Customer Reviews

Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools

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As a dual-language elementary teacher it is important that I teach my students the meaning of specific words in the subjects they have to learn in order to get the meaning. This book allows me to concentrate on the meaning, context and usage of words in the different subjects I teach rather than having to look for the words and then do what I described. It has also helped me build a stronger vocabulary and made me a better teacher for my students.

Building Background Knowledge For Academic Achievement: Research On What Works In Schools by Robert J. Marzano (Senior Scholar, Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning, Aurora, Colorado and Associate Professor, Cardinal Stritch University, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) discusses how two combined approaches - sustained silent reading and careful study of subject-specific vocabulary terms - can help young adults overcome weaknesses in background knowledge that would otherwise undermine their educational pursuits, from elementary to high school. In addition to the outlined principles for a sustained silent reading program, and effective vocabulary instruction, over 7,923 actual vocabulary terms have been culled for presentation from national standards documents and other publications, organized into 11 subject areas and 4 grade-level categories. A superb home schooling, self-study, or curriculum supplementary guide, highly recommended for parents, educators, tutors, and studious individuals seeking to hone the tools that maximize their comprehension skills.

There are so many trends right now as the pendulum is swinging franticly in a direction that doesn't make sense to me. NCLB, Put Reading First, and the National Reading Panel have about killed reading. Emphasizing low level skill work will not lead to increased reading comprehension. It used to be kids came in my library screaming for whatever subject they were studying in class: penguins! spiders! tornadoes! firemen! etc. Those days are over because they are doing basic skill work in class. Now, they come in not knowing what to checkout. Most do not finish reading the books they check out. Our nonfiction circulation has declined in the past 3 years. Reading Building Background Knoweldge proves why we need more reading in schools...it leads to increased vocabulary which leads to increased reading comprhension. This is a highly readable, enlightening, and affirming book from one of the most important educators of our day.

The author points out some very important aspects of learning through the
prism of background knowledge. There is a general correlation between
academic background knowledge and generalized academic performance.
In addition, the book covers the transitory steps aimed at harnessing
working memory into permanent memory. There is a section which shows how
surface knowledge enhances background knowledge. Text density is another
indicator of learning. Texts which contain many new words not widely
interspersed will have the lowest new vocabulary retention. As newer words
are more widely dispersed, readers have up to a 30% retention from a
mere retention in single digits. Poverty is another correlator to overall
academic performance according to the author. The book presents a very
valuable common Greek/Latin root derivative section. For instance,
Greek words enter into the English language , thusly.
- ast or star means astronomy
- cycle or circle means cycle
- gram finds usage in the word telegraph or autograph
- meter is utilized in thermometer or centimeter
- photo finds usage in photograph
- scop or to see is utilized in the word microscope
- therm or heat is utilized in thermometer

The Latin root "act" is utilized in react or transact. The Latin root
"ang" means to bend as in angle or angular. The Latin root "aud" for
hear is seen in the word audible. The Latin root "credit" is seen in
incredible etc.

The book is a worthy acquisition for the student, linguist, writer or
academic person in your household. It is a good value for the price charged.

Marzano is a great researcher and has tons of information to share, but often overwhelms the application aspect with the data justifying the application. Building Background Knowledge is a fantastic exception. This book melds the research with the application so that when he outlines the best ways to build vocabulary and background knowledge with students, you understand why each part is important. Better, since you see the big picture of why building vocab and background knowledge is important and how kids learn, you can apply the resources and suggestions in the book to your own curriculum. This book is not an "off the shelf" guide to building background knowledge so you don't have to dump everything you've been doing, make thousands of copies of worksheets and tie yourself to a pre-set timeline or assessment packet. Instead, it explains why it's important to students to have a strong vocabulary and background knowledge in their content areas and then gives strategies for building that knowledge. Since we know that student success in school is often closely tied to their previous life experiences, using the ideas in this book could greatly level the playing field for those kids who come to school without much information about what we're expecting them to learn.

The book I recieved was in great condition. I also receaved it in good timing to, under the predicted time.

The book arrived pretty quickly and was in excellent condition. Will definitely consider ordering from this vendor in the future.