Lesson 2, Assessing Prior Knowledge

If I was teaching this lesson to actual fifth graders, prior knowledge would have been assessed by asking the students what they know about different states in the United States and if anyone has ever lived in or visited other states. By doing this, I can see how many students have been somewhere other than Arizona and which part of the United States students are familiar with. Since many adults do not know where every state is located, I would not expect fifth graders to know either. However, this assessment will help me determine which students can share their experiences with the class and how many students can relate to those experiences. This information can also be useful in the planning process by figuring out how much time I need to spend on certain areas in the United States or how much time I need to spend teaching about the states in general.