Essential+Questions+PD


 * BBI PD Module- Questioning and Connecting to Key Concepts**


 * Start** (5 mins review)- Quick discussion; What are the 6 areas, what are the 8 concepts, what are the 12 attitudes, what are the 5 skills areas?
 * Discuss**; Are you making the best of the classroom environment you have developed to support IB and to integrate IB vocabulary into everyday learning?

Thoughts about essential questions. What is an 'Essential' question? What is the difference between 'Essential' and 'Demanding' questions. It may be worth looking at this image and comparing what another study considers to be similar/ different.
 * Part 1**- Developing effective questions to guide students' inquiry.

Here are some suggested steps; Step 1; Use the IB Knowledge Areas, the Key Concepts and the NZ Curriculum to outline the scope of learning for the unit. (IB Coord and Team Leaders) Step 2; Generate a central idea around which the student led learning will take place- ensure it reflects the selected concepts (IB Coord and Team Leaders) Step 3; Identify what students know, what they want to learn- this is the fuel for essential question formation (Students with Teacher guidance) Step 4; Discuss the student initiated questions (Teacher and Students) Step 5; Use resource to identify whether student question is demanding/ essential and that it addresses the correct key concepts
 * Part 2**; How can we support our students in developing their own essential questions around our own 'Central Ideas' and 'Key Concepts'?

How could we re-write these into 'childspeak'? How could we break each question into a learning activity to give the children support in learning how to ask 'essential' questions? || ||= Student Question ||= Is the question student initiated and 'owned' by the student/ group? ||
 * Part 3;** Look at the matrix below to guide the formation and creation of 'essential' questions.
 * = Does the question require higher order thinking? (analysis, synthesis, evaluation) ||= Does the question connect to the selected key concepts for this unit? ||= Does the question probe a matter of considerable importance within the wider central idea?
 * = Is the question unanswerable in the ultimate sense? (The student may still face some disagreement from others.)
 * = Does the question touch upon one of life's major issues? (This could be one of the IB concepts or another global concept) ||= Does the question require movement __beyond__ understanding and studying - some kind of action- pointing toward the completion of a challenge, the making of a choice or the forming of a decision? ||= Does it lead to other questions? (Often subdivisions of the original question). ||

IB- Who we are...** (We have little control of whether we cover this knowledge area- only WHEN we cover it) An exploration of the nature of the self; our beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health; of our families, friends, communities, and cultures; our rights and responsibilities; of what it means to be human. Perspective (Knowledge is not constructed from only one perspective) Function (Everything has a function or way of behaving that can be investigated) What areas would you tie in? Ian's suggestion; In all organised social groups and networks, males and females continue to take on roles largely dictated by their genders. Try creating a '[|Wallwisher]' to promote online collaborative thinking. Identify 'gaps' or commonalities in the students' understanding/ misunderstanding which would make good 'essential' questions. __**What essential questions do your team come up with from this activity?**__
 * Try this activity in your team with a 'controversial' issue/ idea like gender;
 * IB Key Concepts...** (We have more control over these choices)
 * New Zealand Curriculum Areas...**
 * Central Idea...**
 * What do we know? What would we like to know?**
 * Ideas for essential questions;**