What Makes a Question Essential?

Teachers at AC are using essential questions to guide student learning. An essential question is a question that lies at the heart of a unit. They are being used in all subjects to stimulate thought and focus student attention. 

Most essential questions are not intended for an easy answer and most cannot be answered following one day of instruction. Instead, these questions encourage students to analyze content from a variety of activities and synthesize the information in order to answer the question. 

Often, essential questions encourage students to think of additional questions or connections to prior knowledge. Notice that these questions are different from questions asked during instruction because they capitalize on an overarching theme for several days of instructional activities. 

Essential questions are helpful for students because they are a visual reminder of the learning goals. When students see a question, they know what to do. They are working to answer the question. Based on curriculum standards, the essential questions represent the big idea that students will learn when a unit is complete.