Defintion: Background knowledge comprises all of the world knowledge that the reader brings to the task of reading. This can include episodic (events), declarative (facts) and procedural (how-to) knowledge as well as related vocabulary (Kintsch, 1998). (Smith et al., 2021)
Research Findings
Informational text tends to have a greater density of vocabulary and concepts that are directly related to students' background knowledge (Price, Bradley, & Smith, 2012). And these demands placed on background knowledge only accelerate as students progress through the grade levels.
To comprehend a story or text, young readers need a threshold of knowledge about the topic, and new, tougher state standards place increasing demands on children's prior knowledge. This article offers practical classroom strategies to build background knowledge such as using contrasts and comparisons and encouraging topic-focused wide reading. (https://www.readingrockets.org/article/building-background-knowledge )
Background knowledge is a critical component in determining a student’s success in reading comprehension. This one element can often make or break a child’s reading comprehension level (https://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies/2021/08/the-importance-of-background-knowledge-in-understanding-text/ )
ELA Standards