modified by Catherine Manson

Grade Level: 2/3

Critical Task: Formulate powerful questions for the curator of the Cumberland Museum. 

The students will begin this challenge by learning some local history and by learning how to formulate powerful questions. Through this process they will realize that answers to powerful questions will give them back more information than those questions that are not powerful.

Background Knowledge:

1. Historical knowledge about the local area and its development. The students will be learning why and when Cumberland was settled, and who it was settled by. They will gain an appreciation for the coal mine and how much influence it had on the people of the area.
2. Developing a powerful question. Using a T-chart to compare powerful and non-powerful questions might be one way to distinguish the difference between the two.  

Criteria For Judgment:

1. No yes/no answers - open ended questions
2. Questions don't call for regurgitated answers - must think before answering
3. Answers should be specific to the person - point of view answers- more information than a book gives you
4. Information sought has to be relevantly tied to the unit
5. May ask for unexpected information 

Critical Thinking Vocabulary:

1. To develop this critical challenge the students will have to know what a powerful question is. They will have to understand the difference between it and a regular question. They should also understand why they are using powerful questions and what benefits they will have from them.
2. Point of view is another part of the critical thinking vocabulary that they should understand. They will have to be aware that their powerful questions will generate answers that reflect the curator's point of view.
3. They will also have to understand what criteria means and how they are going to use them to judge their powerful questions.  

Thinking Strategies:

1. K/W/L strategy. The K stands for 'what I Know' and often results in a preliminary class brainstorming that includes everything the students know about a new topic. The W stands for What I want to learn and how I'm going to learn it. This is were the students think in more detail about what they really want to learn and a class discussion may take place on where they will go to get their information. This is the section that generates questions and focuses the students in on what they will be learning. The L is the result of research and represents what I Learned. The students will be concluding this critical challenge with a paragraph that answers their question and communicates to peers and the teacher what they have learned.
2. To compare powerful and non-powerful questions the students can use a T-Chart. This graphic representation allows them a look from one question to another and therefore a quick comparison. Hopefully the students will be able to see the difference between a powerful and a non-powerful question without having to go searching for the answer.  

Habits of Mind:

1. Curious about their heritage and the information gathered in the Museum. They will be able to see that there is value in learning about their local area and that 'powerful questions' can be an important tool. Finding out information doesn't always mean going to the library, it can mean talking to people that have knowledge in areas that interest you.
2. Question the information they receive and understand that it represents a point of view. They should be able to weigh the information they are receiving and judge what is important, what is complete and informative, and what needs to be added to.
3. Independent minded when they develop their questions. Their questions should reflect what they want to find out from the curator. In turn the information they receive should be of interest to them and answer their question. They must also be prepared to engage in a respectable conversation with the curator. 

• Use the K/W/L strategy and have students develop questions that they want to answers to. Some of these questions should have been previously developed over the unit of study and posted on the "Question Board".
• Once students have picked their questions, use the T-Chart to develop it into a truly powerful question. At this point students will be ready to write out their question, and model their presentation using proper language.
• In L.A. discuss the proper language to use when talking to the curator and role model the asking of questions. The students will have to learn to speak clearly and properly if they want to ask their question.
• Students will work in pairs. All students will be formulating questions but as they progress through this challenge there will be some duplicates and others that decide they don't want to ask their questions. Realistically, twelve questions will be plenty for the curator to answer.

Grade 2/3

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