Ask students to fill out a K-W-L chart (What I Know, What I Want to Know, What I Learned) about the topic at the beginning of the lesson. This helps them organize their thoughts and sets a purpose for learning.

Encourage students to brainstorm everything they know about the topic. This can be done individually, in pairs, or as a whole class. Document their responses on the board or a shared online document.

Have students spend five minutes writing everything they know about the topic. This activates their prior knowledge and helps them connect new information to what they already understand.

Give a short quiz at the beginning of the lesson to assess students' prior knowledge. This can help identify areas that need more attention and tailor the lesson accordingly.

A picture walk is a pre-reading activity where students and educators "walk" through a book's illustrations, discussing the images and making predictions about the story before reading the text. This technique helps students connect with the material, activate prior knowledge, and build excitement for the story, ultimately enhancing their reading comprehension. 

Concept sorts introduce students to the vocabulary or ideas of a new topic or text. Students are presented a list of terms or concepts and have to determine how they are related by placing them into  different categories.

A process that helps students make connections between new information and information they already know.

Ask students to share personal stories or experiences related to the topic. This makes the content more relatable and memorable.

Provide real-world examples that relate to the topic. Encourage students to come up with their own examples and discuss how they connect to what they're learning.

Have students think about a question related to the topic, discuss their thoughts with a partner, and then share with the class. This collaborative approach helps activate prior knowledge and promotes deeper understanding.

Show a video, image, or article related to the topic. Ask students to discuss how the media connects to their own experiences or what they already know.

This comprehension strategy activates students’ prior knowledge, builds curiosity about a new topic before learning about it, and then checks for understanding after reading. 

A visual thinking and learning technique that uses diagrams to represent information, ideas, or concepts around a central topic.

A lesson without a graphic organizer is never as effective as a lesson with one.

1. Before our lesson begins, I want you to think back to a time where you were maybe outside, maybe at a park, or backyard.

Think: What did you see, were there plants? Insects? Animals? What do bugs eat? Then have students pair up to discuss what they see.

This hook allows students to activate prior knowledge from real world experience