Supporting questions assist students in addressing their compelling questions….Here are some of our sample essential questions in History and Social Studies:

Compelling questions address “problems and issues found in and across the academic disciplines that make up social studies.” They “deal with curiosities about how things work; interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts; and unresolved issues that require students to construct arguments in response.”¹ In …

Examples of Compelling Questions

• Was the American Revolution really revolutionary?
• How democratic is the US system of government?
• What would the world be like if Germany and Japan had won WWII?
• Are race relations improving in the US?
• What is the point of studying social studies?
• Is it better to be loved or feared?

• How should government balance the rights of individuals with the common good?
• Whose “story” is this?
• Why do people move?
• What is worth fighting for?

The simple distinction is that a com- pelling question frames an inquiry and a supporting question helps make the compelling question actionable. In other words, supporting questions provide the subject matter scaffolding necessary for students to make and support arguments in answer to the compelling question.

Compelling questions should be introduced at the beginning of the unit and lesson and guide student assignments and activities throughout the unit. Overarching essential questions can be placed on large poster-size paper and posted on the classroom walls.

What Is an Essential Question? An essential question frames a unit of study as a problem to be solved. It should connect students’ lived experiences and interests (their only resources for learning something new) to disciplinary problems in the world.

Essential Questions (often called EQs) are deep, fundamental and often not easy-to-answer questions used to guide students’ learning. Essential Questions stimulate thought, provoke inquiry, and transform instruction as a whole.

Because essential questions guide students to find deeper meaning, they set the stage for further questioning. This fosters critical thinking and problem-solving skills, while showing students how to ask the right types of questions to find the answers they need.

These are questions that are not answerable with finality in a single lesson or a brief sentence—and that’s the point. Their aim is to stimulate thought, to provoke inquiry, and to spark more questions, including thoughtful student questions, not just pat answers. They are provocative and generative.

Essential Questions promote student learning in a number of ways. Student’s metacognition, thinking about their thinking, increases with the use of Essential Questions. When teachers use EQs they model this important skill to students and show them the types of questions they should be asking themselves.

How does science change over time? How can one explain the structure, properties and interactions of matter? How do particles combine to form the variety of matter on observes? How do substances combine or change (react) to make new substances?

Here are 6 ideas for you to consider.

1. Keep it visible: Place the essential question in a clear location where students can always refer back to it, even if they’ve been asked to write it down.
2. Encourage feedback: When the question is posed, ask students to share their initial thoughts either verbally or in writing.

Essential questions are questions that probe for deeper meaning and set the stage for further questioning. Essential questions foster the development of critical thinking skills and higher order capabilities such as problem-solving and understanding complex systems. How applicable are math skills in the real world?

What are Essential Questions?

• Causes genuine INQUIRY into the big ideas and core content.
• ARGUABLE: provokes deep thought, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, and new understanding as well as more questions.
• Requires students to CONSIDER alternatives, WEIGH evidence, SUPPORT their ideas, and JUSTIFY their answers.

Why is it important to compare fractions (thirds, sixths, eighths, tenths) as representations of equal parts of a whole or of a set? What is a fraction? What do the parts of a fraction tell about its’ numerator and denominator? If you have 2 fractions, how do you know which is greater or has more value?

6 Key Guidelines for Writing Essential Questions

1. Start With Standards. What curricular connection do I want to make with my essential question?
2. Have a Clear Challenge.
3. Have Suitable Projects in Mind.
4. Offer Collaborative Opportunities.
5. Stretch Their Imaginations.
6. Play Within Your Limits.

For example, “Who is a leader?” becomes “Who is a good leader?” and “What is music?” becomes “What is good music?” This is an easy way to create the call for judgment that is the hallmark of an effective guiding question.

What is an Essential Question? Based off the work of Wiggins & McTighe, an essential question: is one that probes for deeper meaning rather than basic understanding; cannot be answered by “yes” or “no”, or even just by one sentence; offers critical connections between different areas of study; and.

Three Types of Non-Essential Questions Asked to interest the student in a new topic Many spark curiosity, questions, or debate Often framed in engaging “kid language” Asked once or twice, but not revisited Asked to be answered Have a “correct” answer Support recall and information finding Asked once or until the answer …

An Essential Question is: A question that lies at the heart of a subject or a curriculum and one that promotes inquiry and the discovery of a subject. Essential Questions are critical drivers for teaching and learning… They can help students discover patterns in knowledge and solve problems.

Essential Questions give meaning, relevance, and definition to the topic of your notes.

• Step 1: Create Cornell notes format and complete heading.
• Step 2: Organize notes on right side.
• Step 3: Review and revise notes.
• Step 4: Note key ideas to create questions.
• Step 5: Exchange ideas by collaborating.
• Step 6: Link learning to create a synthesized summary.

• Step 1: Create Cornell notes format and complete heading.
• Step 2: Organize notes on right side.
• Step 3: Review and revise notes.
• Step 4: Note key ideas to create questions.
• Step 5: Exchange ideas by collaborating.
• Step 6: Link learning to create a synthesized summary.

• Step 1: RECORD LECTURE NOTES. The Note Taking Area is for writing your class notes.
• Step 2: REVIEW YOUR NOTES and CREATE YOUR SELF-TEST COLUMN. In the review/self-test column:
• Step 3: SUMMARIZE YOUR NOTES. Prepare a summary of the lecture in your own words.
• Step 4: TEST YOURSELF.