As part of a social studies unit on the American Revolution, a sixth-grade teacher plans to prepare students to read a short historical nonfiction novel about the Boston Tea Party. Which prereading strategy will best assist the teacher in building students' background knowledge and improving their general understanding of the topic?

• A. Having students visit approved websites before reading to view video clips and primary documents related to the topic
• B. Reading only a textbook chapter on the topic
• C. Starting with a vocabulary quiz before reading
• D. Relying solely on instructor lecture during the unit

Answer: (A)

The most effective prereading approach is to activate and build students’ background knowledge through authentic, diverse sources before they read. When students explore approved websites with video clips and primary documents related to the Boston Tea Party, they encounter the topic in multiple formats and voices, which helps them form a mental picture of what happened, why it mattered, and who was involved. Video clips can set mood and context, while primary sources—like letters, pamphlets, or eyewitness accounts—show perspectives from the time and reveal vocabulary, events, and causal connections in a real-sounding way. This multimodal preview gives students a framework or schema they can attach new information to as they read the historical nonfiction novel, making the material more understandable and memorable. It also supports different learners by combining visual, textual, and contextual cues, and it invites students to think about authorship, perspective, and purpose.

Relying solely on a textbook, starting with a vocabulary quiz, or depending only on lecture tends to limit engagement and changeable context, which can leave students with a more fragmented or surface-level understanding of the topic.