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Prereading Activities

The importance of engaging students in prereading activities cannot be overemphasized. It is through activities conducted prior to reading a selection that the teacher can build and activate students' background knowledge on topics or concepts contained in the book. Activation of relevant knowledge is fundamental to comprehension. Because children may not spontaneously integrate what they read with what they know, special attention should be paid to preparation for reading. If appropriate background knowledge cannot be assumed, knowledge-building activities should be provided.

In addition to building or activating background knowledge, prereading activities can provide a forum to elicit from students their feelings and reactions to ideas and issues contained in a reading selection before confronting those issues in the text. Such activities allow students to examine their own beliefs, enhance understanding and appreciation of events in the book or decisions made by characters and encourage aesthetic responses to literature. Further, because they have thought about issues with which characters are confronted, students will identify more intensely with characters during reading. Prereading activities serve to set purposes for reading, arouse students' curiosity, and motivate them to read (Literature-Based Reading Activities, 2nd Ed., Yopp & Yopp Ch.2). 

Anticipation Guides
This reading comprehension activity will take a little while to prepare, but is a good tool for helping your students with prereading activities and comprehension.

Opinionnaires/Questionnaires
Opinionnaires/Questionnaires (Reasoner, 1976) are useful tools for helping readers examine their own values, attitudes, opinions or related experiences before they interact wit book characters. -- Taken from Literature-Based Reading Activities, 2nd Ed., Yopp & Yopp.

Memory
This game takes several hours to prepare, but it's well worth the effort. Children will commit hard words and their definitions to their long term memory, and it's fun! (287 words)

Source:

http://www.uiowa.edu/~amreads/teaching_resources/prereading/index.html

Summary

Prereading Activities

Teachers cannot overemphasize the prereading activities in the engaging students’ importance. They can activate students' background knowledge on topics inside the book through activities conducted prior to reading a selection. Knowledge’s activation is fundamental to comprehension. Preparation for reading needs attention since children do not integrate their own information with the reading. Teachers have to provide knowledge-building activities if students cannot understand background knowledge.

To building background knowledge, prereading activities such as anticipation which will takes to prepare, but is a tool for comprehension students, questionnaires which are useful for readers examine their related experiences before they interact with book character and game memory which takes hours to prepare, but it's worth the effort since children will their definitions to their long term memory can provide a forum to elicit from students reactions to ideas within a reading selection before confronting the issues in the text. They allow students to examine their beliefs, enhance understanding, appreciation of events in the book and encourage aesthetic responses to literature. Students will identify with characters during reading because of their thoughts about issues characters. Prereading activities establish purposes for reading, arouse students' curiosity, and motivate them to read. (195 words)