1. Essential Questions
A Review of Selected Resources
Amanda McKay
CED 505.20
Fall 2011

2. www.Galileo.org
Creating Essential Questions
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
This site explains that we get some of our I had never really thought
most basic understanding of concepts by about the imagination being a
trying to answer Essential Questions. large part of Essential
Questioning. I definitely
These kinds of questions have been
expect my students to use
asked since we started asking questions
theirs when I give a new
about how things work around us. They Essential Question, but I
help us make connections between all guess I never really put the
parts of our lives and help us to share our connection together.
knowledge with others. Essential
Questions also “engage the imagination”
so that when we dive into the unknown,
we come up with new explanations and
ideas.

3. http://www.fno.org/feb01/pl.html
From Trivial Pursuit to Essential Questions and
Standards-Based Learning
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
This site showed what happens when a This site makes a lot of mention
about essential questions
non-essential question is asked…students
relating to communication arts
strive to answer with that one piece of and history. There was no
knowledge that will answer the question. mention of science and how they
But there are better questions that can be are useful in that area of study
where the standards that we
asked to provoke more “insight” on a topic
require kids to retain usually
rather than just information that will be have a specific answer. Maybe
recited back on an assessment. The this is why I have such trouble
method Understanding by Design uses writing EQ’s for things like
writing chemical equations…
EQ’s as a main focus when planning a
unit.

4. http://www.fno.org/sept96/questions.html
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
This site is like a walk through a I had not really thought about the
underlying questions that students
student project aimed at trying to
would have to ask. The way this is
answer an essential question. It points explained in the example it sounds
out that students will likely not find all like it would work out great and
of the answers on the internet and will students would get great results.
There has been absolutely no talk of
need to use each other and their
the teacher’s role in this though;
families and friends in order to gain all what happens to the students that
of the perspective that they need. don’t do their fair share of the work?
The steps that this author outlines are The ones that are not motivated by
thought provoking questions…I
to first give students an essential
teacher the average high school
question, then let them identify some student here, so I see all kinds
underlying questions, and then to use including the ones that WANT to do a
this information to hypothesize/ predict good job and those that you have to
pull kicking and screaming to do a
the answer.
good job.

5. http://www.fno.org/toolbox.html
Filling the Tool Box
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
There are 15 strategies described on I never really realized what a good
thing I was doing by teaching my
this site that range from how to begin a
students to always ask questions and
unit with questioning to, test taking it is okay to not be successful the
strategies using questioning, to how to first time. I encourage my students
have a classroom environment that to get as far as they can on each
problem of a homework assignment
promotes questioning. The examples
even if they can’t finish it. I also
given with each are very helpful in encourage them to volunteer their
making sense of the strategy and answers while checking homework
applying it to your own content. The even if they don’t thing it’s right
because we often learn best from our
main point here is that questions are
mistakes. It is very difficult to get
the “tools” in our “toolbox” in the them to open up to this idea of
pursuit of understanding and good putting yourself out there, but we
problem-solving. create a safe atmosphere for it and
the skill grows throughout the year.

6. http://www.fno.org/nov97/toolkit.html
A Questioning Toolkit
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
This site describes 17 types of What I learned from this site is that
it is important to let students ask ALL
questioning that teachers could use
questions and treat them all as good
with their instruction. It seems that questions. Even the one’s that are
many of these types of questions asked in order to derail the teacher
would be necessary in order to answer can be turned into something that
promotes learning. I have observed
one overarching Essential Question.
many teachers dismiss questions that
Some of the questions help organize are not directly relevant to the topic
before starting out on a search, while at hand. I, on the other hand, enjoy
others help along the way. Even taking all of their questions and
turning them into learning…which
“irrelevant” and “divergent” questions
irritates students to no end
can lead students to good places and sometimes, but they come to expect
should be explored. it from me.

7. http://www.fno.org/parenting/outline.html
Parenting for the Age of Information
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
This site gives parents a great This is quite a change from the way
that many of my student’s parents
resource for working with their children
were raised. They were taught that
that are maybe learning in a different their parents and teachers had all of
way than they did. Children today will the answers and they were to just
need to deal with a fast-changing learn them. These days though,
teachers try to get students to
society and need to be able to
question and make their own choices
problem-solve quickly. Parents are so that they are ready for society,
encouraged to promote being but many parents do not understand
inventive, questioning, using puzzles, that. This feeling sometimes comes
out as “the teacher is not doing
and making choices. They will need to
his/her job” when the students are
be able to adjust quickly as adults and responsible for their own knowledge
it is a parent’s responsibility to get their by questioning and investigating…it’s
child ready. hard work and it’s supposed to be,
but sometimes students and parents
don’t get that.

8. http://web001.greece.k12.ny.us/academics.cfm?subpage=923
Themes & Essential Questions
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
This site provides essential questions Essential questions seem much easier
to write for the communication arts
written for a certain theme and grade
and social sciences. There have not
level. They are all open-ended and been any examples in the sites that I
could be used for one unit of study up have explored so far on essential
to an entire year. All of the questions questions in science, which is what I
am most interested in.
in the documents attached to this page
seem to relate to human nature. They
are not content or subject area
specific.

9. http://www.marshall.k12.ky.us/cd/High%20School/Science/chemistry
/HighSchoolchemistry_orq.htm
High School Chemistry Curriculum (Marshall SD)
Summary of this site… Something that I
learned/was revealed…
This site is a summary of the high I learned some more creative ways to
present the essential questions in my
school Chemistry curriculum in the
own classroom. My district has
Marshall School District in Kentucky. encouraged the use of essential
The content standards, essential questions for several years, however,
questions, terms, activities, and our training on them was not content
specific and I think some of us still
assessments were all available. Most
struggle with them. This curriculum
of the essential questions were guide gave me some good ideas of
imaginative and thought provoking, but what to do with some of my current
required knowledge of chemistry to topics.
attempt an answer.