Why is background knowledge important to comprehension?

For students in the middle-grades, building background knowledge is essential to improving comprehension.

"In the classroom, reading comprehension and vocabulary are best served by spending extended time on reading and listening to texts on the same topic and discussing the facts and ideas in them. The number of classes spent on a topic should be determined by the time needed to understand and become familiar with the topic—and by grade level," (Hirsch, 2003).

• Reading Comprehension Requires Knowedge--of Words and the World (Hirsch, 2003).

Students should be "pushed to read texts that are personally challenging, and support their efforts by giving them a variety of critical reading strategies to use," (ACT, 2006).

• Reading Between the Lines (ACT, 2006).