Overview
No longer can content repository be the focal point of education. Regardless of your school's focus on testing scores, not to mention the linkage between constructive thinking and increased test scores, students must become meaning makers and engage in coming to understand the content's meaning and importance. During the lesson or activity, students must not just be passive participants but the driving force. Their interrogation of the curriculum leads to conclusions about the complete understanding of the topic and the ability to transfer that understanding into novel situations.
Essential questions, explored and discussed by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, offers a new look into designing yearlong initiatives, units, and lesson plans. This process shifts the power of discussions and the weight of the classroom toward democracy, as well as pushes educators to disrupt the traditional image of a working classroom.
Essential questions, explored and discussed by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins, offers a new look into designing yearlong initiatives, units, and lesson plans. This process shifts the power of discussions and the weight of the classroom toward democracy, as well as pushes educators to disrupt the traditional image of a working classroom.
"If we perceive our role as fundamentally a deliverer of content, then talking fast in class is the optional instructional method! But if we wish to engage learners in making meaning of learning so that they come to understand it, then essential questions will serve the cause of mastery of content." -McTighe and Wiggins
Developing and Planning
If you're familiar with McTighe and Wiggins, then essential questions is not a new idea. It is a smaller piece of the overall Understanding by Design model from their other work on improving educator planning. Their later work provides additional direction and support for shifting to an inquiry-based school that utilizes essential questions to jumpstart student understanding.
Unpacking Standards
To begin the process, educators should unpack their standards. State and national standards often are not as clear as people think. In many reports, there is an even larger disconnect between how the writers of the standards pictured implementation and how districts and educators actually implement the standards. I have been a piece of some heated debates on what skills and knowledge are the core of each standard. As part of a professional development opportunity, either in person or separated distance collaboration, teachers should work in concert with instructional coaches to fully unpack the standard for the essential understandings and skills within the specified standard. When unpacking standards, I often find that there are 3-5 target goals (student mental processes or knowledge acquisitions) per each standard. To do this, take highlighters and break apart the standards by verbs and nouns.. Then the team should consider the following questions: (1) What should all students know when mastering this standard? (2)What steps will they have to do to show they mastered the standard? See the example 3.1 below from McTighe and Wiggins.
From this point, team up and generate questions, attempting to generate both topical and overarching questions. The topical questions may only apply to their specific subject or grade level, while overarching questions evolve into essential questions that span subjects and units. Try to generate as many questions as possible at this step with the educators. You may end up finding that several are unnecessary or multiple questions can lead to a single broader question.
At the next stage, consider concepts and related essential questions, specified to the student outcome of the concept. See Example 3.2 and 3.4 below.
FIGURE 3.2 p. 31
FIGURE 3.4 p.33
In the final stage and the most ideal practice, utilize cross-curricular grade-level planning sessions to see if there are natural fits for essential questions. Have the team consider whether or not the essential questions are broad enough for multiple subjects to address in different pathways. Doing this will not only increase the effectiveness of student driven exploration, but also increase transfer ability of skills between subjects. Doing this will extend more students into the mastery columns.
Unpacking Standards
To begin the process, educators should unpack their standards. State and national standards often are not as clear as people think. In many reports, there is an even larger disconnect between how the writers of the standards pictured implementation and how districts and educators actually implement the standards. I have been a piece of some heated debates on what skills and knowledge are the core of each standard. As part of a professional development opportunity, either in person or separated distance collaboration, teachers should work in concert with instructional coaches to fully unpack the standard for the essential understandings and skills within the specified standard. When unpacking standards, I often find that there are 3-5 target goals (student mental processes or knowledge acquisitions) per each standard. To do this, take highlighters and break apart the standards by verbs and nouns.. Then the team should consider the following questions: (1) What should all students know when mastering this standard? (2)What steps will they have to do to show they mastered the standard? See the example 3.1 below from McTighe and Wiggins.
From this point, team up and generate questions, attempting to generate both topical and overarching questions. The topical questions may only apply to their specific subject or grade level, while overarching questions evolve into essential questions that span subjects and units. Try to generate as many questions as possible at this step with the educators. You may end up finding that several are unnecessary or multiple questions can lead to a single broader question.
At the next stage, consider concepts and related essential questions, specified to the student outcome of the concept. See Example 3.2 and 3.4 below.
FIGURE 3.2 p. 31
FIGURE 3.4 p.33
In the final stage and the most ideal practice, utilize cross-curricular grade-level planning sessions to see if there are natural fits for essential questions. Have the team consider whether or not the essential questions are broad enough for multiple subjects to address in different pathways. Doing this will not only increase the effectiveness of student driven exploration, but also increase transfer ability of skills between subjects. Doing this will extend more students into the mastery columns.
Example 3.1
Example 3.2
Example 3.4
Implementing and Tips
McTighe and Wiggins present eight steps to the ideal use of essential questions:
Some options and tips on implementing essential questions
The goal of education is to push students beyond the standardized tests that measure growth and proficiency. Students must become autonomous thinkers and questioners in our democracy. To do this, they must take on the responsibility as drivers of classroom content and activities. This doesn't mean to just turn over the planning to the students, but rather plan instances where students are the central focus of the lesson. As you prepare units and lessons, consider the release structures below. Additionally, curriculum developers will embed this in scope and sequence documents.
- Pre-instructional planning and design
- Initial posing of the question
- Eliciting of varied student responses
- Probing of those responses and the question itself
- Introduction of new information and perspectives on the question
- In-depth and sustained inquiry culminating in products or performance
- Tentative closure
- Assessment of individual student inquiry and answers
Some options and tips on implementing essential questions
- Wait Time
- Increase wait time so all students have a chance to experience inquiry on the essential question
- Think-Pair-Share
- Utilize to promote a collaborative culture with more students having time to practice speaking and listening
- Random Calling
- Use cold calling as a means to focus all students and imply that all students have ideas that matter
- Don't forget to utilize some rules from the culture of inquiry
- Use cold calling as a means to focus all students and imply that all students have ideas that matter
- Class Survey
- There are lists and lists of surveying edtech available these days. Use a program that engages all students
- Don't forget to spend time reviewing some of the responses with the class
- Devil's Advocate
- This begins with the teacher always playing the role of the opposite and challenging the student's ideas, logic, and support by presenting an alternative viewpoint. Once a culture of inquiry is established, students can take on this role as well!
The goal of education is to push students beyond the standardized tests that measure growth and proficiency. Students must become autonomous thinkers and questioners in our democracy. To do this, they must take on the responsibility as drivers of classroom content and activities. This doesn't mean to just turn over the planning to the students, but rather plan instances where students are the central focus of the lesson. As you prepare units and lessons, consider the release structures below. Additionally, curriculum developers will embed this in scope and sequence documents.
- I do; you watch
- I do; you help
- You do; I help
- You do; I watch
- I model it; you do it
- You do it; I give feedback and guidance
- You practice and refine; you self-assess
- You do; I watch
Rubric of Independence
Culture of Inquiry
When considering building the culture of inquiry and using essential questions, use a moment or two to reflect on the questions below from McTighe and Wiggins:
PAGE 69 QUESTIONS
Here are some tips for building a classroom culture of inquiry:
PAGE 69 QUESTIONS
Here are some tips for building a classroom culture of inquiry:
- Post EQs prominently in the room
- Write out all learning goals in syllabus and BOY handouts
- Plan units using UbD template (example below)
- Create and use anchor chart for different types of learning goals
- Develop and post rubric to address format and quality of answers