All teachers have a least heard about the importance of helping students connect their prior, or background, knowledge to new information and concepts — it’s a very effective learning/teaching strategy.

Here is a collection of new and prior articles and posts that can help teachers (and students) understand why it’s important and consider various instructional strategies to do it effectively in the classroom:

What you already know is the key to learning new things is a new article in the Guardian, and the piece that prompted this “Best” list.

Does Background Knowledge Matter to Reading Comprehension? by Russ Walsh.

We all know that students learn more effectively if they can connect new information to prior knowledge. How the brain builds on prior knowledge is a report on a new study that saw how different parts of the brain actually do it.

You Don’t Say! Researchers Find That It’s Easier To Learn Something New If You Can Connect It To Something Familiar

More Evidence Reinforcing The Importance Of Connecting To Student Prior Knowledge

Stop The Presses! Study Finds Student Prior Knowledge Is Important & Best Explored Through “Flipped Flipped Classroom” (not a typo)

Background Knowledge: A Key to Close Reading with ELLs is from Colorin Colorado

The Background Building Controversy and The Common Core State Standards

Prior Knowledge: Can We Really Level the Playing Field? is by Timothy Shanahan.

Prior Knowledge Part 2 is by Timothy Shanahan.