Purpose: The purpose of this action research presentation is to discuss how explicit comprehension instruction can take place along with writing, in the kindergarten classroom. Methodology: This action research project took place in a suburban kindergarten with learners of diverse ability levels and ESL students as well. In this classroom small group instruction was the vehicle for literacy. The teacher worked with a small heterogeneous group of kindergarten readers. The group size was about 4-6 on a given day. This took place within the second semester of the kindergarten year. The documentation of the strategy was anecdotal and based on the principles of action research. Results: This prior knowledge activation strategy presented benefits of the children using the vocabulary from the story in their journal entries. Another benefit was that the children were forced to use their inventive spelling skills and explore the grapheme-phoneme relationship. The final benefit of this strategy was that the children were motivated more and more each time the strategy was presented to listen and have their own independent discussion of the story, the characters and its events. They even modeled the strategy when participating in center time at the reading center, independently. This strategy is one that is simple yet effective. It allows optimal participation from all members of the group and a constant flow of communication about the story. Conclusions: The outcome of analyzing and using this strategy in the classroom is that it plays upon the natural curiosity of young children as a motivator for reading. Another outcome is that the teacher found a strategy that adheres to the ability levels of all children. The relationship of this strategy to the purpose of the research is manifested in the rich discussion and authentic work samples of the students. Recommendations: It is imperative that teachers offer more strategies that activate the prior knowledge of the beginning reader. These and other developmentally appropriate strategies with regards to cultural and linguistic diversity make for lifelong learners and independent readers.