Essential+Questions

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS CHECKLIST
__Essential Questions:__
 * Is the question Open, Deep, and Interesting?
 * Does the question arouse student curiosity?
 * Will the student use higher-level thinking skills to answer the question?
 * Is there more than one right answer to the question?
 * Does the question require more than a mere yes/no answer or a few sentences?
 * Will an answer to this question reveal the richness and complexity of the subject?
 * Does the question point to the key inquiries and the core ideas of the discipline?
 * Does the question raise other important questions?
 * Will the question recur naturally throughout the unit or throughout the course of the year?

In writing an essential question, asking the following might help…

 * Why do things happen the way they do?
 * How could things be made better?
 * Which is better? Which would I choose?