1. Choosing a Topic and Writing an Essential Question

2. Where to start?
What are you interested in besides a career choice? Dance, Music, Carpentry, arts, politics, etc.
Start by choosing a topic that is debatable, but not controversial

3. Narrowing Your Topic

4. Narrow even more….

5. Still having trouble? Try some of the old tried and true methods… Who
What
Where
When
How

6. For Example: Paddling. Paddling in grade school. (where)
Emotional effects of paddling in grade school. (what and where)
Emotional effects of paddling on female children (what, who)

7. Another example: Hip hop. Hip hop as therapy. (what)
Hip hop as therapy in Japan. (what and where)
Hip hop as therapy for delinquent youth in Japan. (what, where, who)

8. Writing an Essential Question for your topic
Questions that require you to make a decision or plan a course of action

9. How to write it
Avoid “What is…”
How, Why, Should…..

10. Examples:
Is it morally acceptable to clone humans, and what impact does cloning have on modern medicine?
How does breast cancer impact women, and what are the most effective steps for preventing this disease?
How can bananas be genetically altered to show that they vaccinate the consumer against viral diseases?
Should the HIV virus be modified for use in gene therapy, and what impact will this have on genetic diseases?

11. Now… 1- write down your topic
2-narrow your topic as much as possible by using who, what, when, where, why technique
3-write a question with your topic using how, is, why, should