SIOP-+Essential+Questions

 **SO….WHY ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS?**
 *  If knowledge is made up of “answers,” then what are the questions? Too often children leave school never realizing that knowledge is produced and refined in response to questions and inquiry. Too often the design of a course precludes students from asking and pursuing wonderful questions as they arise in the unfolding work, which leads to less engagement. Shouldn’t we try to make coursework more authentic by better revealing how all knowledge is pursued and shaped by questioning. And shouldn’t we help the student simulate or recreate some of the processes by which the knowledge was created? Our aim as teachers, then is not coverage, but also “un-coverage.” (This also makes important room for student questions that NOW seem important, not “stupid.”) **


 * Jackie Leotta, Staff Development Specialist

[|Gentry Essential Question Power Point] **