Essential Questions

By Kathy Beck

And

Karen VanVliet

What Are Essential Questions

• Requires the student to make a decision or plan a course of action

• Fosters higher order thinking skills

• Promotes critical thinking skills and problem solving

• Promotes multi-disciplinary investigations

Blooms Taxonomy

Blooms Taxonomy

Knowledge: (List, Define, Tell, Label)When was this picture taken?Where was this picture taken?

Comprehension: (Describe, Name, Identify, Discuss)What is happening in this picture? Why are they dressed like this?

Application: (Modify, Solve, Change, Explain)How would you describe this photo to others?What caption would you write for this photo?

Analysis: (Analyze, Separate, Compare, Contrast)Why are these women here?What can you tell about them by the way they are dressed?

Synthesis: (Create, Construct, Plan, Role Play)What might these women say about their skills in an interview?

Evaluation: (Give Opinion, Criticize, Discriminate, Summarize)What is the significance of this photo for the time period of their dress?Compare this photo with working women of today. How do they differ?

What makes a good Essential Question?

• Essential Questions

reside at the top of

Blooms Taxonomy

• Answers to Essential Questions can not be found – they must be invented

• Essential Questions usually lend themselves well to multi-disciplinary investigations

What are the most important concepts my students should learn

from this?• Essential questions are concepts in the form of

questions. Questions suggest inquiry.• Essential questions are organizers and set the

focus for the lesson or unit.• Essential questions are initiators of creative and

critical thinking.• Essential questions are conceptual

commitments focusing on key concepts in the area of study.

Essential Questions engage students in real life applied kinds of problem solving.

An Essential question is the heart of the curriculum. It is the essence of what you believe students should examine and know in the short time they have with you.

Dr. Heidi Hayes Jacobs.

Teachers can use questions before a learning experience to

establish a mental set with which students process the

learning experience.

Marzano, Pickering, Pollock

Questions designed to help students obtain a deeper

understanding of content will eventually increase their

interest in the topic.

Marzano, Pickering, Pollock

Essential questions are designed with deeper

understanding in mind.

Marzano, Pickering, Pollock

Essential Questions:

What specific questions will guide this unit and focus teaching and

learning?

How to Write Essential Questions

• Require students to use thinking skills– Analysis: Categorize, Sequence, Assume,

Conclude– Synthesis: Compose, Invent, Solve, Prove– Evaluation: Defend, Justify, Prioritize, Prove

• Begin with a strong verb

• High level vs lower level questions

• Open ended vs close-ended questions

Essential Question Number the Stars

by Lois Lowry

•What part does religion play in war?

•What causes war?

•What are the results of war?

•How do children respond to and resolve the conflict around them?

•How does courage, resourcefulness and discrimination play a role in times of war?

Essential Question No More Dead Dogs

by Gordon Korman•Is honesty always the best policy?

•When is it alright to tell a lie?

•Rick-isms? Meanings behind the words

•What is a hero?

•Hero worship

•Injustice

Essential QuestionThat was Then - This is Now

by SE Hinton•What is considered (what events mark) coming of age in today's culture?

•Accepting responsibilities for one's actions whether good or bad

•Anger Management

•Interpersonal Conflict

•Gang Rivalries

•Motivations

•Changing Relationships

•What comparisons can be made with the Ceremony in the book with our lives?

•How does Jonas’s assignment differ from his peers?

•Are there any situations in our lives that we are given assignments?

•What are the advantages of Jonas's society? Disadvantages?         •What are some similarities of Jonas’s community to ours? What are some differences?

•What types of behaviors or activities show sameness in Jonas’s world?

•What are some examples of sameness in our world?

•Questions about diversity and conformity

Essential Question The Giver by Lois Lowry

Essential QuestionsTwo Suns in the Sky

by Miriam Bat-Ami

•Bubble vs. walnut - what is the difference between these conceptions of the world?

•What do stars signify in different cultures?

•Questions about tolerance and its absence

•Being different

Essential Questions The Devil’s Arithmetic

by Jane Yolen

•Names play a significant role in various cultures...why?

•How does one's heritage define who they are?

•What roles do prophets play in religion? Significance

•Questions about the importance of remembering

•Questions about the importance of exploring and

studying history

Essential Questions Animal Farm by George Orwell

•What causes people to rise up and rebel?

• What prevailing conditions cause revolt?

• What is the nature of power and how do people get it, take and use or abuse it?

• What are the stages of a revolution and how does Animal Farm follow this formula?

• What are the qualities of a good leader?

• How does revolution affect individuals both rich and poor, leaders and followers?

Essential QuestionsBig 6

Powerquests

• What product can you use to follow Big 6 research skills to assist students in their assignment?

PowerQuest

PowerQuest

• A webquest built within a PowerPoint. A WebQuest is a learning activity used by educators. During this activity learners read, analyze and synthesize information using the World Wide Web. Learners typically complete Webquests as cooperative groups. Each learner within a group can be given a role or specific area to research. WebQuests may take the form of role-playing scenarios, where students take on the personas of professional researchers or historical figures.

• Template for PowerQuest – on webpage and in email from Karen

• Sample PowerQuests shown at meeting on Dec 15.

In Preparation Date for PowerQuest – January 29

– Read the book– Basic knowledge of PowerPoint– Prepare Essential Questions – becomes the

topic of your PowerQuest– Related SCOS objectives

• Grade 6 : Goal 5 - The learner will respond to different types of literature by deciding what they mean and what their strengths and weaknesses are.

• 7th and 8th grade are the same: Goal 5 - The learner will respond to various literary genres using interpretive and evaluative processes.

Bring or email to yourself:

Email to yourself ( or save on flash drive and bring): • Links to sites that can be used to obtain

information (Karen and Kathy will provide some)

• Appropriate clip art to enhance their PowerQuest (Karen and Kathy will provide some)

• Bibliography of Resources