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Essential and Guiding Questions

 Using essential and guiding questions certainly binds a unit of study together, bringing a clearer focus to the lesson. Originally introduced by Heidi Hayes Jacobs, we modified the practice and infused it into our Exploring History series back in 2000. We are finding that more and more people ask for a clear explanation of how to draft these questions for each unit of study.The Essential QuestionWhat is an essential question? Simply put, the essential question:is a definition question, serving as...

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Reality-Based Integrated Instruction

 Paper presented at the Annual Conference and Exhibit of the National Middle School Association Abstract: A teacher wants to help her middle school students who already hate poetry to appreciate Williams’ poem “This Is Just to Say,” but her approach is ill-focused. This article outlines how to properly plan a unit using brainstorming techniques; essential and guiding questions; and hands-on, engaging activities that motivate students.Part I: A Traditional Poetry Lesson Mary Reynolds, a language arts teacher, has always been especially fond...

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