2. What Is an Essential Question?
• Students have to think critically to answer an essential
question. Instead of simply looking up answers, they
conduct research and create an original answer. An
essential question:
– provokes deep thought.
– solicits information-gathering and evaluation of data.
– results in an original answer.
– helps students conduct problem-related research.
– makes students produce original ideas rather than
predetermined answers.
– may not have an answer.
– encourages critical thinking not just memorization of facts.
3. Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Essential Questions are found at the top of
Bloom's Taxonomy (Bloom, 1954).
• They require readers to:
– EVALUATE (make a thoughtful choice
between options, with the choice based upon
clearly stated criteria)
– SYNTHESIZE (invent a new or different
version)
– ANALYZE (develop a thorough and complex
understanding through skillful questioning).
4.
5.
6. Types of Essential Questions
• Which one?
• How?
• What if?
• Should?
• Why?
7. “Essential vs. Traditional
Questions"
• Not Essential:
– “What is it like to live in Hong Kong?"
• Essential
– Which city in Southeast Asia is the best place to live?
• Not Essential:
– “What is AIDS?"
• Essential:
– Which serious disease most deserves research
funding?
8. “How Questions"
• Examples:
– What are some sustainable solutions to
environmental problems in your
neighborhood, and how could they be
implemented?
9. "What if Questions"
• What if questions are hypothetical,
questions which ask you to use the
knowledge you have to pose a hypothesis
and consider options.
• Examples:
– "What if the Cultural Revolution had never
happened?"
– "What if students didn’t have to go to school?”
10. "Should Questions"
• Should questions make a moral or
practical decision based on evidence.
• Examples:
– "Should we clone humans?“
– "Should we discontinue trade with countries
that abuse human rights?"
11. "Why Questions"
• Why questions ask you to understand
cause and effect. "Why" helps us
understand relationships; it helps us get to
the essence of an issue.
• Examples:
– "Why do people abuse drugs?"
– "Why is the death rate higher in one Third
World country than another?"
12. Skinny vs. “Fat” Questions
• What are Fat Question?
– Open-ended questions, which can be argued
and supported by evidence.
• Examples:
– Skinny Question: "When was the Declaration
of Independence signed?"
– Fat Question: "What would have happened
had we not signed it?”
13. How do you write an essential
question?
1. Consider the focus of the unit or lesson activity:
• Substance abuse, drug addiction, legal & illegal drugs
(use your inspiration mind map)
2. Ideas for a good essential question:
1. may stem from your particular interests in a topic
(e.g. What makes a drug “good”?, community
resources (How is China dealing with substance
abuse?)
2. Begin with the 6 typical queries that newspaper
articles address: Who? What? Where? When? Why?
and How?
3. From these questions formulate your essential
question.
4. Use: Which one? How? What if? Should? Why?
16. Examples of Open-ended
Questions
• How would you…?
• What would result if…?
• How would you describe…?
• How does…compare with…?
• What is the relationship between…?
• What would happen if…?
• How could you change…?
• How would you improve…?
• How do you feel about…?
• Why do you believe…?
• What is your opinion of…?
• What choice would you have made…?
• What would you do differently?
• Why do you feel…?
• How would you go about solving the problem…?
• If you were in this position what would you do?
• Why do you/don’t you support…?
• What could improve…?
17. Culture: Values, Beliefs & Rituals
• How do individuals develop values and beliefs?
• What factors shape our values and beliefs?
• How do values and beliefs change over time?
• How does family play a role in shaping our values and beliefs?
• Why do we need beliefs and values?
• What happens when belief systems of societies and individuals
come into conflict?
• When should an individual take a stand in opposition to an individual
or larger group?
• When is it appropriate to challenge the beliefs or values of society?
• Are there universal characteristics of belief systems that are
common across people and time?
18. Social Justice Questions
• What is social justice?
• To what extent does power or the lack of power affect individuals?
• What is oppression and what are the root causes?
• How are prejudice and bias created? How do we overcome them?
• What are the responsibilities of the individual in regard to issues of
social justice?
• Can literature serve as a vehicle for social change?
• When should an individual take a stand against what he/she
believes to be an injustice? What are the most effective ways to do
this?
• What are the factors that create an imbalance of power within a
culture?
19. Questioning Resources
• Asking Essential Questions http://
www.biopoint.com/ibr/askquestion.html
• The Key to Understanding Essential Questions
http://www.hannibal.cnyric.org/Acrobat%20docs/ESS
• Themes and Essential Questions: Framing
Inquiry and Critical Thinking
http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ELA/6-12/Es
• Asking Essential Questions
http://www.il-tce.org/present04/flesser.pdf
