"If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes."
~Albert Einstein
Good essential questions can help to engage students and guide instruction, but exactly what makes a question an "essential" question?
One definition:
• a question which requires the student to develop a plan or course of action.
• a question that requires the student to make a decision.
See the following links for further information:
Essential Questions Resources http://region6.mainelearns.org/essentialquestions.html
Questioning Resources
http://region6.mainelearns.org/questioning.html
Enduring Understandings Resources
http://region6.mainelearns.org/enduringunderstandings.html
What are some of your essential questions?
Essential Questions and enduring understandings are foundational to the development of good curriculum units, so you'd think by now all good teachers would have a handle on it. In my experience, though, we still need a lot of work in this area. I posted two PDFs in our district (where a lot of Wiggins/McTigue work had been done previously) that show what we're up against:
ReplyDeleteEnduring Understandings Memo
Essential Questions Memo