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Crafting Essential Questions

Traci Blanchard

North Cobb High SchoolSource: Understanding by Design

by Jay McTighe & Grant Wiggins, 2004

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Goals

What is an essential question?How do I write effective ones?

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An Essential Question is

One that lies at the heart of a subjector a curriculum & promotes inquiry &uncoverage of a subject.

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Essential Questions

Have no simple right answer Provoke & sustain inquiry

Address conceptual or philosophicalfoundationsRaise other important questions

Naturally & appropriately recurStimulate vital, ongoing rethinking

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Examples

What is a true friend?To what extent does art reflectculture or shape it?Is everything quantifiable?To what extent is DNA destiny?

In what ways is algebra real and inwhat ways is it unreal?To what extent is US history a history

of progress?

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Examples

Must heroes be flawless?Who is entitled to own what?

Is the subjunctive necessary?What makes writing worth reading?Does practice makes perfect?

What is healthy eating? Healthy living?

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What makes a questionessential?

Recurs throughout all our livesRefers to core ideas & inquiries withina disciplineHelps students effectively inquire andmake sense of important but complexideas, knowledge, know-howEngages a specific & diverse set oflearners

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Intent, not language, is thekey:

Why we pose the questionHow students are to tackle it

What learning activities & assessmentswe expect

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Types of Essential Questions

Overarching: Frame courses andprograms of study around truly bigideasTopical: Are unit specific but stillpromote inquiry

GOOD TEACHING USES BOTH!

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Overarching EssentialQuestions

More general, broaderPoint beyond specific topics or skills

Promote transfer of understandingOne will be used as your pre & postSIP writing prompt

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Examples of Overarching EQ

Can a fictional story be true? How do a regions geography, climate,and natural resources affect the waypeople live and work?How does technological changeinfluence peoples lives? Society? How does what we measure influencehow we measure?

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Examples of Overarching EQ

How do we classify the things aroundus?Do artists have a responsibility totheir audience? To society?How does language shape culture?

Is pain necessary for progress inathletics?

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Topical Essential Questions

Unit specific - used to guide individualunitsPromote inquiryResist simple answersRequire explanation & justification

One per month will be your SIPwriting prompt

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Examples of Topical EQ

How might Congress have betterprotected minority rights in the 1950s& 1960s?Should we require DNA samples fromevery convicted criminal?Is Holden Caulfield a phony?

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Examples of Topical EQ

What is the value of place value?What is electricity?

How do we hit with greatest powerwithout losing control?

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Leading Questions

Meant to culminate in a fact orcompletely settled conclusionNo sustained inquiry or argumentintended or necessaryUnderscores an important point wewant students to note

We need these, too, BUT...THEY CANNOT BE THE FOUNDATION OF

OUR CURRICULAR DESIGN.

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Where to start?

Determine the big ideas Georgia Performance StandardsCourse texts

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What are Big Ideas?

Core concepts, principles, theories, &processes that should serve as thefocal point of curricula, instruction &assessment.

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Big IdeasAre important and enduringAre not obviousMay be prone to misunderstanding

Prioritize contentAre transferableAre the building material of

understandingsManifest in various ways withindisciplinesAct as conceptual velcro

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Finding Big Ideas

Clarify Content PrioritiesWorth being familiar withImportant to know and doBig ideas & Enduring Understandings

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Finding Big Ideas

Unpack the GPSCircle key nouns, adjectives, & verbsDraft implied or stated big ideas basedon those key words.

Critically analyze the course textWork backward to determine what bigideas and/or EQ the text addresses

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Big Ideas can be

ConceptsThemes

Issues/DebatesProblems/ChallengesProcesses

TheoriesParadoxesAssumptions/Perspectives

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From Big Idea to EQ

Use p. 83, Identifying EQ &Understandings

Start with Big IdeaAnswer ?s related to Big IdeaGenerate EQ & desired understandings

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Making the Connection

Big Idea

Understanding Essential Question

Topic orContentStandard

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Your task

Collaboratively draft ONE overarchingEQ for your course

(Sept., Dec.)

Collaboratively draft TWO topical(unit) EQs for your course

(Oct., Nov.)

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Example

GPS: The learner will be able to read, respond to, andcritique historically and culturally significant works ofliterature in order to understand their importance andrelationship to past and present cultures.

Overarching EQ:Does literature primarily reflect culture orshape it?Topical EQ:What does Romeo & Juliet teach us aboutShakespeares view of destiny? How does itcompare to yours?

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Where to get moreinformation

Other training sessions--may bedepartment, planning period in-service, and/or Early Release orCluster DaysUnderstanding by Design by Jay McTighe & Grant Wiggins