How to Use Agree or Disagree Statements to Activate Background Knowledge

Hey there, teacher friends. Welcome back to The Stellar Teacher Podcast. In today’s episode, I am sharing a simple but really effective strategy that you can use to activate background knowledge before reading. This strategy is what I like to call using agree or disagree statements. It takes just a few minutes, really doesn’t require much planning or prep, which means it’s something you can start using today, and ultimately, it’s going to lead to deeper engagement and stronger comprehension.

Before I talk about the strategy specifically, let’s spend a little time discussing why it’s so important to activate and build background knowledge before and during reading. If you’ve been listening to the podcast for any length of time, then you know that background knowledge plays a huge role in how well students understand what they read. Background knowledge is one of the elements of the language comprehension strand on Scarborough’s Reading Rope, which means it is essential for comprehension. It’s necessary—if we want our students to become skilled readers, they have to have background knowledge.

One of my favorite quotes about background knowledge comes from Marilyn Adams. She says, “Prior knowledge about a topic is like mental Velcro. The relevant knowledge gives the words of the text places to stick and make sense, thereby supporting comprehension and propelling the reading process forward.” I just love that idea—prior knowledge about a topic is like mental Velcro.

But here’s the challenge: sometimes it’s hard to know what our students already know about a topic. We can often be left wondering: do they have enough mental Velcro for the text they’re about to read? If you’ve ever wondered that and aren’t sure whether your students have enough background knowledge or whether you need to spend more time building it, this is where the ABC model from Nancy Hennessy’s The Reading Comprehension Blueprint comes in handy.

You can use this framework: A—activate and assess background knowledge; B—build background knowledge through direct teaching; and C—connect to background knowledge before, during, and after reading. The strategy I’m sharing today—using agree or disagree statements—is a tool you can use for the “A” in the ABC. It helps you activate and assess what your students already know about a topic so that you can make smart decisions about what knowledge they need in order to successfully comprehend the text.

So how does the agree/disagree strategy work? This is one of my favorite ways to activate background knowledge because it’s quick, engaging, gets students thinking critically, and creates great opportunities for class discussion. We want our students to be the ones doing the talking and the thinking, and this strategy definitely achieves that.

Here’s how it works: before reading, you give your students a statement related to the topic of the text. Their job is simply to decide if they agree or disagree and then explain why. You can implement this strategy in a variety of ways. You could give your students the statement and plenty of think time. Students could write their answer or reasoning on a sticky note or index card, which you could display on an anchor chart. You could have students participate in a stand-up, sit-down, or move-to-the-side-of-the-room activity based on their responses. You could also pair students up to discuss their thinking—either with someone who agrees or someone with the opposite stance.

The key is that the statement is tied to the topic of the text and gets your students thinking about the “why” behind their response. It’s not enough for them to just say, “Oh yeah, I agree.” They need to explain why they agree or disagree. As students think about and discuss it, they are activating whatever prior knowledge they already have. Activating prior knowledge is one of the very first things we want to do before we start reading.

One of the reasons I love this strategy so much is that it simply asks students to share their opinion—do they agree or do they disagree? That means there’s really no right or wrong answer. This is a low-risk way to get students engaged and involved and to get the conversation around the topic of the text started. As a teacher, as your students are sharing whether or not they agree or disagree and explaining why, you gain a lot of insight into what background knowledge might be missing and what you might want to explicitly teach before diving into the text.

So I want to share a couple of examples, and all of these are examples of agree or disagree statements that actually come from the whole group lessons inside the Stellar Literacy Collective. If you are a member, then you’ve probably seen this strategy come up in our whole group lessons. I want to give you an example of the statement, a possible student response, and then what that tells you as an educator and what your possible next steps could be in building background knowledge.

One example is: Students don’t need to stop and think about how they’re learning. They just do it. This is an agree or disagree statement that comes from a lesson we have on metacognition. Again, there’s no right or wrong answer here. Your students could say they agree or disagree, but a possible response could be: I agree. I think students should focus their energy on learning the content, not thinking about how they’re learning. That is a valid response.

What that tells you, though, is that students might not understand what metacognition is or why it matters. If you’re getting ready to read a text all about metacognition, you could use this as an opportunity to define metacognition and explain how thinking about your thinking can improve comprehension, problem solving, and learning outcomes. By having students explain whether they agree or disagree, it helps you know whether they have enough knowledge to understand the topic and what vocabulary or concepts you might want to teach before starting the lesson.

Another agree or disagree statement is: Murals are a great way to tell stories and share important messages in communities. This comes from a text about public art. Again, there’s no right or wrong answer—this is just students’ opinions. A possible response could be: I disagree. I think murals are just for decoration. They’re just pretty pictures on a wall. And again, if that reflects a student’s experience, that is a valid response.

What that tells you is that the student might not be familiar with the idea that art can have meaning or reflect cultural or social messages. Before reading, especially if the text focuses on murals communicating cultural values and stories, you could build their background knowledge by showing examples of murals that tell a story or communicate a powerful message—especially ones from your own community or the culture of your class. This is a way to connect the text to something students already know.

The third agree or disagree statement is: Flowers only bloom during the day. You could use this before reading a science-based passage on plant behavior. Again, there’s no right or wrong answer here—technically, there might be—but students are being asked whether they agree or disagree and to explain why. A student might say: I agree. I’ve only seen flowers open during the daytime. That is a valid explanation.

You could use this as a jumping-off point to introduce vocabulary like nocturnal or nyctinasty—a term that refers to plant movement at night, sometimes called sleeping movements—and explain that some flowers open at night or have different movement patterns at night, which we usually don’t observe.

Something else that can be really powerful about using agree or disagree statements is that once you’ve read the text, you can have students revisit their statement and consider whether they want to change their position. Maybe they originally said, I agree, and then after reading they say, You know what, I actually disagree now. Or, if they don’t want to change their position, they can consider adding to their explanation or reasoning.

Having students revisit their response reinforces the idea that we are constantly learning and continually connecting what we read to what we already know.

Okay, so hopefully you’re thinking, this is a strategy that you want to bring into your classroom. So let’s talk a little bit about how to create your own agree or disagree prompts. Remember, this is something that you can do with any text, and it doesn’t take a ton of time. Hint, hint, nudge, nudge—consider trying this strategy today.

Since this is one of our favorite ways to activate background knowledge, like I mentioned earlier, if you are part of the SLC, then you’ve probably seen this strategy sprinkled throughout our whole group lessons. But it’s such an easy thing to bring into any text.

If you want to come up with your own agree or disagree statement, here are a few tips to keep in mind. First, if possible, make your statement bold or surprising. You ultimately want to spark curiosity, or maybe even a little controversy—something that might split the room or make students stop and really think. But you also want to keep the language clear and simple. Remember, this is not meant to be a trick question. The goal is to start a conversation, not to confuse students before they even start reading.

You also want to make sure that your statement aligns closely with the core idea or theme of the text. Think about what you want students to be considering as they read, and use that as your anchor. Additionally, avoid statements that have obvious right or wrong answers. If the answer is too obvious, the thinking really stops there. Choose something that could reasonably go either way.

Really think: which students would probably say agree and which might say disagree? Because remember, the real magic comes from the discussion. Always make sure to follow up with “be prepared to explain your thinking.”

Using agree or disagree statements is really just a small step that can make a huge impact. It activates background knowledge, sparks student thinking, and gives you valuable insight into what your students already know—and maybe what they don’t know—about a topic before you start reading. When you make background knowledge a regular part of your reading routine, students will be more engaged, more prepared, and ultimately more confident as readers.

That’s it for today—short and sweet. I hope this strategy is something that you will give a try with your students this week. And, of course, thanks for tuning in. I’ll see you back here next Monday.