Essential Questions
Photo by The Roaming Platypus on Unsplash
Teachers in our school systems are often encouraged, at the top of their lesson plans, to provide an Essential Question (EQ) that guides the lesson. These questions get at the big picture that the content in the lesson addresses – sometimes zooming out the scope to think about the lesson’s information in a bigger context. A bonus feature of EQs is that they help can help students understand why they are learning what they are learning.

EQs can provide a useful set of bookends to an in-class meeting or an online discussion. Consider posing the question for discussion prior to introduction of the new material, and then again after that material has been introduced and worked with by the students. A good EQ should allow for differences in the discussion when it is re-introduced.

EQs are also helpful as we structure our instruction. They can provide guideposts to ensure we are remaining on the right track.

However, crafting a good quality EQ can be tricky. What are characteristics of a good EQ?
Essential Questions are…

Open-Ended
Example: Are there ever good reasons to start or enter a war?
Non-Example: What are the three primary reasons World War II started?

Meaningful
Example: Can a protagonist be flawed, but still be a protagonist?
Non-Example: What is the definition of a protagonist?

Debatable
Example: What makes art "art"?
Non-Example: What are the key characteristics of impressionism?

Able to be answered differently at different times/contexts
Example: Is it OK to estimate?
Non-Example: How do you estimate in algebraic word problems?

Deep
Example: What are different, universal ways to express need?
Non-Example: How do you ask for help in Spanish?

Complex (They invite/require rationales & justification)
Example: What is the value of a scientific theory?
Non-Example: What does the Theory of Relativity state?