Example+Process+for+Creating+Essential+Questions

//Considerations: // · When is the text available? · What order do you want use (chronological? thematic?)? · What text would work best as the opening “hook” of the year? · How can the books build on one another (complexity of language, development of reading skills, connections in content/themes)? · Are there any cross-curricular collaborations that can be achieved? · What text works best as the final one considering what other wrap-up work needs to be done simultaneously (end-of-year testing, portfolios, research papers)? · //East of Eden //by John Steinbeck ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Candide //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">by Voltaire ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Brave New World //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">by Aldous Huxley (great opening hook b/c so different from anything they have read in English class) ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Excerpts from the //Bhagavad Gita, Koran, Bible, Torah,// and Confucius’ //Analects// ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Siddhartha //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">by Hermann Hesse ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The Alchemist //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">by Paulo Coelho ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Gilgamesh // ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Othello //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">by William Shakespeare ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Oedipus Rex //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">by Sophocles ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Short Stories by Jhumpa Lahiri ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Things Fall Apart //<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">by Chinua Achebe (great final read for its complexity of ideas and unfamiliar culture à <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> makes students apply all have they learned) //<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Considerations: // ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">What readings have they done in prior courses (content, reading skills required, complexity of language)? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">What essential questions have they studied for prior courses? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">What history have they studied and what history will they be concurrently studying? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">What life experiences does a typical student bring into your classroom? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Seniors who have studied Introduction to Genres (freshmen year), British Lit (sophomore year), and American Lit (junior year) with each course ending with a deliberately chosen “most challenging” text ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Introduction to Genres: What do we learn from the "masters" about how to write well? How can you use these tools to make your own writing "masterful"? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">British Lit: How can the written word change society? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">American Lit: Who am I as an American? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">They have studied world history for two years; US history for one year; currently taking courses from a varied list of electives à <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> hard to make cross-curricular connections for all of them ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Some of have traveled with the school overseas, some have made connections with students overseas through our laptop program, some have never left Virginia //<span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Considerations: // ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">What thematic and content connections do you see between the texts? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">What understandings can the students see as a result of the order you have chosen to teach the texts? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Thinking like a student, what do you want to learn about? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">What question arises that is “accessible, thought-provoking, [and] challenging” (Wiggins and McTighe 109)? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Utopias and Dystopias” being students to an understanding that perfection does not exist but striving for perfection is still a universal drive ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“The Search for Self” then builds on the understandings of “Utopias and Dystopias” by studying the search for individual happiness ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Who’s the Hero?” is the start of the second semester and links students back to their studies of heroes in American and British lit à <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;"> the required texts introduce them to foundational literary heroes <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;"> ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">“Cultural Identity and Isolation” brings students into the broader world as they get ready to leave high school ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">I would want to learn about my world (and my world beyond Fredericksburg, VA because I am about to leave this place!) and how these texts (many of them very old) can possibly connect to my world. ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Why do we need to think about all of this? What does it matter to us as we are focused on leaving high school and moving toward independence? <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Considerations: ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Is your question open-ended? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Is your question as brief and direct as it can be? ·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Is your question appealing to your students?
 * <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Creating an Essential Question **
 * <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Step 1: List the required texts in the order you wish to teach them **
 * <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Course: **<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">AP English Literature and Composition based in world literature
 * <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Order: **<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Thematic
 * <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Summer Reading: **
 * <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Theme #1: Utopias and Dystopias **<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">
 * <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Theme #2: The Search for Self **
 * <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Theme #3: Who’s the Hero? **<span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">
 * <span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">Theme #4: Cultural Identity and Isolation **
 * <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Step 2: Determine the age of your students and prior experiences **
 * <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Step 3: Pull it all together into one (or two connected) essential question(s) **
 * <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif";">Step 4: Finalize your essential question(s) **
 * <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">Why must we think?
 * <span style="font-family: "Garamond","serif"; font-size: 11pt;">How can reading literature, studying authors, and examining other cultures help us become world citizens who think?