Students learn material easily when it is connected to their own personal lives. New information is related to what they have experienced. Another way to add to a students' learning is to connect the new academic materials to what they have learned previously. These two parts of a lesson, called Building Background, give students strong support in gaining new knowledge.

* Concepts explicitly linked to Students' background experiences

* Links explicitly made between past learning and new concepts

* Key vocabulary emphasized (introduced, written, repeated, and highlighted for students to see)

The SIOP Model