Guiding Questions

Effective guiding questions provide a clear target for student learning, pointing to both the final destination and the knowledge, skills, and big ideas to be learned along the way.

• Guiding questions improve teaching through preparation. When teachers think through what will be learned and how learning will happen, their lessons are more focused, efficient, and accessible to all learners.

• Guiding questions put learning ahead of activities. When teachers craft effective guiding questions, they look at learning through their students' eyes, considering what the students will learn, rather than through their own eyes, considering what activities or lessons they will assign to the students.

• Guiding questions place proper emphasis on most important content. Content planning guides teachers to think deeply about what is most important and then to teach in a way that ensures that the most important learning is given the emphasis it requires.

• Guiding questions provide a learning target for students. When students understand what they are supposed to learn, the chances are much higher that they will actually learn it.

• Guiding questions support formative assessment as they represent a starting point for formative assessment.

• Guiding questions support differentiated instruction as they represent a starting point for differentiation. After teachers create their guiding questions, they have a much clearer understanding of where they need to make modifications to ensure that learning is accessible for every student.

• Address the standards. Understanding the standards ensures that students learn in ways that best prepare them for the learning they will experience in other classes and that course content addresses foundational learning that everyne should master.

• Identify the knowledge and skills students need to learn. Knowledge refers to factual information that students need to learn to gain access to anything being learned. Skills can include other practices such as strategies, procedures, or performances.

• Identify the big ideas students need to learn. Big ideas are the principles, themes, and concepts that recur throughout a course. When students recognize big ideas, they often have an "aha" moment that puts their learning into perspective.

• Choose meaningful, important, and relevant topics. If we want students to be engaged by their learning, they need to understand why they are learning what they are learning. Students, just like adults, want to know why they have to learn something, and explaining why something is important and how it is relevant goes a long way toward motivating learners.

• Use the most appropriate words and keep language easy to understand. Words matter, and as teachers write guiding questions, they need to be careful to use words that most precisely describe the knowledge, skills, and big ideas students need to learn.

• Prompt students to use learning strategies. Teaching students how to learn is likely at least as important as teaching students what to learn. If students are going to internalize their use of strategies, they benefit from many cues reminding them when and how to use them.

• Prompt students to use technology. Students can use various technological tools to strengthen their learning of new concepts.

• Prompt students to use communication skills. An important skill is learning how to interact effectively with peers. Many students are taught how to listen, find common ground, use objective standards to resolve conflicts, build relationships, and share positive and corrective feedback with their peers. Guiding questions can remind students of when and how to use those skills during learning.