Ace the RICA Readiness Challenge 2025 – Amp Up Your Teaching Skills!

Using visuals like photographs and diagrams is an effective method for identifying and activating English Learners' related background knowledge. Visuals serve as accessible entry points that can bridge linguistic gaps, allowing students to connect new information with what they already know. For English Learners, who may struggle with language but possess rich contextual understanding, visuals can help stimulate discussion and encourage personal connections to the content being taught.

Photographs and diagrams provide concrete representations that can be universally understood. This can engage students in dialogue about their experiences, thus tapping into their background knowledge without relying solely on verbal or written language skills. By leveraging these visual tools, teachers can foster a more inclusive environment where students feel empowered to share their insights and experiences, enhancing comprehension and retention of new information.

In contrast, written tests, standard worksheets, and literature circles do not primarily focus on visual engagement and may not effectively elicit background knowledge in the same manner as visuals do. Written tests can be language-heavy, which may hinder understanding for English Learners. Standard worksheets may lack the dynamic interaction needed to activate prior knowledge effectively, and literature circles, while valuable for discussion, may not directly assess or stimulate background knowledge in the same straightforward way that visual aids can.