Transcript Essential Questions and Clear Learning Targets

Essential Questions
• How can I motivate
students?
• Can students have fun,
find meaning, and still do
well on standardized
tests?
• How can I rekindle my
passion for teaching?
• Does what I teach matter?
Will it equip students with
necessary real world
skills?
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Inquiry Project by 13 year old as part of
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SHIFT your teaching?
Move from
Topical
Coverage,
information
retrieval,
repetitive, kid
as consumer of
information.
Towards a
SHIFT
Of Learning
Centered
Inquiry
Use Essential
Question to
stimulate
curiosity to
guide
research of
information
Students make
connections, evaluate,
create new
understandings and
PRODUCE something
to express their new
understanding/
insights
The 3 S’s and 6 M’s of Inquiry
Set up.
Motivate Students
with essential
questions and
frontloading to
personally connect
kids to curriculum
Set stopping
points.
Map learning experiences
that tap into different
learning styles and are
measureable.
Use Multiple ways for
students to learn and
demonstrate
understanding.
Sequence
lessons/inquiry in
order to scaffold.
Model
Mentor
Monitor
GO TOP DOWN!!
No one gets excited about a letter, a sentence, a
molecule, practicing stance, or a verb, a date
in history all by itself.
Start with the BIG issues, questions, and
problems that drive your content area. Than
they will want to find out how those little
things impact the bigger thing they really care
about.
Students who can identify what
they are learning significantly
outscore those who cannot.
~ Robert Marzano
Discussion Points
Students who can identify
what they are learning
significantly outscore
those who cannot.
~ Robert Marzano
• To what extent do your
students understand
what they need to learn
in your class?
• How do you know?
• How do you share
learning goals with your
students?
Designed in student-friendly
language in their point of view
so it is relevant to THEM.
Edgy-lending itself to debate,
open ended and complex
enough to house multiple
perspectives and more than
one answer.
Essential
Questions
Addresses the heart of the
content area, therefore
essential content knowledge
will be needed to answer it.
Empower students to take
ownership of their own
learning-leads to student
created questions and student
taking action with this new
knowledge.
Stepping Stone Question Samples
3rd Grade Language Arts
• What methods can be used to collect and record data over a period of time?
6th Grade Science
• What are the impacts of overpopulation?
English IV
• What are the major symbols of order in the novel, and what effect do these
symbols have on the characters?
Stepping-Stone Question Samples
Biology
• What is the structure and function of carbohydrates?
(2.01)
Spanish I
• What are appropriate greetings, farewells, and
expressions of courtesy used in Spanish? (1.01)
Vocal Music II
• What jargon should be used to describe musical elements
(this encompasses technical vocab., compositional
techniques, and accompaniments)? (6.02, 6.03, 6.04)
Essential Questions:
The Paradigm Shift
Standardized
testing: The current
measuring stick
• Lower-levels of Bloom’s
• Specific “right” or “wrong” answers
• Promotes “drill and kill” instruction
• “Live and Die” by the EOC mentality
New Age of
Assessments
• Demonstration of understanding through open-ended
responses
• Reflective of real life
Higher-Order
Thinking
Connection
• High expectations for all
• “But, we aren’t being tested like this yet…”
Working Definition of EQ
• Two minutes
• Define Essential Question
• Is there anything you want to
add to your definition after
viewing the video?
Recur and should
be revisited
Focus on key
concepts implicit
in the curriculum
Suggest Inquiry
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
Initiators of
creative and
critical thinking
Set the focus of
the lesson or
unit
Each student brings…
Kid-Friendly Edit
Initial Teacher
Question
Student-Friendly
Revision
How are adolescent
beliefs and actions
influenced by peer
pressure?
Why do kids
sometimes act
foolish when they
are in groups?
EQs
• Which President of the United States has had
the most disappointing legacy?
• To what extent are science and common sense
related?
• What do you suppose would happen if we
took away all television?
• How can our nation best handle the influx of
immigrants?
Revised EQs
• Who were the real winners and
losers of the Civil War?
• Are Toad and Frog really friends?
• Why should you evaluate web
sites?
• Why was the Declaration of
Independence important?
• How do insects survive so well?
• Why do you suppose the
character in the story decided to
abandon his friend?
• What are communities?
• Why are rules important?
• Why are there patterns in
numbers?
• Who are the real winners and
losers in war?
• Who is a true friend? How will
you know?
• How can you create a tool to
teach kids to evaluate web sites?
• What qualities guarantee that a
political document endures over
time?
• In nature, do only the strong
survive? What is “survival
strength”?
• Why do some friendships end?
• What makes kids break rules?
• How do patterns make life easier?
• How does nature use patterns?
Why are questions valued
over statements?
Promotes
student
inquiry
Develops
Initiates
responsibility
discussion
and relieves
Engagement
and improves
anxiety for
retention
the student
Essential Question Samples
3rd Grade Language Arts
• If you were asked to find out what book genre is
the most popular in your class, how would you
collect the information and how would you
organize the data?
5th Grade Science
• How does the weather influence human/animal
behavior?
Kindergarten
• Are books more alike or more different?
• How do does an author decide what pictures to use?
• What can we tell about an author from what he/she writes
about?
Essential Question Samples
Social Studies 4th grade
• If they were going to have the Olympics in NC,
which city (region) would be the best? Why?
Fluency
• Can noticing punctuation help me read better out
loud?
General….
Can a kid make a difference?
How do some kids test better online than on paper? What is
the best test strategy?
Board
• Important that EQs
are posted for
students to access,
ponder and begin
formulating
responses.
Presentation
Overhead
Visible
Online
Handout
Oral
Writing Essential Questions
Review Goals,
Targets, and SS
Questions
Ask Yourself
Write Essential
Questions
Focus on “big
ideas” and
concepts
What connections
can I make to real
life, other
curricula, etc?
Use the template
Regard
connections
beyond the
curriculum
What are the
enduring ideas
students need?
Think BROAD!
Incorporate all
targets.