 
Acquiring knowledge and insight is not just an important goal of reading—it is the foundation of all learning. Through reading, we embark on journeys of discovery about facts such as how automobiles are built or how many miles butterflies travel during their migration, as well as journeys of discovery about ourselves and each other through stories about friendship, resolve, and overcoming obstacles.
In this session, speakers Gina N. Cervetti and Elfrieda (Freddy) H. Hiebert discussed the importance of knowledge building in the literacy instruction classroom and draw direct connections to both students’ academic success and their social-emotional well-being through developing other critical skills essential for personal growth.
Example texts: three book-length texts on caves and fossils
Click on the thumbnail to view as flipbooks, or click on the link below the thumbnail to download a pdf file
Example texts: Short articles
Five short texts that Freddy wrote to illustrate how texts can support building background knowledge.
Slides from Freddy’s presentation
Slides Download presentation slides pdf
Research articles related to this webinar
Knowledge at the Center of English Language Arts Instruction
Citation: Cervetti, G.N., & E.H. Hiebert. (2018). Knowledge at the Center of English Language Arts Instruction. The Reading Teacher, 72 (4): 499–507. 2018.
The Sixth Pillar of Reading Instruction
Citation: Cervetti, Gina N. & Hiebert, Elfrieda H. (2015). The Sixth Pillar of Reading Instruction: Knowledge Development. The Reading Teacher, 68 (7), 548–551. doi: 10.1002/trtr.1343
Enhancing Opportunities for Decoding and Knowledge Building through Beginning Texts
Citation: Hiebert, Elfrieda H. (2024). Enhancing Opportunities for Decoding and Knowledge Building through Beginning Texts. The Reading Teacher, 0 (0), 1-10
The Core Vocabulary: The Foundation of Proficient Comprehension
Citation: Hiebert, Elfrieda H. (2020). The Core Vocabulary: The Foundation of Proficient Comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 73 (6), 757-768
