Research has shown that the use of pre-reading activities, such as graphic or advance organizers can positively affect student acquisition of vocabulary and meaning when reading new concepts presented in text. One particularly effective strategy, semantic mapping, can significantly impact students who previously had a lack of prior knowledge on new content reading material by assisting them to better understand the vocabulary and content of the reading material prior to actually reading the material. The strategy of semantic mapping, as with all advance and graphic organizers, is based on the theory that a student's structure of prior knowledge and experiences (schemata) related to the acquisition of new concepts is a critical element in the student becoming a successful learner and reader. (Contains 1 figure.)