ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

Understanding-based Curriculum

ESSENTIAL

QUESTIONS



Open-ended questions designed to promote sustained inquiry and meaning making.

Essential questions differ in scope and breadth. We distinguish between overarching

and topical questions. Overarching essential questions point beyond the particulars

of a unit to the larger, transferable ideas and enduring understandings. They recur

fruitfully across the grades, spiraling throughout the curriculum to provide conceptual

through lines. Effective overarching essential questions:

 

 

Topical 

processes within particular topics within a unit of study.



1. Provoking deep thought, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, and additional

questions leading to new and/or deeper insight(s)

2. Asking students to consider alternatives, weigh evidence, support their ideas

and rethink key ideas

3. Support connections within and across content and context

Examples

Overarching Essential Questions

Visual Art



well as shape it?



and materials to express their ideas?

English/Language Arts





their readers?

Topical Essential Questions

unit on masks



the culture? What tools, techniques, and

materials are used in creating masks from

different cultures?

unit on mysteries





hold their readers?

Understanding-based Curriculum

Arithmetic (numeration)







Arts (visual and performing)







Culinary Arts





Dance





Economics





Foreign/World Language





Geography



wherehow

Government





Health





Essential Questions

examples

Understanding-based Curriculum

History







Literature





Mathematics





Music





Physical Education/Athletics





Reading/Language Arts

whathow





Science





Technology







Writing







Essential Questions

examples

Understanding-based Curriculum

What Makes an Essential Question?

can be overarching or topical, convergent or divergent.





Essential questions yield inquiry and argument -- a variety of plausible (and arguable) responses, not

straightforward facts that end the matter. They should uncover rather than cover (up) the subject’s con-

troversies, puzzles, and perspectives.

2) is thought-provoking and intellectually engaging, often sparking discussion and debate.

Essential Questions work best when they are designed and edited to be thought-provoking to students,

engaging them in sustained, focused inquiries. Such questions often involve the counter-intuitive, the

visceral, the whimsical, the controversial, the provocative. Is the Internet dangerous for kids? Are

censorship and democracy compatible? Does food that is good for you have to taste bad?

3) calls for high-order thinking, such as analysis, inference, evaluation, prediction. It

cannot be effectively answered by recall alone (or via a Google search).

Their aim is to stimulate thought, to provoke inquiry, and to spark more questions, including thought-

ful student questions, not just pat answers. They serve as doorways into focused yet lively inquiry and

research. They are intended to result in conclusions drawn by the learner, not recited facts.

4) points toward important, transferable ideas within (and sometimes across) disciplines.



study. Is history inevitably biased? What is a proof? Nature or nurture? By examining such questions,



5) raises additional questions and sparks further inquiry.

Thought-provoking essential questions are naturally generative. They lead to other important questions

within, and sometimes across, subject boundaries. For example: In nature, do only the strong survive?

leads to other questions and inquiries into human biology and the physics of physiology. What do we

mean by “strong?” Are insects strong (since they are survivors)?



Essential questions are intended to elicit a variety of plausible (and arguable) responses. Students are ex-

pected to provide reasons and evidence. Thus, teachers pose follow-up prompts; e.g., Why?, What’s your

reasoning? Who agrees? Who disagrees? What’s another way of viewing this?

7) recurs over time; i.e., the question can and should be re-visited again and again.



the point. The same important questions get asked and re-asked throughout one’s learning and in the

What makes a great book great? Are the Harry Potter novels great

books? 

Over time, student responses become more sophisticated, nuanced, and well-reasoned.

Understanding-based Curriculum

strategy, tactics

context

purpose, value

underlying concepts

Essential Questions in Skill Areas



-

cal education, and mathematics. On the contrary: everything we know about learning tells us that that



Essential questions in skill areas may be considered in terms of the following categories:

 key concept(s) What are the “big ideas” underlying effective skill performance?

 purpose, value Why is the skill important?

 strategy, tacticsWhat strategies do skilled performers employ? How can skill performance

  

 context When should you use the skill?

Use the space below to brainstorm possible essential questions for important skills.





don’t understand the text?



without losing control?



counting?



 



?



what you are reading?





of counting everything?



their comprehension?



examples from:



- reading



Understanding-based Curriculum

Original Draft Commentary Revision Commentary



from the deforestation

of the rain forests?

The question calls for

some information gather-

ing and analysis, but ends

in a list.

-

weigh the costs of

deforestation?

The revised question

broadens the inquiry

and calls for a more

sophisticated analysis;

far more likely to spark

debate and deeper

inquiry into any list of

pros and cons.

How does this diet

match up with the

USDA Guidelines?

The question requires

some analysis and evalu-

-



What should we

eat?

A much more open

version with lots of

inquiry and debate

potential.





with an unambiguous

answer.

How much license

does a writer of



make a point?

This version of the

question explores an



having both histori-

cal and contemporary

relevance.

Who speaks Spanish in

our community?

A straightforward ques-

tion asking for a list.

How well can you

thrive speaking only

English?

A more provocative

version calling for

greater analysis and a

shift of perspective.

What is an axiom?

A straight-forward

question calling for a



Why should we

assume that?

A much more open

question that gets at

why some things are



not seem obvious or

necessary.

What distinguishes

Impressionist art?



an expected set of charac-

teristics.

Why and how do

artists break with

tradition?

These questions re-

quire an examination

of artistic trends and

call for a generaliza-

tion by learners.

What types of exercises



This question involves

research but is leading-

toward expected answers.

“No pain, no gain”

– agree?

A more provoca-

tive question, likely

to spark discussion,



inquiry.

Revising Essential Questions