BDG0101 Essential Questions
DESCRIPTION: Teachers who earn the Essential Questions Micro-Credential create and use overarching unit questions that stimulate student curiosity by connecting the key inquiries of the subject matter to students’ lives.
RESEARCH BASE: Essential questions were popularized by McTighe and Wiggins (2000) in their book Understanding by Design. Since the early 2010s, educators have been using essential questions to motivate students to dig deeply and connect learning to their lives.
BACKGROUND: The following are useful tools to better understand the topic.
McTighe & Wiggins (2013). Essential questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding. Alexandria VA: ASCD. Chapter 1 Retrieved from
Wilhelm, J. (2012). Essential Questions. Scholastic Instructor. Holiday Issue. 24-27. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ991956.pdf
Video: Overview of McTighe & Wiggins: https://youtu.be/lsx1tsuEm6k
LESSON OUTCOMES:
- Stimulate student inquiry through essential questions.
- Create essential questions that meet McTighe & Wiggins’ seven defining characteristics.
- Connect the essential questions to students’ lives.
RESOURCES:
Books
McTighe & Wiggins (2013). Essential questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding. Alexandria VA: ASCD.
McConnell, C. (2011). The essential questions handbook: Essential questions for the content areas. New York: Scholastic.
Articles
Wiggins, G. & Wilbur, D. (2015) How to make your questions essential. Educational Leadership. 73(1). 10-15. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept15/vol73/num01/How-to-Make-Your-Questions-Essential.aspx
Wilhelm, J. (2012). Essential Questions. Scholastic Instructor. Holiday Issue. 24-27. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ991956.pdf
Lattimer, H. (2008). Challenging history: Essential questions in the social studies classroom. Social Education. 72(6). 326-329. Retrieved from http://gorospeg.tripod.com/pdf/EssentialQuestioningArticle.pdf
Learning-Focused website: https://
TeachThought (2019). A giant list of really good essential questions. Retrieved from TeachThought.com https://www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/examples-of-essential-questions/
McKenzie, J. (2005). Essential questions. The Question Mark. 1(5) Retrieved from http://questioning.org/mar05/essential.html
Videos
Essential Questions from Class Network: https://youtu.be/
What Are Essential Questions: https://youtu.be/
Essential Questions from Massachusetts DESE: https://youtu.be/qwWoQju88tw
Essential Questions at the Primary & Secondary Levels from ACPS Talent Development: http://www.acpsk12.org/pl/acps-classrooms-in-focus/essential-questions/
Questioning from MLC Free Resources (20:19–28:14): https://vimeo.com/196143139
Martin Luther College Courses
EDU8509 Elements of Effective Instruction: 1-credit satellite course
(Contact meyerjd@mlc-wels.edu to schedule at a location near you.)