Activating Prior knowledge

PRIOR KNOWLEDGE
	What is it?	Prior knowledge is what you already know about the subject you're studying. If you already know about it, then activate that knowledge. If you don't know much about it, then acquire some general knowledge of your subject before reading a detailed text.
	Why do it?	You are more likely to remember what you read if you have focused your attention on what you already know or have begun learning something about it. Imagine that the surface of your brain is a series of folds and that each fold holds a particular kind of information, a lot like a filing system with different folders for different subjects. When a new piece of information enters your mind, your brain searches for a place to put it. If it already has a fold (or a file, so to speak) on that subject, it will add the new information to it. If there is no file on the subject or your brain doesn't find it quickly enough, the information will file it in its miscellaneous folder (something like that drawer in your kitchen with the lost plastic parts to something, the birthday cake candles, an instructional manual to something or other, etc.) Once things enter this fold, you rarely find them again and then only after a lot of searching, usually in the wrong places first. In addition, you will understand and remember more about a subject if you already know something about it. For example, if I asked you to read a detailed description of what had happened to particular characters in a complicated TV series that you had never seen, you would be less likely to understand and remember it than you would if you were reading about an episode on a TV series that was very familiar to you.
	How do you do it?	If you already know something about the subject, then you need to activate it. Brainstorm a list of everything you know about it, compare your ideas to those of others, and organize the information into general categories. If you don't know much, then begin to build an understanding of the general subject. Read through more general, briefer written pieces, view some photographs if relevant, or talk to someone who knows about it. Begin thinking of questions you have about the subject.
	Task 1	First, read two or more of the following articles to get a general sense of the depression: Crash!; The Face of Poverty; I Remember; Unemployment and Relief; or A View of the Depression in Chicago. Second, find someone who remembers life during the Depression and ask them to tell you about it. Finally, send your answers to the following topics to the listserv. Describe how Americans lived during the Depression. Describe how Americans must have felt during the Depression.