AVID- Essential Questions

Essential Questions

for Higher Order Thinking

What are essential questions?

Strategies for writing essential questions

Examples

What are essential questions?

Essential Questions

Wiggins and McTighe define essential questions as “questions that are not answerable with finality in a brief sentence… Their aim is to stimulate thought, to provoke inquiry, and to spark more questions — including thoughtful student questions — not just pat answers.

Questions that Lead

Questions that Guide

Questions that Hook

Essential Questions

Essential Questions

1. Asked to stimulate ongoing thinking and inquiry2. Raise more questions 3. Spark discussion and debate 4. Asked and reasked throughout the unit (and maybe the semester) 5. Demand justification and support 6. "Answers" may change as understanding deepens

Examples of Essential Questions

1. What distinguishes "music" from "noise"?2. What influences musical taste? 3. Is biology destiny? 4. How do effective writers engage and hold their readers? 5. How can a diet be healthy for a person and unhealthy for another?

Examples of Essential Questions

6. What is the difference between a thoughtful and a thoughtless critique?7. What makes objects move the way they do? 8. How much cultural understanding is required in become competent in using a language? 9. How can we best measure what we cannot directly see? 10. What do good problem solvers do, especially when they get stuck?

5 Strategies for Writing Essential Questions

Start with Standards

What curricular connection do I want to make with my essential question?

What is the specific problem or challenge I want students to face in this question?

Have a clear challenge

How can the learners meet the challenge of this essential question using creativity and ingenuity?

Have suitable projects in mind

How can I create curiosity and inspire a knowledge quest with my essential question?

Strecht imagination

What kind of problems would require students to work together in groups?

Offer collaborative opportunities

References

• Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Vol. Expanded 2nd ed. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2005
• Dack, Hilary, and Clare Merlin-Knoblich. Improving Classroom Guidance Curriculum with ‘Understanding by Design.” Professional Counselor, vol. 9, no. 2, Jan. 2019, pp. 80–99.
• https://www.wabisabilearning.com/blog/6-steps-writing-essential-questions

maguirre@odessa.edu

Thank you!