start exploring this free resource today.