Essential Questions: Keys to Meaningful Learning Boise State University Edufest Special Topics Susan Wolfe, MAT, Ed.S. July 28, 2013 sue@wolfewhere.com

Self Assessment novice intermediate advanced expert

Workshop Content EQs and Backward Design Essential Questions – Key Features Different Types of EQs Designing Essential Questions Tips for Using Essential Questions Web Site Resources

Three-Minute Pause Meet in groups of 3-5 to… summarize key points. add your own thoughts. pose clarifying questions.

Understanding and Transfer Two Big Ideas of UbD Teach and Assess for Understanding and Transfer 3 stages of Backward Design

3 Stages of Backward Design Identify desired results. Determine acceptable evidence. Plan learning experiences and instruction.

UbD Unit Design Template Embodies the 3 stages of backward design. Offers a mental template for effective design.

Killing Creativity

What makes a question ESSENTIAL?

From the leading edge… “Why is music such a pleasure?” Nicholas Humphrey Psychologist, New School for Social Research Author of Consciousness Regained and History of the Mind

From the leading edge… “What do collapses of past societies teach us about our own future?” Jared Diamond Biologist, UCLA Medical School Author of Guns, Germs and Steel “Why don’t more of our unequal societies implode?” Katherine Boo Author of Behind the Beautiful Forevers Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Sample Essential Questions How does art reflect, as well as shape , culture? What should we eat? In what way do effective writers hook and hold their readers? How do I know what to believe about a scientific claim?

Concept Attainment Compare examples (+) and non-examples (-) of a concept. Identify the distinguishing characteristics of each. Test your theory against new examples. Refine your concept definition.

Essential Questions Not Essential Questions What do effective problem solvers do when they get stuck? Is there ever a “just” war? How can I sound more like a native speaker? What steps did you follow to get your answer? What key event sparked World War I? What are some common Spanish colloquialisms?

Essential Questions Not Essential Questions What should we eat? Should it be an axiom if it is not obvious? Who is a true friend? What foods are in the DAIRY food group? By what axioms are we able to prove Pythagorean theorem? Who is Maggie’s best friend in the story?

YES NO What is the relationship between popularity and greatness in literature? When was the Magna Carta signed? Crustaceans – what’s up with that?

YES NO What is the relationship between popularity and greatness in literature? When was the Magna Carta signed? Crustaceans – what’s up with that?

YES NO Which President of the U.S. has the most disappointing legacy? To what extent are science and common sense related? What’s the pattern?

YES NO Which President of the U.S. has the most disappointing legacy? To what extent are science and common sense related? What’s the pattern? It depends on intent!

Open-ended; not a “single” answer; requires support Thought provoking; intellectually engaging Open-ended; not a “single” answer; requires support Recur: can (and should) be revisited Generative; spark inquiry and raise other questions

Pause

Four Types of Classroom Questions 1. Nutrition 2. Literature Questions That Hook Can what you eat help to prevent zits? Do you know any teenagers that act crazy? Why do they act that way? Questions That Lead What types of food are in the food groups? When (time period) and where (location) does the novel take place? Questions That Guide What is a balanced diet? Is Holden normal? (Note: main character is telling the story from a psychiatric hospital.) Essential Questions What should we eat? What makes a story timeless? 2. What truths can we learn from fiction?

Criteria Juicy – is the prompt provocative? Shades of grey In humanities are their multiple sides and answers? In math/science are their multiple steps requiring collaborative solving? Requires evidence do students have multiple and reliable sources to support their argument? Rooted in rigorous academic content Must students use rigorous content in order to solve or answer the essential questions?

How Do We Design Essential Questions?

Content Overload Curriculum

Buyer Beware! Common Core Standards converted into 1,540 Learning Objectives DataWORKS has converted the Common Core Standards into explicit, teachable Learning Objectives. Now teachers can rapidly comprehend, internalize, and implement new Common Core Vocabulary lists that define key words students need to be successful. Download free sample.

“Unpack” Content Standards Consider: What “big ideas” are embedded within the standards? Content Standards

A closer look

Next Generation Science Standards Includes EIGHT Practices for K-12 Classrooms. Example: 7. Engaging in argument from evidence What makes a credible argument? What constitutes effective evidence?

Next Generation Science Standards 6. Structure and Function. The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and it substructure determine many of its properties and functions. How are structure and function related: …in living things? …in non-living things?

English/LA Anchor Standards, Reading – Key Ideas and Details Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. EQs What logical inferences can I draw, based on what is in the text? What specific evidence in the text supports my ideas?

Mathematics Practice Standards Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them. Use appropriate tools strategically. EQs What do effective problem solvers do? What should I do when I am stuck? What is the most appropriate method and/or tool to use here, if efficiency and effectiveness is the goals?

Next Generation Science Standards Plan and carry out investigations to identify the effect forces have on an object’s shape and orientation. EQs Why did this move that way? Why is this shaped that way? What distinct forces caused that effect?

Types of Essential Questions Overarching: Frame courses and programs of study around truly big ideas. Topical: Are unit specific but still promote inquiry. GOOD TEACHING USES BOTH!

Examples: Understanding – Living organisms adapt to survive harsh or changing environments. Overarching – “In nature, do only the “strong” survive? What is survival strength? Topical – “How do insects survive so well?”

Overarching vs. Topical EQs Whose story (perspective) is this? How do authors use story elements to establish mood? What are common factors in the rise and fall of powerful nations? How did Native Idahoans view the “settlement” of their land? How does Neil Gaiman use setting to establish mood? Why did the Soviet Union collapse?

Consider EQs in Two Strands Content Process

Consider EQs in Two Strands Mathematical Concepts Mathematical Practices

EQs in Two Tracks – Social Studies Content EQs Process EQs How should we balance individual rights with the common good? Does capitalism insure economic inequality? How do we know what to believe about historical claims? Whose “story” is this?

EQs in Two Tracks – Language Arts Content EQs Process EQs What truths can we learn from fiction? Can anyone be a hero? How does what I read influence how I should read it? How do you read “between the lines”?

EQs in Two Tracks – Math Content EQs Process EQs What do numbers show? What are the limits of this mathematical model (e.g., a linear equation)? What do good problem solvers do? What makes an answer reasonable?

EQs in Two Tracks – Arts Content EQs Process EQs How do the arts reflect and shape culture? How and why do artists break with tradition? How do tools and materials influence artistic expression? How can/should we “read” a work of art?

EQs in Two Tracks – P.E./Sports Content EQs Process EQs When and why should we change the rules?? Why and how do we “create space” when on offense? No pain, no gain – agree? If practice makes perfect, what makes “perfect” practice?

Your Task Draft ONE overarching EQ for your subject or course. Draft TWO topical EQs for your subject or course

Pause

Share Out After your brainstorming, share your questions with several colleagues and gather other ideas for revising your questions Continue to revisit and improve questions throughout the creation of your Unit

Establishing a Culture of Inquiry

Make Just One Change All students should and can learn to formulate their own questions All educators can easily teach the skill as part of their regular practice http://rightquestion.org

Benefits Greater ownership of their learning Deepens comprehension Make new connections and discoveries on their own.

The Question Formulation Technique Teacher Designs EQ for New Unit. Students Produce Questions. Students Improve Their Questions. Students Prioritize Their Questions. Students and Teacher Decide on Next Steps. Students Reflect on What They Have Learned.

2. Students Produce Questions The four rules are: Ask as many questions as you can. Do not stop to discuss, judge, or answer any of the questions. Write down every question exactly as it was stated. Change any statements into questions.

3. Students Improve Their Questions By: Analyzing the differences between open- and closed-ended questions and by practicing changing one type to the other. FAT Question Skinny Question

4. Students Prioritize Their Questions The teacher: Can offer criteria or guidelines for the selection of priority questions. In an introduction to a unit, the instruction may be, “Choose the three questions you most want to explore further.”

Question Board

5. Students and Teacher Decide on Next Steps. At this stage: Students and teacher work together to decide how to use the questions. Example: After prioritizing questions, students and the teacher agreed on this question for their Socratic Seminar discussion: “How do poverty and injustice lead to violence in A Tale of Two Cities?”

6. Students Reflect on What They Have Learned Review the steps and provide students with an opportunity to reflect and refine. QFT process is transparent, helping students see what they have done and how it contributed to their thinking and learning. They can internalize the process and then apply it in many other settings. 

“ A key long-term goal of education is for students to become better questioners because in the end – with much knowledge made quickly obsolete in the modern world – the ability to question is central to meaningful learning and intellectual achievement at high levels.” Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins

Wishing you all the best as you charge into the new school year! www.wolfewhere.com

Resources Print Media: Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2013). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)  Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High Quality Units Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2011). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD)

Resources Websites: www.livebinders.com LiveBinders is your 3-ring binder for the web, has an online binder for content curation on Essential Questions Unpacking The Common Core Standards Using The UbD Framework (DVD) Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (2012). Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) http://jaymctighe.com/ - Great EQ resource to get started http://www.nga.org/cms/home.html - Common Core source http://www.nextgenscience.org/ - Common Core source http://www.resa.net/curriculum/curriculum/science/professionaldevelopment/ngss-pd/demension1/ - Common Core source http://rightquestion.org/blog/happy-2013/ - Question Formula Technique