Pretraining with Outlines and Knowledge Organizers

Minimizing Science Intimidation with Pretraining

Many students feel intimidated when they first walk into a science classroom. The textbook alone can seem overwhelming, filled with diagrams and symbols that don’t immediately make sense. On top of that, the vocabulary adds another layer of challenge. It’s easy to see why some students feel discouraged.

I wanted to change that experience for my students. I knew they needed a way to ease into science without feeling overwhelmed. I figured the best way to do this was through pretraining. Pretraining introduces students to concepts and science vocabulary in student-friendly language, then reinforces this knowledge through retrieval practice. The goal is to establish the basics in long-term memory before moving into more complex material. With this foundation, students can approach new content more confidently and understand it more deeply during explicit instruction.

To put this into practice, I created outline notes that blended storytelling with knowledge organizers. As a class, we studied the outline notes and knowledge organizers using retrieval practice, which gave students the foundation they needed to succeed in the lessons that followed.

In this blog post, I will share how I created these outlines, how I integrated them with knowledge organizers, and how I implemented the pretraining phase in my classroom.

Outlines

I turned to outlines because they break complex material into clear, manageable chunks. This structure helps students quickly see the main topics and subtopics and focus on what really matters.

But I didn’t stop there. To make the outlines even more effective, I wove in storytelling. Research shows that our brains are wired for stories.² They make information easier to understand, easier to remember, and more meaningful. That is why storytelling is often described as “cognitively privileged.”

At first, this was challenging. In subjects like history, content naturally unfolds as a narrative because people make choices and events follow in sequence. Chemistry, however, doesn’t usually come with built-in storylines. Instead, it often feels like a collection of isolated facts.

Using Directions of Travel (DOTs)

I found the answer to this dilemma in Adam Boxer’s book Teaching Secondary Science³. In one chapter, he introduces “Directions of Travel” (DOTs), a set of strategies that help teachers build a narrative in science instruction. The book includes many examples, but I’ve highlighted a few key ones below.

Directions of Travel (DOTs)	Description	Example
Conflict → Resolution	Spark curiosity by presenting a question and guide students toward resolving it	Ask why ice floats on water, then explain density and hydrogen bonding.
Familiar → Unfamiliar	Start with something students already know and use it as a bridge to present new content	Begin a lesson on acids and bases by comparing them to familiar household items like lemon juice and baking soda.
Concrete → Abstract	Use tangible, observable examples to introduce concepts before moving to abstract ideas	Demonstrate diffusion with food coloring in water before explaining particle movement and concentration gradients.
Simple → Complex	Teach foundational ideas first and then build towards more complicated concepts	Teach the structure of an atom before introducing isotopes.

After reading this chapter, I decided to build the Directions of Travel (DOTs) into the outlines. This allowed me to weave storytelling into science instruction while presenting new content in a way that felt clear and manageable for students. Below is an example of how I applied each DOT in my Electromagnetic Waves lesson.

Electromagnetic Waves Example

Conflict to Resolution

The electromagnetic waves notes begins with a question: “Think about a fireworks show. Have you ever wondered how those bright flashes of red, blue, or green appear in the sky?” This question sparks curiosity and presents a phenomenon that students may not have thought deeply about.

Familiar to Unfamiliar

Concrete to Abstract

The lesson begins with an observable phenomenon: the colorful display of fireworks. From this concrete example, students are guided to explore more abstract scientific ideas, such as the behavior of electromagnetic waves and electron transitions. This shift from the visible to the invisible helps students build a bridge between experience and theory. You can see the transition from concrete to abstract in the slideshow below.

Simple to Complex

Instruction progresses from basic to more advanced concepts. It starts with fireworks and then explains what light is and how it travels. Once students understand these foundational ideas, the lesson introduces the relationship between wavelength and energy, the electromagnetic spectrum, and electron transitions. This gradual increase in complexity allows students to build knowledge step by step. You can see the transition from simple to complex in the slideshow below.

Visuals

You might have also noticed that I included visuals to leverage dual coding theory, which suggests that our brains retain information more effectively when words are paired with images. ⁴

Pairing Outlines with Knowledge Organizers

Even though I had incorporated DOTs and visuals in the outlines, I recognized that the vocabulary barrier could still prevent students from fully understanding the content.

To address this, I decided to separate Tier 2 and Tier 3 words that are found within the outline notes. Tier 2 words are general academic terms that appear across many subjects. Examples include analyze, compare, and significant. While they are not specific to science, students need to understand them in order to follow explanations and instructions. Tier 3 words, on the other hand, are discipline-specific terms that students are unlikely to encounter outside of science. Examples include photosynthesis, mole, and ionization.

To make these terms more accessible, I included them in a knowledge organizer. The organizer is arranged as a table with the terms on the left and student-friendly definitions and visuals on the right. This structure gives students a clear reference tool and a built-in way to study. They can quiz themselves or review with a partner, reinforcing their understanding through repeated practice.

In addition to the vocabulary table, I added a summary page with comprehension questions on the left and answers on the right. This feature encourages students to quiz themselves on the key scientific concepts, strengthening both vocabulary and content knowledge through retrieval practice.

Pretraining in the Classroom

Here’s the structure I typically use to guide students through pretraining with outline notes and knowledge organizers:

1. Preview Tier 2 Vocabulary
   Before reading the outlines, students work with a partner to review Tier 2 academic words in their knowledge organizers. Each pair has a Partner A and a Partner B. Partner A keeps the answers visible while Partner B covers the definitions with a bookmark. Partner A reads the word aloud and asks, “What is the definition?” Partner B responds from memory, practicing retrieval rather than looking at the page. After a few minutes, partners switch roles so that both students have the opportunity to recall the definitions.
2. Practice Tier 2 Vocabulary
   Now that students are familiar with the definitions, I have them apply the words by presenting everyday scenarios and asking them to choose a Tier 2 word to describe the situation. They record their answers on mini whiteboards.
3. FASE Reading
   Now that students are familiar with the Tier 2 words, they are more prepared to understand the material as we read the notes together as a class. Students follow along with a bookmark while I read aloud, and I call on random students to continue reading where I leave off. As we read, students circle Tier 2 words in the text and annotate them in the margins to strengthen their understanding.
4. Check for Understanding During Reading
   As we read together, I also incorporate choral responses and turn-and-talks to keep students actively involved. These strategies break up the reading and encourage participation.
5. Study Tier 3 Vocabulary
   Once we finish reading the outlines together, students have the background knowledge they need to tackle the Tier 3 words. After reading, students work with a partner to review the Tier 3 academic vocabulary in their knowledge organizers using the same format they practiced with the Tier 2 words. One partner reads the word aloud while the other recalls the definition from memory, practicing retrieval rather than looking at the page. After a few minutes, they switch roles so that both partners practice recalling the definitions and become more comfortable with the technical language needed for deeper study of the content.
6. Create a Concept Map
   Once students have both the content and vocabulary, they create a concept map linking the key ideas from the notes. This step encourages them to visualize how the concepts are connected, moving beyond memorization to deeper comprehension.
7. Review the Summary Page
   Finally, students work with a partner to study the knowledge organizer’s summary page. This page contains a table of comprehension questions on one side and answers on the other. By quizzing each other, students engage in retrieval practice, reinforcing both the vocabulary and the larger scientific concepts.

Final Thoughts (with Freebie)

The purpose of pretraining is to give students a foundation of main ideas and vocabulary that will make the upcoming lessons more accessible. When I first introduced this concept to teachers, one common lethal mutation was trying to pack the entire unit into a single outline. That approach completely defeats the purpose. By including all the content at once, we recreate the very problem we’re trying to solve: cognitive overload.

Instead, the outline should focus only on the main ideas and key vocabulary that will prepare students to engage with the lessons that follow. Think of it as priming their working memory rather than filling it. The goal is to choose content that students can easily connect to, content that lowers the entry barrier and creates a smoother transition into the unit. When done effectively, pretraining helps students approach new material with confidence, because they are already familiar with the key terms and big-picture concepts. This way, when the more complex details are introduced during instruction, students are ready to process and retain them rather than feeling overwhelmed.

Notes:

1. Image source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240538949_Getting_Students_Partially_Involved_in_Note-Taking_Using_Graphic_Organizers ↩︎
2. Arya, D. J., & Maul, A. (2012). The role of the scientific discovery narrative in middle school science education: An experimental study. Journal of Educational Psychology, 104(4), 1022–1032. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028108 ↩︎
3. Boxer, A. (2021). Teaching secondary science: A complete guide. John Catt Educational. https://a.co/d/7SAAruf ↩︎
4. Clark, Jim & Paivio, Allan. (1991). Dual Coding Theory and Education. Educational Psychology Review. 3. 149-210. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01320076. ↩︎