Artifact 06PYP sample unit · Prior Knowledge Assessment
PYP prior knowledge assessment example: What I Already Know About Being Well
The whole prior knowledge assessment, free to read on this page. The print-ready PDF is free with a teacher account.
Prepared with a PYP school in Hyderabad.
- Role
- PYP homeroom teacher
- Programme
- PYP
- Year group
- PYP 1
- Published
- Length
- 639 words, 3 min read
Contents7 sections
- PYP 1 · Unit 1: Who We Are
- Week 1
- Picture-based · minimal writing
Subject focus | Unit of Inquiry: Taking Care of Myself | ATL focus | Thinking & Self-Management |
|---|---|---|---|
Purpose | Prior Knowledge Assessment: to surface what each learner already knows, thinks and wonders about hygiene, food and healthy choices, before teaching begins. This is not a test; there are no wrong answers. | ||
Learning outcomes surfaced:
share observations, prior knowledge and questions about what it means to be well
identify choices that help or do not help the body
show current understanding of personal hygiene and food routines
communicate ideas through talk, sorting and drawing
Administration note: run in small groups during the UOI block across Monday–Tuesday of Week 1. The teacher scribes learners’ spoken answers verbatim in the grey boxes: the learner’s own words are the evidence.
1. The Wellness Wonder Table: See · Think · Wonder
Explore the Wonder Table. Choose one object. Draw it, then tell your teacher about it.
🧼 soap
🪥 toothbrush
🪮 comb
🍎 fruit
💧 water bottle
🤸 skipping rope
🛏 pillow
🪞 mirror
👀 I see… (draw your object)
💭 I think it helps my body to… (teacher scribes)
❓ I wonder… (teacher scribes: goes to the Wonder Wall)
2. Helps my body · Doesn’t help my body: picture sort
✂ Cut out the picture cards below and paste each one onto the correct side. Then tell your teacher about one card: “Why did you put it there?”
🧼🙌 washing hands
🥤 fizzy drink
😴🌙 sleeping early
🍎🥦 fruits & vegetables
📺🌃 TV very late
🪥✨ brushing teeth
⚽🏃 playing outside
🍬🍭 too many sweets
😊 Helps my body
🙁 Doesn’t help my body
Teacher notes: the learner’s reason, in their words:
3. How I stay clean and healthy: draw and tell
Draw one thing you already do to take care of your body: at home or at school. Then tell your teacher: What are you doing in your picture? When do you do it? Who reminds you, or do you remember all by yourself?
Teacher scribes the telling:
does it independently · with reminders · with help
4. Circle time: what does “being well” mean?
Whole-group conversation, captured on the Wonder Wall. Prompts: What does your body need every day? · What makes you feel well? · What happens if we never brush our teeth? · Who takes care of you, and what do you take care of yourself?
Teacher checklist: during circle time this learner:
offered an idea or experience named a hygiene or food practice
gave a reason (“because…”) | asked a question / wondered aloud | ||||||
✦ Exit ticket
🌟 Glows: one thing I already do well for my body:
🌱 Grows: one thing I want to find out in this unit:
Learners answer orally or in drawing; teacher scribes.
LEARNER PORTRAIT
How did it feel? (learner colours one face per row)
CRITERIA | 👍 YES | 🤔 SOMEWHAT | ✋ NEED HELP |
|---|---|---|---|
I shared my ideas about staying healthy. | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
I sorted the picture cards. | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
I drew and talked about taking care of my body. | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
I asked a wondering question. | ◯ | ◯ | ◯ |
ASSESSMENT TOOL: TEACHER USE
PKA rubric
CRITERIA | OUTSTANDING | PROFICIENT | CONSOLIDATING | EMERGING |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Prior knowledge of healthy practices | Names several hygiene and food practices with rich detail from own life | Names common practices confidently | Names one or two practices with prompting | Beginning to name practices with support |
Sorting & reasoning | Sorts accurately and gives clear because-reasons independently | Sorts accurately; gives a simple reason | Sorts mostly accurately; reason with support | Beginning to sort with guidance |
Communication of ideas | Expresses ideas in full sentences with topic words | Expresses ideas clearly in phrases or sentences | Expresses ideas with words and gestures | Communicates mainly through pointing and drawing |
Curiosity & questions | Poses own wonderings unprompted | Poses a wondering when invited | Echoes or extends a peer’s wondering | Not yet posing wonderings |
The PKA is diagnostic: rubric levels inform grouping and planning; they are not reported to families as achievement.
WHAT THIS TELLS US: PLANNING NOTES
MISCONCEPTIONS TO ADDRESS IN WEEKS 2–4
Credits: PYP 1 Team
Unit: Who We Are: Taking Care of Myself · 2026–27
How this was made
Prepared with Koncepts using the PYP Assessment Generator, which builds from the unit's transdisciplinary theme, central idea and lines of inquiry. It gives four short activities, from a See, Think, Wonder table to a picture sort, a draw and tell and a circle time, then an exit ticket and a rubric.
Download this prior knowledge assessment as a PDF
The print-ready PDF of this prior knowledge assessment: 3 pages, 409 KB.
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About this prior knowledge assessment
What is this document?
A real picture-based PYP prior knowledge assessment for a PYP 1 unit on well-being, prepared by a practising IB teacher. Free to read in full.
How was it made?
Prepared with Koncepts using the PYP Assessment Generator, which builds from the unit's transdisciplinary theme, central idea and lines of inquiry. It gives four short activities, from a See, Think, Wonder table to a picture sort, a draw and tell and a circle time, then an exit ticket and a rubric.
Is it free to read and download?
The whole prior knowledge assessment, free to read on this page. The print-ready PDF is free with a teacher account.