GUIDING / ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

What is an essential question?Essential questions are at the heart of

curriculum.They are the essence of the key concepts that

you believe students should examine and know in the short time they have with you!

ASK YOURSELF……………………………..What are the most important concepts that my

students should investigate/grasp about……..?What should they remember and reflect on a

year from now?

Why essential/ guiding questions?The essential questions is just that, A

QUESTION; a question suggests interrogation and

inquiry. They embed the concepts into an interrogative form.

The essential questions are also organizers.They frame and guide curricular design.They are the focus for learning.Curriculum is deciding what you won’t teach

as well as what you will teach. As a curriculum designer you can’t do it all, you must choose the essential.

GUIDING QUESTIONSThey encourage…………….

New thinkingGenuine inquiryFresh insightsStimulating ideasMotivated learnersActive debateIntellectual

engagement

What are criteria for writing essential questions?

1. EACH CHILD SHOULD BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION.

The questions are ultimately for your students. The students must understand the language of the questions.

For example, a first grade unit on snow. The first essential question is What is snow?

What are criteria for writing essential questions?

2. THE LANGUAGE OF THE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE WRITTEN IN BROAD ,

ORGANISATIONAL TERMS. The questions are umbrella like organizers

and should reflect a heading for the focus of activities.

For example, a unit on Ancient Greece, What were the major contributions of the Ancient Greeks?

If a question is too specific, it is probably an activity itself or the focus of classroom discussion.

What are criteria for writing essential questions?3. THE QUESTION SHOULD REFLECT YOUR

CONCEPTUAL PRIORITIES. They are the essence of what your students

will examine in the course of their study. Grade 1 unit, the teacher is setting as the

conceptual priority an understanding of the nature of snow, its compositions, and its origins.

What are criteria for writing essential questions?

4. EACH QUESTION SHOULD BE DISTINCT AND SUBSTANTIAL.

A set of questions is like a set of chapters in a book.

There needs to be enough substance to hold the chapters together.

Snow: What is snow? / How does snow affect people?

Students understand that there will be a set of activities examining the nature of snow and another examining how snow affects people.

What are criteria for writing essential questions?5. QUESTIONS SHOULD NOT BE REPETITIOUS!

Repetitious questions are the most common error in curriculum design.

For example: What is change?What causes change?How does change affect people?How has change affected our town over the last 300

years? The first three questions are repetitious. They should

be collapsed into one question.

What are criteria for writing essential questions?

6. THE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE REALISTIC AND REFLECT THE AMOUNT OF TIME

ALLOCATED TO THE UNIT.Too many questions overwhelm the learner.

2 to 5 questions for any 3 to 10 week unit of work

are sufficient.

What are criteria for writing essential questions?

7. THE QUESTIONS SHOULD BE POSTED IN THE CLASSROOM.

The message to the learner is that these questions are essential for you.

The questions provide a constant visual organiser and focus for the learner – and for the teacher.

They are a point of reference.

What are criteria for writing essential questions?

8. THERE SHOULD BE A LOGICAL SEQUENCE TO THE SET OF ESSENATIAL QUESTIONS.

The questions should have a sense of focus and direction rather than an arbitrary order.

The test of a good series of questions is that you

are able to explain the rationale for their sequence. If the rationale is not clear then the students will

most likely have problems.

ENGLISH

QUESTIONS …………………..

Key concepts Enduring

UnderstandingsOpen for

investigation