ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

“Great minds ask great questions.”

How to Think Like Leonardo de Vinci by Michael J. Gelb

Getting Started You have sixty seconds to discuss two

questions with someone else in the room. When signaled, switch partners and discuss two more questions. Continue until you have made a decision about each question. You and your partners do not have to agree.

Review of Unit Backward DesignSTAGE ONE: DESIRED RESULTS

Established Goals:

Understandings: Essential Questions:

Knowledge (Students will know) Skills (SWBAT)

STAGE TWO: ASSESSMENT EVIDENCE

STAGE THREE: LEARNING ACTIVITIES/ACTION PLAN

Why are essential questions important?

• Create genuine and relevant inquiry into a big idea or core content

• Provoke deep thought, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, new understanding and more questions

Three Major Types of Essential Questions:

ONEImportant questions that recur

throughout one’s life.Example: Is science compatible with

religion? What is justice?

TAKE TWO MINUTES AND WRITE A “TYPE ONE”

QUESTION. 1) Important questions that recur throughout one’s life.

TWOKey inquiries within a discipline

Example: Is any history capable of escaping the perspective of its

writers?

Within Various Disciplines

Literature: Can fiction reveal truth?Math: When is the correct answer

not the best solution?History: Is conflict between nations

inevitable?Foreign Language: What

distinguishes a fluent foreigner from a native speaker?

Health: What is healthful living?Geography: How does where we

live influence how we live?P.E.: Is pain necessary for progress

in athletics? (“No pain, no gain.”)Science: How are “form” and

“function” related in biology?

TAKE TWO MINUTES AND WRITE A “TYPE TWO”

QUESTION.

2) A key inquiry within a discipline.

THREEQuestions that help students make

sense of complicated ideas, knowledge and findings.

Example: In what ways does light act like waves?

EXAMPLESNO

• What are the three branches of government and what does each do?

• What is cloning?

• What types of energy sources are common in homes?

YES• How are the three

branches of government dependent upon one another?

• Why is cloning controversial?

• Can an individual family make a real difference in terms of energy conservation?

MisconceptionsAn essential question does not have a straightforward factual answer. Do not

confuse what is essential to you, in your role as a teacher, and what is

essential for student inquiry and making meaning of facts.

TAKE TWO MINUTES AND WRITE A “TYPE THREE”

QUESTION.

3) A question that helps students make sense of complicated ideas, knowledge and findings – that lead to discovery.

"What people think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question." - Jonas Salk

SUMMARY:ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS…

• Are arguable and important to argue about.

• Recur--and should recur--in professional work, adult life, as well as in the classroom inquiry.

• Raise more questions-provoking and sustaining engaged inquiry.

• Can provide purpose for learning.

Example: How did the reallocation of land after the Civil War impact the political arena?Example: How do authors’ use figurative language to create lasting impressions?

‘Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one

who asked why.’

- Bernard Mannes Baruch

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Next Steps

Now work with others in your discipline to build new essential questions and

refine old ones.