Assessing Prior Knowledge of Pond Life

Resource for Grades 5-8
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Assessing Prior Knowledge of Pond Life

Media Type:
Video

Running Time: 2m 23s
Size: 7.1 MB

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Source: WGBH Educational Foundation


Resource Produced by:

WGBH Educational Foundation

Collection Developed by:

WGBH Educational Foundation

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In this video segment from Teaching Middle School Life Science, master teacher and science education specialist Sally Crissman asks a small group of middle school students what they already know about pond life before starting a new investigation. Crissman emphasizes that assessing prior knowledge is an important part of the learning process. To do this, she asks students questions to gauge their understanding and experience with a subject, and may also have them make predictions about what they might observe. Crissman also talks about the effectiveness of regularly reviewing what students have learned with them before pushing their learning further.
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open Discussion Questions

You may find it useful to watch this video with a group of your colleagues and then discuss it together.
  • What does Crissman do to uncover these students’ prior knowledge?
  • According to Crissman, what is helpful about this process?
  • What else can you learn about a student’s thinking by uncovering prior knowledge?
  • Do you use this tool with your own students? Share some of the techniques you use, or might use, to assess your students’ prior knowledge during the early stages of a lesson.
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