1. Essential
Questions
Chapter 5
EDPC605

2. Wiggins & McTigue definition:
 ―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‖
(106).
 ―instead of thinking of content as stuff to be
covered, consider knowledge and skilsl as the
means of addressing questions central to
understanding key issues in your subject‖
(107).

3. Put them up in your classroom!
 Common mis-understandings –
 Essential questions are simply lesson
objectives reworded in an interrogative
format.
 They are not –
 How do we use semicolons?
 Essential questions are posted on the board
and changed each day 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:
 Essential questions are ―important questions that recur
throughout all our lives.‖ They are ―broad in scope and
timeless by nature.‖
 Essential questions refer to ―core ideas and inquiries within
a discipline.‖ They ―point 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.‖
 Essential questions help ―students effectively inquire and
make sense of important but complicated ideas,
knowledge, and know-how — a bridge to findings that
experts may believe are settled but learners do not yet
grasp or see as valuable.‖
 Essential questions ―will most engage a specific and diverse
set of learners.‖ They ―hook and hold the attention of your
students.‖ (108-109)

5. The importance of intent…
 Inframing essential questions, we must first
as what our intent is. If we don‘t know
―why we pose it, how we intend students
to tackle it, and what we expect for
learning activities and assessments,‖ we
don‘t really know really know what we
want (110).

6. How many?
 Inaddition, essential questions should be
few in number — ―two to five per unit‖
(121). The authors argue against
composing too many questions, as
―prioritiz[ing] content‖ enables students to
―focus on a few key questions‖ (121).
 We‘re looking for a few good questions!

7. Tips for Essential Questions…
 Theauthors have a great list of tips for
using essential questions on p. 121, but
one idea jumped out in me. ―Help
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 alive‖
(121)

8. The value of framing a course
or unit in terms of essential
questions is invaluable:
 “The most vital discipline-bound questions
open up thinking and possibilities for everyone
— 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.”
(108)

9. Devise your own essential
question for your unit…
 Using Wiggins & McTigue‘s first meaning,
devise an essential question
 All of us have some line of inquiry, some
essential questions, that we haven‘t
answered yet.
 In posing essential questions of this type,
we teach our student that ―education is
not just about learning ‗the answer‘ but
about learning how to learn‖ (108).

10. Closing Thoughts…
 ―Our students need a curriculum that treats
them more like potential performers than
sideline observers‖ (122).
 Students describe school or classes as
something to get through. No
wonder! They aren‘t really often asked to
participate in it, to use what they know or
think about what they‘re 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.

11. Crafting Understandings
Chapter 6
EDPC605

12. Understanding defined…
 ―An understanding is an important inference,
drawn from the experience of experts, stated as a
specific and useful generalization‖.
 ―An understanding refers to transferable, big ideas
having enduring value beyond a specific topic‖.
 It ―involves abstract, counterintuitive, and easily
misunderstood ideas‘.
 (It) ―is best acquired by uncovering and doing the
subject‖.
 (It) summarizes important strategic principles in skill
areas‖. –pgs. 128-129

13. 2 types of Understandings…
 ―Topical Understandings – are unit-
specific‖.
 ―Overarching Understandings – are
broader and (as the name implies) offer a
possible bridge to other units and
courses‖. – p.145

14. Understandings…
 Students should understand that…
 A full sentence generalization
 Derived from the NOUNS & ADJECTIVES
within the BIG IDEAS of the GOAL.
 "knowledge" refers to discrete facts that
can be taken as givens,
 "understanding" refers to the theory or
inference that we make from those facts

15. Understandings…
A focus on understanding means that we
must also be mindful of potential student
misunderstandings and typical transfer
deficits.
 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 –
constructed response test item
 -National Assessment of Educational
Progress
 http://nces.ed.gov/
 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

18. Understandings…
 Whatare indicators that someone might
―know‖ something without really
understanding it?

19. What is Understanding?
 Someone who understands…
 1.
 2.
 3.
 4.

20. What is Understanding?
 Men just don‘t understand women.
 He knows the historical facts but doesn‘t
understand the meaning.
 I understand what she is going through.
 I didn‘t 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 person‘s point of view.

21. 6 Facets of Understanding…
 Explanation – in one‘s own words, with
support and justification
 Interpretation – making meaning
 Application – transfer to new situations
 Perspective – other points of view, critical
stance
 Empathy – walk in the shoes of others
 Self-Knowledge – knowing thyself

22. Transfer: the link
The six facets link the stages
Use the six facets as the test
of whether you are truly
measuring “understanding”
of the big ideas/essential
questions

23. Explanation
Insightful connections and
illustrations
Require students to explain
what they know and good
reasons in support of it
Explain“why” it is correct

24. Interpretation: what does it
mean?
Show significance
Reveal importance
Recognize relevance

25. Application: use knowledge
effectively
“show understanding
by using it, adapting it,
customizing it”
New situations,
realistic context

26. Perspective: critical and
insightful points of view
Casting familiar ideas
in a new light
Expose questionable
and unexamined
assumptions

27. Empathy: walk in another’s
shoes
Ability to get inside
another person’s feelings
and viewpoint
Differs from perspective
Inside versus outside
view

28. Self-knowledge: Wisdom to
know one’s ignorance
How thoughts and
actions inform as well as
prejudice understanding
Must first understand
ourselves before we
understand the world

29. Big Ideas, Understandings, and
Essential Questions…
Big Idea
Topic or
Content Standard
Essential
Understanding Question

30. Knowledge…
What we want students to
know
 phrased as Students will know…
 Vocabulary
 Terminology
 Definitions
 Key factual information
 Formulas
 Critical details
 Important events and people
 Sequence and timeline

31. Skills…
What we want students to be able
to do
 Phrase as “Students will be able to…”
 Basic skills – decoding, arithmetic
computation
 Communication skills – listening, speaking,
writing
 Thinking skills – compare, infer, analyze,
interpret
 Research, inquiry, investigation skills
 Study skills – notetaking
 Interpersonal group skills

32. 1. Consider: What does a
beginning driver need to KNOW
and to able TO DO?
 Listthe 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?
 Listimportant
UNDERSTANDINGS
for a driver.

34. 3. Finally,consider: What is the ultimate
(long-term) goal of an effective Driver‘s
Education Program?
 Summarize the
Goal in 1-2
sentences. (the
content standard)