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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
Curriculum Framing QuestionsIntel® Teach Program
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Goals
Review Bloom’s Taxonomy and Curriculum Framing Questions
Gain a deeper understanding of question development
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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When students leave from our school system, what is
ESSENTIAL
for them to know and be able to do?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Questions
Different types of questions accomplish different tasks
Asking questions is contagious
• It promotes authentic learning, which encourages students to ask more questions
• Students are more likely to become self-directed learners because they are interested in the answers
• Students see the connections between the subject being taught and their world—it can change their whole outlook on what education is about
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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A useful structure in which to categorise questions
Progresses from simplest to the most complex
Must have the knowledge and be able to build on that
Bloom’s Taxonomy
Evaluation
Synthesis
Analysis
Application
Comprehension
Knowledge
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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A useful structure – basis for higher order thinking skills
Level Skill
Knowledge Recall or recognition of information
• Cues: list, define, tell, show, label
Comprehension Grasping (understanding) the meaning of informational materials
• Cues: describe, explain, identify, restate
Application Transfer from one setting to another
• Cues: apply, classify, illustrate, solve
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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A useful structure – higher order thinking skills
Level Skill
Analysis Identify parts and see patterns
•Cues: analyse, examine, experiment, organise, compare, contrast
Synthesis Put parts together to form a new whole
• Cues: create, design, develop, plan, support
Evaluation Judge value or use based on criteria
• Cues: argue, defend, justify, predict, support
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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What are Curriculum-Framing Questions?
Curriculum-Framing Questions guide a unit of study and include:
• Essential
• Unit
• Content Questions
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Basic
Bigger
Biggest
Essential
Unit
Content
Concept is important
Label doesn’t always matter
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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What are some synonyms for the term “Big Idea”?
Big
Significant
Important
Gigantic
Vast
Great
Major
Idea
Concept
Understanding
Awareness
Knowledge
Thought
Brainwave
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Essential Question = Biggest Question = Big Idea
An essential question is the highest order, most abstract, open-ended question in a chain of questions
An essential question serves as an overarching conceptual framework for a group of curricula or even all curricula
• Example: Why do we need others?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Unit Question = Big Question
A unit question is also open-ended, but tied to a specific topic or unit of study
These support and continue the study of an Essential Question
Example:
•EQ: • Why do we need others?
• UQ:• Which of our community helpers is the most
important? • Which community helper would you most like to be?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Content Question = Basic Question
Content questions directly support curriculum/syllabus outcomes
Have specific “right” answers
Examples:
• EQ: • Why do we need others?
• UQ:• Which of our community helpers is the most important? • Which community helper would you most like to be?
• CQ:• Who are some community helpers?• What do they do?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Essential Questions …
• Are engaging and will keep student’s attention
• Are meaningful
• Spark curiosity, perhaps provocative
• Pose a reasonable challenge
• Require higher-order thinking skills
• Have answers that cannot be found
• Create cognitive conflict
• Age appropriate
© 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Attributes of an Essential Question
Good Essential Questions are:
• Open-ended
• Meaningful and purposeful
• Invite an exploration of ideas
And require students to:
• Construct their own answers and their own meaning from the information they have gathered
• Evaluate• Synthesise• Analyse
© 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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What Essential Questions are NOT:
They do not require a Yes or No answer
They do not have answers that can be copied or paraphrased from a document
They do not list facts without requiring new connections to be made
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Examples of Essential Questions
Essential Not Essential
How are we like animals? What do animals need to live?
Are we that different? How is life different in other countries?
Just because we can, should we?
What are the implications of genetics engineering?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Why use Essential Questions in the classroom?
To target higher order thinking skills
• To require comparison, synthesis, interpretation, evaluation, etc.
To ensure student projects are compelling and engaging
• To require more than a simple restatement of facts
To focus on important topics
• To connect learning to other disciplines and other topics of study
• To ask questions that have been asked throughout human history
• To address compelling questions that students ask
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Without Essential Questions
Students are asked to find out about a topic
• Leads to information gathering
• Little thought or analysis is involved
Students are limited to trivial pursuit – they really don’t get to explore a topic in depth
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Writing Essential Questions
Think about why that topic is important to teach. Think about the compelling questions that scholars have asked throughout time. How have human beings acquired the knowledge that we now want to impart to our students?
• Why is the universe the way it is?
How does this subject fit into the “real world”? What connections can you make to the students’ lives?
• What does it mean to be human?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Hints for Writing Essential Questions
There tend to be more How and Why Essential Questions than those beginning with What, Who, or When.
• Stay away from questions asking for definitions or an understanding of a “simple” process
If the same key word is in both the Unit and Essential Questions, then the Essential Question is probably not broad enough to cover other units.
Ask yourself if the question has basically only one, or one narrow group, of correct answers—if it does, it is not an Essential Question.
• What is the life cycle of a frog?
• Who was Einstein?
Will it take time to fully understand and answer the question? Is the question still being studied by scientists, philosophers, or poets? If yes, then you probably have a great question.
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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What Unit Questions are:
Good Unit Questions are:
• Open-ended
• Invite an exploration of ideas
And require students to:
• Construct their own answers and their own meaning from the information they have gathered
• Evaluate• Synthesise• Analyse
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Unit Questions
• Unit Questions asked in one course of study can explore different facets of a single Essential Question
• Teams of teachers from different disciplines can use their own unique Unit Questions to support one common, unifying Essential Question
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SOSE Unit Question:
How does war create change in the economy?
Language Arts
Unit Questions:
In literature, how do the characters in [book title] respond to conflict?
Why do humans often react to conflict with violence?
How does [book title] help us to understand our complex human nature?
Science Unit Question:
How do animals adapt to a changing environment?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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How do Unit Questions Support Essential Questions?
Essential Question Unit Questions
Why have stories always been important throughout history?
Why do we still read Shakespeare? How is Shakespeare’s work relevant to my life?
How can history predict our future?
How do wars start and can they be prevented?
Who benefits from war?
What can we learn from the arts? What does the music of today tell about us?
What does the music from the 60’s say about its time period and culture?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Content Questions
Content Questions differ from Unit and Essential Questions:
• Content Questions deal mostly with facts, rather than the interpretation of those facts
• They typically have clear-cut answers
Examples:
How are volcanoes made?
What is photosynthesis?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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What is the difference between an Essential Question and a Content Question?
Essential Questions vs Fact-based, “One”Answer Content Questions
How does art reflect culture or change it?
What is renaissance art?
Why do laws change? How are laws made?
How does an organism succeed in its environment?
What is the life cycle of a frog?
Is history a history of progress?
Who is an important inventor and what did he/she invent?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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What Are Some Tips for Developing Essential and Unit Questions?
Just start…don’t worry about the mechanics and language. Focus on brainstorming.
Determine what you want students to remember from this Unit in five years.
You may want to write your question as a statement first, and then revise it into a question.
If needed, write the questions in adult language to capture the essential understandings, then rewrite in “student” language.
Be sure that both the Essential and Unit Questions have more than one obvious “right” answer
Don’t worry too much about whether to designate your question as “Essential” or “Unit”—concern yourself more with whether it requires higher order thinking skills
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Remember: The Creation of Good Questions and a Good Unit is an Iterative Process
What learningexperiences, activities, and
teaching will promote that learning?
How will youengage yourstudents?
Are your questions still relevant?Can they be revised to
better promote and enhance
student learning?
What is your Unit about?What is the topic?
What is the end product, the
learning outcomes, that you want them
to achieve?
What will studentsbe able to know
and do as a result of this experience?
What big-picture/global“Essential Question”
could be asked to promote higher order
thinking skills?
How will students provide evidence
that they are achieving
understanding?
How will you evaluate that
evidence?
What learning outcomesare you targeting?
What fact-focused questions do you expect
your students to be able to answer?
What definitions should they know?
What open-ended “Unit Question” could be
asked to promote higher order
thinking skills?
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Activity 1
Re-assess the Essential, Unit and Content questions in the sample Unit Plan you have brought along, using the Curriculum-Framing Questions Guide provided.
Modify or re-write if required, using Handout 1
If no modifications are required, explain your decision.
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Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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Activity 2
Work with a partner to provide feedback on each other’s Essential Questions
Note down the types of responses you make or questions you ask to clarify issues or draw out your partner’s ideas
How would you deal with a ‘difficult MT’? – eg. Hasn’t quite understood the difference between and EQ and a Unit Question? Or one who refuses to make any changes to their questions?
© 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation
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