© 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or...

© 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Programs of the Intel Education Initiative are funded by the Intel Foundation and Intel Corporation

Curriculum Framing QuestionsIntel® Teach Program



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Goals

Review Bloom’s Taxonomy and Curriculum Framing Questions

Gain a deeper understanding of question development



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When students leave from our school system, what is

ESSENTIAL

for them to know and be able to do?



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Questions

Different types of questions accomplish different tasks

Asking questions is contagious

• It promotes authentic learning, which encourages students to ask more questions

• Students are more likely to become self-directed learners because they are interested in the answers

• Students see the connections between the subject being taught and their world—it can change their whole outlook on what education is about



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A useful structure in which to categorise questions

Progresses from simplest to the most complex

Must have the knowledge and be able to build on that

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Evaluation

Synthesis

Analysis

Application

Comprehension

Knowledge



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A useful structure – basis for higher order thinking skills

Level Skill

Knowledge Recall or recognition of information

• Cues: list, define, tell, show, label

Comprehension Grasping (understanding) the meaning of informational materials

• Cues: describe, explain, identify, restate

Application Transfer from one setting to another

• Cues: apply, classify, illustrate, solve



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A useful structure – higher order thinking skills

Level Skill

Analysis Identify parts and see patterns

•Cues: analyse, examine, experiment, organise, compare, contrast

Synthesis Put parts together to form a new whole

• Cues: create, design, develop, plan, support

Evaluation Judge value or use based on criteria

• Cues: argue, defend, justify, predict, support



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What are Curriculum-Framing Questions?

Curriculum-Framing Questions guide a unit of study and include:

• Essential

• Unit

• Content Questions



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Basic

Bigger

Biggest

Essential

Unit

Content

Concept is important

Label doesn’t always matter



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What are some synonyms for the term “Big Idea”?

Big

Significant

Important

Gigantic

Vast

Great

Major

Idea

Concept

Understanding

Awareness

Knowledge

Thought

Brainwave



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Essential Question = Biggest Question = Big Idea

An essential question is the highest order, most abstract, open-ended question in a chain of questions

An essential question serves as an overarching conceptual framework for a group of curricula or even all curricula

• Example: Why do we need others?



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Unit Question = Big Question

A unit question is also open-ended, but tied to a specific topic or unit of study

These support and continue the study of an Essential Question

Example:

•EQ: • Why do we need others?

• UQ:• Which of our community helpers is the most

important? • Which community helper would you most like to be?



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Content Question = Basic Question

Content questions directly support curriculum/syllabus outcomes

Have specific “right” answers

Examples:

• EQ: • Why do we need others?

• UQ:• Which of our community helpers is the most important? • Which community helper would you most like to be?

• CQ:• Who are some community helpers?• What do they do?



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Essential Questions …

• Are engaging and will keep student’s attention

• Are meaningful

• Spark curiosity, perhaps provocative

• Pose a reasonable challenge

• Require higher-order thinking skills

• Have answers that cannot be found

• Create cognitive conflict

• Age appropriate



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Attributes of an Essential Question

Good Essential Questions are:

• Open-ended

• Meaningful and purposeful

• Invite an exploration of ideas

And require students to:

• Construct their own answers and their own meaning from the information they have gathered

• Evaluate• Synthesise• Analyse



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What Essential Questions are NOT:

They do not require a Yes or No answer

They do not have answers that can be copied or paraphrased from a document

They do not list facts without requiring new connections to be made



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Examples of Essential Questions

Essential Not Essential

How are we like animals? What do animals need to live?

Are we that different? How is life different in other countries?

Just because we can, should we?

What are the implications of genetics engineering?



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Why use Essential Questions in the classroom?

To target higher order thinking skills

• To require comparison, synthesis, interpretation, evaluation, etc.

To ensure student projects are compelling and engaging

• To require more than a simple restatement of facts

To focus on important topics

• To connect learning to other disciplines and other topics of study

• To ask questions that have been asked throughout human history

• To address compelling questions that students ask



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Without Essential Questions

Students are asked to find out about a topic

• Leads to information gathering

• Little thought or analysis is involved

Students are limited to trivial pursuit – they really don’t get to explore a topic in depth



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Writing Essential Questions

Think about why that topic is important to teach. Think about the compelling questions that scholars have asked throughout time. How have human beings acquired the knowledge that we now want to impart to our students?

• Why is the universe the way it is?

How does this subject fit into the “real world”? What connections can you make to the students’ lives?

• What does it mean to be human?



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Hints for Writing Essential Questions

There tend to be more How and Why Essential Questions than those beginning with What, Who, or When.

• Stay away from questions asking for definitions or an understanding of a “simple” process

If the same key word is in both the Unit and Essential Questions, then the Essential Question is probably not broad enough to cover other units.

Ask yourself if the question has basically only one, or one narrow group, of correct answers—if it does, it is not an Essential Question.

• What is the life cycle of a frog?

• Who was Einstein?

Will it take time to fully understand and answer the question? Is the question still being studied by scientists, philosophers, or poets? If yes, then you probably have a great question.



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What Unit Questions are:

Good Unit Questions are:

• Open-ended

• Invite an exploration of ideas

And require students to:

• Construct their own answers and their own meaning from the information they have gathered

• Evaluate• Synthesise• Analyse



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Unit Questions

• Unit Questions asked in one course of study can explore different facets of a single Essential Question

• Teams of teachers from different disciplines can use their own unique Unit Questions to support one common, unifying Essential Question



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SOSE Unit Question:

How does war create change in the economy?

Language Arts

Unit Questions:

In literature, how do the characters in [book title] respond to conflict?

Why do humans often react to conflict with violence?

How does [book title] help us to understand our complex human nature?

Science Unit Question:

How do animals adapt to a changing environment?



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How do Unit Questions Support Essential Questions?

Essential Question Unit Questions

Why have stories always been important throughout history?

Why do we still read Shakespeare? How is Shakespeare’s work relevant to my life?

How can history predict our future?

How do wars start and can they be prevented?

Who benefits from war?

What can we learn from the arts? What does the music of today tell about us?

What does the music from the 60’s say about its time period and culture?



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Content Questions

Content Questions differ from Unit and Essential Questions:

• Content Questions deal mostly with facts, rather than the interpretation of those facts

• They typically have clear-cut answers

Examples:

How are volcanoes made?

What is photosynthesis?



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What is the difference between an Essential Question and a Content Question?

Essential Questions vs Fact-based, “One”Answer Content Questions

How does art reflect culture or change it?

What is renaissance art?

Why do laws change? How are laws made?

How does an organism succeed in its environment?

What is the life cycle of a frog?

Is history a history of progress?

Who is an important inventor and what did he/she invent?



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What Are Some Tips for Developing Essential and Unit Questions?

Just start…don’t worry about the mechanics and language. Focus on brainstorming.

Determine what you want students to remember from this Unit in five years.

You may want to write your question as a statement first, and then revise it into a question.

If needed, write the questions in adult language to capture the essential understandings, then rewrite in “student” language.

Be sure that both the Essential and Unit Questions have more than one obvious “right” answer

Don’t worry too much about whether to designate your question as “Essential” or “Unit”—concern yourself more with whether it requires higher order thinking skills



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Remember: The Creation of Good Questions and a Good Unit is an Iterative Process

What learningexperiences, activities, and

teaching will promote that learning?

How will youengage yourstudents?

Are your questions still relevant?Can they be revised to

better promote and enhance

student learning?

What is your Unit about?What is the topic?

What is the end product, the

learning outcomes, that you want them

to achieve?

What will studentsbe able to know

and do as a result of this experience?

What big-picture/global“Essential Question”

could be asked to promote higher order

thinking skills?

How will students provide evidence

that they are achieving

understanding?

How will you evaluate that

evidence?

What learning outcomesare you targeting?

What fact-focused questions do you expect

your students to be able to answer?

What definitions should they know?

What open-ended “Unit Question” could be

asked to promote higher order

thinking skills?



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Activity 1

Re-assess the Essential, Unit and Content questions in the sample Unit Plan you have brought along, using the Curriculum-Framing Questions Guide provided.

Modify or re-write if required, using Handout 1

If no modifications are required, explain your decision.



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Activity 2

Work with a partner to provide feedback on each other’s Essential Questions

Note down the types of responses you make or questions you ask to clarify issues or draw out your partner’s ideas

How would you deal with a ‘difficult MT’? – eg. Hasn’t quite understood the difference between and EQ and a Unit Question? Or one who refuses to make any changes to their questions?



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© 2007 Intel Corporation. All rights reserved. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks or...

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