Building Background Knowledge
Background knowledge is information that you come to the table with. Marzano says, “We acquire background knowledge through the interaction of two factors: (1) our ability to process and store information, and (2) the number and frequency of our academically oriented experiences” (pg. 3). As teachers our job is to give our students methods to help process information. Methods we can use as teachers to give students the ability to process and store information include; chunking, meta-cognition, cognition, using graphic organizers and actively involving them in their learning. Before we introduce a new concept it is also a good idea to discuss with the students how the new information will relate to concepts they are already familiar with (activating prior knowledge).
Marzano states that the best way to build background knowledge would be to provide academically enriching experiences out of school (Marzano, 2004). These experiences could be brought about through field trips to museums, art galleries, and similar endeavors. With budget cuts this approach isn’t very practical. A practical approach would be to use the methods described above.

Grouping Students It is thought that most students do better in school when allowed to work in cooperative learning groups. As teachers we should make sure to provide students with procedures and give them modeled social skills to function appropriately in a group setting. Charles says that teachers should teach the students how to do the following before the first group activity:
Be responsible for your own work and behavior.
Ask a support buddy for help if you have a question.
Help any support buddy who asks for help.
Ask for help from the teacher only when support buddies cannot supply it. (Charles, 2011)

There are social advantages that putting students in groups provide as well. In a group setting students can learn from each