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Essential Questions (Step 1)
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My Resources » Essential Questions (Step 1) Step One: Introduction: Departmental teams must become engaged in the task of identifying their values, their expectations, and in crafting a curriculum that is not a random sequence of courses, but a well orchestrated assault upon fundamental competencies and essential questions--a coherent three to four year design that focuses on developing a student who has the knowledge, experience, capabilities and intellectual temperament that the program has described as its outcome or goal. This refashioning occurs when teams are engaged in the task of asking questions like: What is important? What knowledge and capabilities do we want our graduates to have? How can we design learning sequences and activities that will logically and deliberately lead to this end result? What key skills and essential understandings must be taught and reinforced at each and every level by each and every staff member? Second order change requires staffs to answer questions like these; and then to commit without reservation to following through in support of each other as the program goes forward. From what is determined to be important teachers need to develop 8 to 10 essential questions to drive student learning.
Getting started:
Are you the only teacher who teaches this subject? If so, you need to do the following alone but plan on sharing with others in your curriculum area. If others teach the same subject you need to develop the following together and then share with your curriculum group. - What do you want students to know? Write down the content that EVERY student will know when they walk out of your classroom (at the end of the semester/end of the year).
- You do not have to re-event the wheel. What were your essential questions for your e-curriculum?
- Lump this content into outcomes hopefully down to 8 to 10 questions.
- Make sure these outcomes are connected to state standards.
- From these outcomes develop a question (essential question).
- See this link for ways to write the question ........(ADD LATER)
- Once you've developed your questions share with your curriculum group.
Curriculum Groups - Are the questions clear and easy to understand?
- Do they align with the state standards and goals of the department?
- Do they cover all the material? Do they cover things that are not necessary?
- Will the students have the knowledge and skills required at the end of the semester/year that is expected by department?
- Department Chair or spokesperson ... prepare a collection of all essential questions related to your department and share with the leadership team.
Leadership Team - Review the essential questions for all departments?
- Do these essential questions address the state indicators and building goals?
- What can we do as a building to align these essential questions?
Timeline - All departments will develop 8 to 10 questions for each semester by August 2010.
Step Two ...
Instruction ...
Mr. Beam's Site
USD 450
4201 S. E. Shawnee Heights Road Tecumseh, Ks. 66542
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