10/19/20

16

Kaitlyn Hamlin

EDTL 2760
Essential Questions

Page #

The Text Says

Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)

I Say
My notes, commentary

Page 1

An essential question must be crafted so

that it provides students an opportunity to
reach a deeper understanding of key
standards.

Page 2

If an essential question is to be truly

effective, student must be able to answer
it in more than one way. If they cannot
argue different sides of the question, or if
the evidence presented leans too heavily
to one side, there is little point in posing
the question. No one wants to participate
in a debate that is fixed; if it is, students
will lose interest and fall back on
regurgitating information.

Without reaching a deeper understanding of

material our students are simply memorizing
facts for a test instead of using the knowledge
for critical thinking and observation of their
current world. Students must be able to push
past memorization and be able to understand
why the information is applicable to them.
If students are able to argue different sides of
a question then it is clear that their knowledge
is deeper than regurgitation of information. In
order to form an argument one must be able to
understand that information clearly. I
appreciate how the author stated that no one
wants to participate in a debate that is fixed
because it is true! Teacher should be able to
raise questions that allow students to find
meaning in the information.

Page 3

Early Humans: What makes us human?

Manifest Destiny: Was manifest destiny
just?

These are great open ended questions. Middle

school and high school students might be
caught off guard by these questions but after
some though would be able to actively use
information that they have learned in a
meaningful and relevant way. Teacher can
teach students the facts all day long, however,
students must be provided with the chance to

make the knowledge their own.

Connections: This semester our course focuses on three main questions:
-What is social studies and why do we teach it?
-What do you need to know to teach social studies?
-How can we design instruction that sticks?
These are all effective Essential questions according to the reading. They are all clear and simply
states, they are arguable from different points of view, and they all help students reach a deeper
understanding of what we are pursuing. These questions allow us to understand what it means
individually to teach social studies. It is clear that these questions do not have a right or a wrong
answer. They are meant to provoke thought and meaning. As a future educator I will be paying more
attention to the questions I am asking. I want my students to be engaged in their learning rather than
focused on memorization for a test. An essential question I might ask myself is how can I keep my
students excited about social studies content? Our students should be given an opportunity to speak
for themselves and formulate arguments and ideologies based off of the standards. It is important that
we develop our students as critical thinkers. Essential questions are a great way to start.