Transcript Essential Questions

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
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?
Synthesis: (Create, Construct, Plan, Role Play)
What might these women say about their skills in an interview?
Analysis: (Analyze, Separate, Compare, Contrast)
Why are these women here?
What
can you(Modify,
tell about
themChange,
by the way
they are dressed?
Application:
Solve,
Explain)
How would you describe this photo to others?
What caption would
you writeName,
for thisIdentify,
photo?Discuss)
Comprehension:
(Describe,
What is happening in this picture?
Knowledge:
(List,
Define,
Tell,
Label)
Why are they
dressed
like
this?
When was this picture taken?
Where was this picture taken?
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 Question
That 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
Essential Question
The Giver by Lois Lowry
•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 Questions
Two 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 Questions
Big 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