2. Wiggins & McTigue definition:
ď
ď
âquestions that are not answerable with
finality in a brief sentence⌠Their aim is to
stimulate thought, to provoke inquiry, and to
spark more questions â including thoughtful
student questions â not just pat answersâ
(106).
âinstead of thinking of content as stuff to be
covered, consider knowledge and skills as the
means of addressing questions central to
understanding key issues in your subjectâ
(107).
3. Put them up in your classroom!
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ď
ď
ď
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Common mis-understandings â
Essential questions are simply lesson
objectives reworded in an interrogative
format.
They are not â
How do we use semicolons?
Essential questions are posted on the board
and changed to reflect the goals of the
lesson.
Essential questions will be answered that day
(week, unit, year, etc.).
4. According to Wiggins and McTighe, essential
questions actually have one or more of the
following 4 connotations:
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Essential questions are âimportant questions that recur
throughout all our lives.â They are âbroad in scope and
timeless by nature.â
Essential questions refer to âcore ideas and inquiries within
a discipline.â They âpoint to the core of big ideas in a
subject and to the frontiers of technical knowledge. They
are historically important and alive in the field.â
Essential questions help âstudents effectively inquire and
make sense of important but complicated
ideas, knowledge, and know-how â a bridge to findings
that experts may believe are settled but learners do not yet
grasp or see as valuable.â
Essential questions âwill most engage a specific and diverse
set of learners.â They âhook and hold the attention of your
students.â (108-109)
5. The importance of intentâŚ
ď In
framing essential questions, we must first
as what our intent is. If we donât know
âwhy we pose it, how we intend students
to tackle it, and what we expect for
learning activities and assessments,â we
donât really know really know what we
want (110).
6. How many?
ď In
addition, essential questions should be
few in number â âtwo to five per unitâ
(121). The authors argue against
composing too many questions, as
âprioritiz[ing] contentâ enables students to
âfocus on a few key questionsâ (121).
ď Weâre looking for a few good questions!
7. Tips for Essential QuestionsâŚ
ď The
authors have a great list of tips for
using essential questions on p. 121, but
one idea jumped out in me. âHelp
students to personalize the
questions. Have them share
examples, personal stories, and
hunches. Encourage them to bring in
clippings and artifacts to help make the
questions come aliveâ (121)
8. The value of framing a course
or unit in terms of essential
questions is invaluable:
ď
âThe most vital discipline-bound questions
open up thinking and possibilities for everyone
â novices and experts alike. They signal that
inquiry and open-mindedness are central to
expertise, that we must always be
learners⌠[Essential questions] are those that
encourage, hint at, even demand transfer
beyond the particular topic in which we first
encounter them. They should therefore recur
over the years to promote conceptual
connections and curriculum coherence.â
(108)
9. Devise your own essential
question for your unitâŚ
ď Using
Wiggins & McTigueâs first
meaning, devise an essential question
ď All of us have some line of inquiry, some
essential questions that we havenât
answered yet.
ď In posing essential questions of this
type, we teach our student that
âeducation is not just about learning âthe
answerâ but about learning how to learnâ
(108).
10. Closing ThoughtsâŚ
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âOur students need a curriculum that treats
them more like potential performers than
sideline observersâ (122).
Students describe school or classes as
something to get through. No
wonder! They arenât really often asked to
participate in it, to use what they know or
think about what theyâre learning beyond
regurgitating for a test!
The thought that struck me as I finished the
chapter is that students learn in spite of school
too often, and not because of school.
12. Understanding definedâŚ
ď
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âAn understanding is an important inference,
drawn from the experience of experts, stated as a
specific and useful generalizationâ.
âAn understanding refers to transferable, big ideas
having enduring value beyond a specific topicâ.
It âinvolves abstract, counterintuitive, and easily
misunderstood ideasâ.
(It) âis best acquired by uncovering and doing the
subjectâ.
(It) summarizes important strategic principles in skill
areasâ. âpgs. 128-129
13. 2 types of UnderstandingsâŚ
ď âTopical
Understandings â are unitspecificâ.
ď âOverarching Understandings â are
broader and (as the name implies) offer a
possible bridge to other units and
coursesâ. â p.145
14. UnderstandingsâŚ
ď Students
should understand thatâŚ
ď A full sentence generalization
ď Derived from the NOUNS & ADJECTIVES
within the BIG IDEAS of the GOAL.
ď "knowledge" refers to discrete facts that
can be taken as givens,
ď "understanding" refers to the theory or
inference that we make from those facts
15. UnderstandingsâŚ
ďA
focus on understanding means that we
must also be mindful of potential student
misunderstandings and typical transfer
deficits.
ď Establishing clear and explicit goals also
means predicting the trouble spots that
are likely to arise in teaching and
assessing.
16. NAEP 8th-grade mathematics â
constructed response test item
ď -National
Assessment of Educational
Progress
ď http://nces.ed.gov/
ď How many buses does the army need to
transport 1,128 soldiers if each bus holds
36 soldiers?
17. More than 30% of students:
31, remainder 12
Remainder 23
20. What is Understanding?
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Men just donât understand women.
He knows the historical facts but doesnât
understand the meaning.
I understand what she is going through.
I didnât really understand it until I had to use it.
Does anyone here understand French?
I now understand that I was mistaken.
I can understand the personâs point of view.
21. 6 Facets of UnderstandingâŚ
ď Explanation
â in oneâs own words, with
support and justification
ď Interpretation â making meaning
ď Application â transfer to new situations
ď Perspective â other points of view, critical
stance
ď Empathy â walk in the shoes of others
ď Self-Knowledge â knowing thyself
22. Transfer: the link
ďThe
six facets link the stages
ďUse the six facets as the test
of whether you are truly
measuringâunderstandingâ of
the big ideas/essential
questions
27. Empathy: walk in anotherâs
shoes
ďAbility
to get inside
another personâs feelings
and viewpoint
ďDiffers from perspective
ďInside versus outside
view
28. Self-knowledge: Wisdom to
know oneâs ignorance
ďHow
thoughts and
actions inform as well as
prejudice understanding
ďMust first understand
ourselves before we
understand the world
29. Big Ideas, Understandings, and
Essential QuestionsâŚ
Big Idea
Topic or
Content Standard
Understanding
Essential
Question
30. KnowledgeâŚ
What we want students to
know
ď
ď
ď
ď
ď
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phrased as Students will knowâŚ
Vocabulary
Terminology
Definitions
Key factual information
Formulas
Critical details
Important events and people
Sequence and timeline
31. SkillsâŚ
What we want students to be able
to do
ď
ď
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Phrase as âStudents will be able toâŚâ
Basic skills â decoding, arithmetic
computation
Communication skills â
listening, speaking, writing
Thinking skills â
compare, infer, analyze, interpret
Research, inquiry, investigation skills
Study skills â notetaking
Interpersonal group skills
32. 1. Consider: What does a
beginning driver need to KNOW
and to able TO DO?
ď List
the important
KNOWLEDE and
SKILLS for a driver.
33. 2. Now, consider: What does a good,
experienced driver UNDERSTAND that a
beginner (or lousy) driver does not?
ď List
important
UNDERSTANDINGS
for a driver.
34. 3. Finally,consider: What is the ultimate
(long-term) goal of an effective Driverâs
Education Program?
ď Summarize
the
Goal in 1-2
sentences. (the
content standard)