Essential and Topical Questions

After last week's discussion in class, I decided to explore essential and topical questions a little further. To be honest, I had an idea what essential and topical questions were but never really understood how powerful they can be when used properly in teaching. As a Kindergarten- 8th grade teacher, I only believed that essential questions could be used with "older" students in middle and high school. After listening to the discussion, what a neat teaching strategy it is and how it can used to introduce new concepts. I believe that an essential and topical question engage the learner to think outside the box and makes them think beyond the typical boundaries. By definition there is no one true correct answer to an essential question so the possibilities are endless.
This week I was teaching nutrition in one of my 6th grade health classes. I introduced nutrition by asking a topical question of "why are the majority of Americans considered unhealthy?". This question got several students involved in class discussion, and it started of somewhat of a debate. This question leads to several other questions which lead into my lesson of nutrition.
When designing a curriculum, it is important to think of essential questions. It gives the curriculum a little more structure and gives the entire school year a somewhat of a theme. Topical questions are then asked to a more specific topic with a more definite outcome. What an awesome teaching strategy!