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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
It s Essential!Essential QUESTIONS IN THE SOCIAL STUDIES
NCSS Annual Conference
Chuck Taft, University School of Milwaukee [email protected]
@chucktaft
What are essential Questions? [uh-sen-shuh l] - adjective
ESSSENTIAL
Absolutely necessary; indispensable; pertaining to or
constituting the essence of a thing -from Latin esse to be
Question [kwes-chuh n] - noun a problem for discussion or under
discussion; a matter for investigation - from Latin querere
ask,
seek
Different connotations of ESSSENTIAL
Important questions that recur throughout life Key inquiries
throughout a discipline
Questions that help students make sense of ideas
Essential questions lead to the realization that knowledge is an
ongoing search, and one that makes life worth living.
Giselle O. Martin-Knien
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
What makes a question essential?
A good essential question
is Open ended there is no single correct answer is Thought
provoking and intellectually engaging leading students to dig
deeper into the content and/or skills elicits Higher order thinking
goes beyond recall and asks students to analyze, evaluate, predict
involves Important ideas key concepts that can be transferred
within and across disciplines raises additional questions leading
to more inquiry, additional quest for understanding requires
support and justification yes, no, or a single answer doesnt cut it
Recurs over time the question can and should be revisited again and
again
Essential questions fundamental, debatable questions can also
serve to connect the present to the past engage students in ongoing
civic debate.
Beth C. Rubin
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
Why IS IT ESSENTIAL TO USE ESSENTIAL questions IN THE SOCIAL
STUDIES?
focal point - Establish a focal point for a course, unit, or
lesson a target for students Uncover - Uncover the complexity,
nuance, and fullness of a topic instead of just covering it
big ideas - Highlight the big ideas of a concept or topic, not
the picky details
critical thinking - Serve as a doorway for learners to explore
content through inquiry and critical thinking
perspective - Promote perspective in examining important
issues
Essential questions provide an opportunity to show the link
between the past and the present, because they are not tied
specifically to a given time or place.
Heather Lattimer
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
Culture of Inquiry Establish a culture of inquiry for an entire
course, instead of just tell me what I need to know
support an assertion - Focus on supporting an assertion or
argument, not just stating a right or wrong answer
track progress and understanding - Allow teachers and learners
to track progress and understanding
challenge - Encourages students to challenge their own beliefs
and break through misconceptions
Active citizenship - Prepares students to develop skills and
aptitudes necessary for active citizenship
A thematic approach combined with essential questions can
produce transformational shifts in how students understand the
relationship to both history and civic life.
Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
How can WE USE essential questions in the social studies?
A diagnostic assessment tool given before, during, and at the
end of a lesson series of lessons, or unit
The focus of student reflection offering learners a method of
self assessment and metacogniton The avenue for differentiation
encourage a variety of approaches for instruction, student
creation, and assessment The base of a student centered classroom
allowing students to drive the learning and letting the teacher be
a facilitator
The driving force of a SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT making the
connection to service and content more authentic
The framework for an entire course the major goals that student
should thrive to meet throughout a year The core of a unit
constantly referred to during instruction, allowing students to use
them as mental velcro The theme of a student-created project offer
students choice in how to represent their response of an essential
question The Hook for a lesson, unit, project, field trip, or
more entice students into an inquiry that they conduct
themselves
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
How CAN I WRITE A GREAT essential question?
Unpack the standards - content or skill and look for key nouns
and verbs then fashion overarching and topical essential questions
that lead to inquiry and deeper examination
The student will explain how the federal system and the
separation of powers in the Constitution work
to sustain both majority rule and minority rights.
Leads to
Should a democracy uphold the power of the majority or protect
the rights of the minority? (An overarching, open EQ)
How does the Supreme Court ensure that the voice of the minority
is heard? (A topical, guiding EQ)
Use desired understandings, (the big ideas that are often
abstract concepts, themes, theories, assumptions, paradoxes,
complex problems) and create a question as a doorway to those
understandings
History involves interpretation; historians can and do
disagree.
Leads to
When it comes to history, whom do we believe, and why? (An
overarching, open EQ)
How do we view Abraham Lincoln? (A topical, guiding EQ)
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
Begin with overarching questions to generate topical essential
questions, allowing you to spiral the curriculum with recurring
investigations and ideas
Is conflict inevitable? desirable? avoidable? (An overarching,
open EQ)
Leads to
Could the United States have been talked off the edge of the
precipice in the mid-1800s? (A topical, open EQ)
Consider the Facets of understanding promoted by Wiggins and
McTighe the capacity to explain, interpret, apply, shift
perspective, empathize, and self-assess to craft essential
questions
Explanation What would happen if there were no rules in the
lunch room?
Interpretation Why are rules necessary in any community?
Application What are the most important laws for a town or
village?
Perspective Do the people and the government view laws
differently? Empathy What may motivate someone to break a law?
Self-knowledge To me, what are the most important rules in my
community?
Create questions for social studies skills based on key
concepts, purpose and value, strategies, and context of use.
Skill The student will use reference points, latitude and
longitude, direction, size, shape, and scale to locate positions on
various representations of the earth's surface.
Leads to
What do latitude and longitude mean to a fourth grader?
How can I show you where I am? How do I know which map is the
best to use?
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
Essential questions - scope and intent
USE ALL TYPES!
Overarching These general essential questions take students
beyond a specific social studies topic or skill, pointing to more
general, transferable understandings the big ideas Valuable for
framing and entire course or curriculum
Topical These more specific essential questions help students
reach more particular understandings in a lesson or unit the
specific ideas Valuable for collectively providing the method to
tackle the overarching essential questions Open These questions are
posed to engage students in thinking like experts, to argue, to
debate, to explore without the expectation of a definitive answer
Provides the opportunity for intellectual freedom
What can we learn from history?
Which is better - a hands on or hands off
government? When should one country get involved in
the affairs of another?
What lessons emerged from the Progressive Era?
Was the New Deal a positive step for
America?
Was American imperialism right or wrong?
Guiding These questions are targeted for a deeper understanding
of an idea or topic, as students uncover desired understandings
Provides focus on core content
What are the essential characteristics of a good citizen?
How far has America come in realizing
MLKs dream?
How do I make wise economic decisions?
What are my rights? What were the defining moments of the
Civil Rights movement?
Should I buy or sell in the stock market?
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Essential Questions in the Social Studies NCSS, 2014 Chuck
Taft
Your best resources for essential questions in
the Social Studies!
"Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding."
Essential Questions. Web. 17 Nov. 2014. . Jacobs, Heidi Hayes.
Mapping the Big Picture: Integrating Curriculum & Assessment,
K-12. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 1997. Print. Lattimer, Heather. "Challenging History:
Essential Questions in the Social Studies Classroom." Social
Education 1 Oct. 2008. Print. Martin-Kniep, Giselle O. "The Power
of Essential Questions." Becoming a Better Teacher: Eight
Innovations That Work. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2000. Print. "The Past
as a Puzzle: How Essential Questions Can Piece Together a
Meaningful Investigation of History." Social Studies 1 Jan. 2011:
190-99. Print. Rubin, Beth C. "Essentially Different." Making
Citizens: Transforming Civic Learning for Diverse Social Studies
Classroom. New York: Routledge, 2012. Print. Wiggins, Grant, and
Jay McTighe. Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student
Understanding. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2013. Print. Wiggins, Grant,
and Jay McTighe. Understanding By Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD,
2005. Print. By exploring essential questions, students understand
that history is not just represented by one set of facts for that
history is complex and is experienced understood differently by
those affected.
Donna Ogle