What primary benefit does closing a lesson with summary questions provide for students?

Closing a lesson with summary questions primarily consolidates key concepts and integrates them into existing knowledge. This practice allows students to reflect on what they have just learned, helping to reinforce their understanding of the material. By summarizing the lesson through targeted questions, students are encouraged to synthesize the information, which supports the retention of new concepts and helps them make connections to what they already know. This integration process is vital for deep learning, as it enables students to construct a more cohesive understanding of the subject matter.

While the other options do touch on important pedagogical strategies, the essence of using summary questions hinges on solidifying knowledge. Monitoring comprehension is indeed valuable, but it is more about assessing understanding rather than integrating knowledge. Encouraging students to construct their understanding relates to active learning strategies but does not directly address the summarization process. Promoting access to prior knowledge is also an important aspect of learning, but closing a lesson specifically focuses on solidifying the immediate content rather than future lessons. Therefore, summarizing key concepts effectively aids students in creating a well-organized mental framework for their education.