This essential question comes from a New York Times article by Beverly Gage, which was shared via Twitter by Mary Ellen Daneels ( @daneels_m ), lead teacher mentor for the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and contributor to IllinoisCivics.org The article …
Check out our podcast on this Quote HERE. The Big Idea: Students make moral decisions everyday. Usually these decisions revolve around specific actions they take like helping a friend, cheating on a test or obeying curfew. But students also …
There’s nothing more gratifying than watching a student eagerly share a heartfelt political opinion in class…. and nothing more, well, disheartening. Sharing strong opinions creates great energy for discussion. It’s infectious. It sets the model that all students should care …
The College Board has designed specific Essential Questions to underpin each of the five broad content categories: Foundations, Interactions Among Branches of Government, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, American Political Ideologies and Beliefs and Political Participation. Here they are: Category: …
Below are 16 topics, each of which includes: A sample essential question which introduces the prompt A draft prompt including three founding documents that could help shape the students’ arguments. Each prompt is crafted to encourage deep analysis and aligns …
Dan Fouts–current social studies teacher and co-founder of Teach Different— sat down with Drew Perkins of TeachThought to discuss the importance of critical thinking and inquiry, and how both can be employed to teach content in a more creative way. …
“Never do anything against conscience, even if the state demands it.” I tried out the Teach Different conversation method as a routine during remote learning. I call it “Conversation Monday”. It’s my attempt to get students thinking and talking about …
After the last tree falls and the factories shut down in The Lorax by Dr. Seuss, the Lorax has to leave the once fruitful forest. For this lesson, I would use the Sophocles’ conversation on hardship. In small groups, I would have them decide …
In Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes, the main character loves her unique name until she goes to school, where she is embarrassed and bullied about her 13-letter moniker. Chrysanthemum never stands up for herself; only when a beloved teacher celebrates her beautiful …
Sometimes good teaching involves misdirection. You start with a topic that seems unrelated to the class, drift to another activity and then to another. If all goes well, (a big assumption!) your students are emotionally and intellectually invested in learning. …
The events of January 6th afford the opportunity to take on the issue of media censorship. Individual companies like Twitter are taking action to censor speech. Those companies are not obligated to protect 1st Amendment freedoms in the same way …
We’ve seen how essential questions can organize an entire US history course. This week we see how one can begin a unit on the Women’s Movement and inspire students to become more thoughtful about how gender roles affect human identity …
