Procedure Guide: FACTSTORMING

Purpose: To determine students' background knowledge on a particular topic.

Preparation

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• Decide what facts and associations are important to students' understanding of the operating ideas/principles you have chosen.

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• Determine a single, generative question that will encourage students to share what they know about the topic.

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• Explain the purpose of the activity and the strategy that students should learn.

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• Model the strategy using a common, easily understood topic.

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• Introduce the topic being studied by having students share facts and associations pertinent to the topic. (To assess individual student's knowledge, consider having the students write their facts and associations before sharing.

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• Assess what each student already knows to determine anything that should be taught to supplement their current knowledge before they read.

During

• Have students use the Keeping Track strategy as they read a new, interesting, or confusing text.

After

• Have students compare in writing their Factstorming information with the information they encountered in text.

Assessment

Involvement in initial Factstorming

Quality of Keeping Track notations

Accuracy of before and after comparison of information