Essential Questions

Learning Expectation #3:

develop reading and research strategies, observation skills, and aesthetic

awareness through engagement with authentic, inquiry-based tasks

Intellectual Curiosity

• One of the goals of DHS is to encourage students to develop a love for learning

• When we say we want you to engage in authentic, inquiry based tasks, we mean you should – do things related to the real world (authentic) and

not do something artificial (worksheets) and…– do them because you want to find the answers to

your own questions (inquiry means to find answers)– BUT FIRST, you need to develop your own questions

and be curious about something

Types of Questions• Level C: Questions that can be easily answered

by looking up the answer somewhere• When was WWII?

• Level B: Questions that are specific but have more than one right answer and can be debated

• Why were women participating in WWII?

• Level A (Essential Questions): Questions that are not as specific as level B and can be applied to a variety of situations; often people have opinions about these questions without even understanding certain content

• Should women be participating in wars?

Level C Questions: Examples

• How did people escape from North Korea?• Where are the gulags located?• Why were North Koreans put in the gulag?• What are schools like in China?• Who was the leader of the cult in Japan?

Level B Questions: Examples

• How difficult is it for North Korean defectors to integrate into society?

• What was life like for Vietnamese women during the war?

• Why did people choose to leave North Korea if they are so heavily indoctrinated and isolated?

• Why would children turn in their parents to the authorities?

• Why were some Japanese motivated to carry out a domestic terrorist attack?

Level A Essential Questions: Examples

• What does this story reveal about the human spirit?

• How does war change individuals and communities?

• How should we define and measure happiness?

• How should the wealth of a country and its individuals be divided, if at all?

Essential Questions (1)

• Is defecting from your country worth the risk?• Why do some people buy into the indoctrination by their

government and others don’t?• How do cultural traditions impact the behaviors of its people?• Are citizens who are visibly upset at their leader’s death truly

sad or faking it?• Should children be used for propaganda or indoctrination?

Should children be lied to?• How does social class effect a community’s perspective on

gender?• At what age should children be allowed to participate in

warfare?• Should people be drafted for war?• Does a leader indoctrinate people to protect his citizens or

himself?

Essential Questions (6)• How does indoctrination lead to persecution even if you

didn’t do anything wrong?• Why do people get punished even if they follow the rules?• What are the pros and cons to China’s devotion to traditions

of their culture?• What are the most effective ways to promote indoctrination?• In what way do love and affection, or lack thereof, define the

culture of a nation?• What is most important for maintaining a totalitarian society?• How does the life of women change when China moves from

monarchy to communism?

Thesis statements

• Show that the upper class was not really to blame for China’s problems

• With hardship comes freedom and peace• Few people are able to overcome (?) indoctrination;

purpose of indoctrination is to protect the leader• Don’t take freedom for granted• China’s political changes have been positive• Shows how easily people can be indoctrinated and how that

can effect a community• Genocide without complete indoctrination will always fail to

be completely executed

Thesis statements

• Wealth can mean different things; can help you get out from under control of someone

• Chinese traditions are important; sisters & footbinding; positive influence

• Family supports Mao and believes he had a positive effect on China

• Even though North Koreans are living a brutal life, they are still people, just like us