Two-Column Notes

Date:
10/18/20
16

Name:
Brianna Appelfeller

Class/Subject:
EDTL 2760
Topic or Chapter
EQs from BLA

Page #
1

The Text Says

Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)

I Say
My notes, commentary

The essential question, then, will help you An essential question gives the students a
determine which lessons and content
brief insight into the subject matter to be
should be included in the unit, and will
learned in the upcoming lessons. When
also determine the focus of the
introduced at the beginning of a lesson, it can
assessment.
help them prepare to answer the question
itself, also. By creating an EQ, it not only
prepares the students, but it also creates a
walk-way for the teachers. By this I mean
that it gives the teachers a step-by-step guide
to write their lesson plans.
Provocatively phrased essential questions According to previous readings, students
will engage students elicit various
already see social studies as a repetitive,
responses.
boring subject. By creating thought-provoking
questions, teachers are granted an opportunity
to get the students involved. If the students
are encouraged to debate and maybe argue a
bit, they may realize how truly relevant the
information is, and may become more
compliant to learning it.
Not all essential questions are equally
Many teachers in my personal experience have
effective.
just given us plain, common essential
questions at the beginning of each chapter. We
were told to know how to answer the question

The many essential questions listed on

page three

by the end. Sure, this method works well for

the teacher as it doesnt provoke any
arguments, nor does it encourage the students
to really think about the issue that is
addressed. Other teachers in my past have
introduced us to a question and encouraged
our engagement in discussion. In my opinion,
this really helped to prepare me to understand
the material.
The first thing I did upon reading these
essential questions, was try to think back into
my memory and answer these questions. In
my opinion, this really showed me how these
EQs did their job! The questions hooked me in
and made me WANT to answer the questions
put in front of me. These questions encouraged
me to challenge my own thinking. These
questions would be very successful in the
classroom, because I believe that they would
challenge the students to do the same as I.

Connections to previous MR:

As I said in the second and third quotes, students are bored of social students and they feel that the
information is quite repetitive. By encouraging fun, thought-provoking discussions that we can relate to our
everyday lives, we can encourage students to participate more in the classroom. I can relate these EQs
back to the standards also, because without the standards, there would be no set EQs, and classrooms
would be a mess. I believe that the EQs listed in our course calendar are decent according to the criteria
in the reading. Each question is simple, yet can pose many different viewpoints. These questions are
provocative, but only to students who would be involved in the social studies community, at least in my
opinion.