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Program Components > Teaching for Understanding > Writing Understandings and Questions

TEACHING FOR UNDERSTANDING

HOW TO WRITE ENDURING UNDERSTANDINGS AND ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS *

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Writing Enduring Understandings

1. In planning enduring understandings, ask yourself:

  • What do I want my students to understand in order to lead a successful life?
  • What big ideas do I want my students to understand beyond this unit of study?
2. Be sure to write big ideas in "kid friendly" language so that all your students can know what they will be learning.

3. It is often helpful to begin with "Students understand that…" and complete the sentence with two or more concepts from your standards or unit of study. (Erikson, 1998)


Writing Essential Questions
  1. Create a reasonable number of questions: one or two for a single lesson; three to five for a unit of study.
  2. Frame your questions in "kid friendly" language. Make them engaging and thought provoking.
  3. Design questions that reflect the standards and big ideas of your content area.
  4. Write essential questions with "how" and "why" instead of "what."
  5. Sequence your questions so that they lead naturally from one to another.
  6. If the question is too specific, or could be answered with a few words or a sentence, it is not an essential question.
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Click here to view a chart showing how to transform standards into enduring understandings and essential questions.

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* Material for this resource adapted from: http://magnet.sandi.net/workshops/informationquest/essential.html

 

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