Two-Column Notes

Date:
10/1816

Name: Cerina Russo

Class/Subject: EDTL 2760

MR Title(s): Essential Questions

MR Source(s): Bower, B., Lobdell, J., and Owens, S. (2010). Essential questions. Bring learning alive! Methods
to transform middle and high school social studies. Palo Alto, CA: Teachers Curriculum Institute, pp. 226228.
Page #

The Text Says

Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)

I Say
My notes, commentary

226

I introduce the essential question at the

beginning of the unit and try to reinforce it
often I have students put it on the title
page of their Interactive Student
Notebooks.- High school teacher

This quote from a high school teacher stood out

to me because the teacher I shadowed for my
field placement did something similar. He gave
all of his students a journal in which they would
write down essential questions that he wrote on
the board. He would then give them time to
answer the questions and to discuss them
together as a class. I found this to be
immensely effective because all of the students
were participating and intrigued with the
conversation. This way, they were eager to find
answers, participate and learn as opposed to
listening to the teacher talk at them.

227

The objective is for students to learn the

skills of using evidence, forming sound
arguments, and generating their own
knowledge.

I found this objective to be significant because

it focuses on giving students skills other than
social studies knowledge. These are the skills
that are used in everyday life; the important
skills that teachers give to students that stick
with them past the tests and exams. Not only

does the objective focus on these skills, it also

helps gives students a deeper understanding of
the content they are learning.
227

If an essential question is to be truly

effective, students must be able to answer
it in more than one way

I completely agree with this statement because

if an essential question has one specific
answer, then there is really no point in asking
it. Essential questions should cause students to
think critically and create sound arguments
about the topic. By asking questions that have
multiple answers, students are able to generate
their own knowledge and critical thinking to
come up with their own response.

Connections to previous MR:

All of the essential questions for our course are strong according to the Bring Learning Alive text book.
The first essential question for the course, What is social studies and why do we teach it?, is stated
simply and provides the opportunity of deeper understanding. By using the words what and why, the EQ
prompts students to be proactive and break down the question into sub questions such as why dont
kids like social studies? And What is social studies really about? The second essential question for the
course, What do you need to know to teach social studies?, also allows for a deeper understanding and
prompts the same type of sub questions as the first EQ that examine the purpose of social studies. It
can also be broken up into questions such as what methods should we use? And why are these
appropriate for social studies? Finally, the last essential question for our course is how can we design
instruction that fits? This question, while stated simply, also allows for students to delve into a deeper
understanding because of the word how. The word how prompts students to think critically about the
instruction design and allows for the question to be broken up into sub questions such as what content
knowledge does one need to know to meet the OLS?, what causes instruction to stick? And How can we
organize this instruction in an effective way?