Stage 2: Asking the Essential Question

For this stage of Backward Design, I have added an essential question to each of the
standards as well as developed the complexity, relevance, and collaborative qualities of the
question. For the purpose of this exercise, I created separate table for each standard to better
organize the information. According to the text, an essential question should:
1. Cause genuine and relevant inquiry into the big ideas and core content.
2. Provoke deep thought, lively discussion, sustained inquiry, and new
understanding as well as more questions.
3. Require students to consider alternatives, weigh evidence, support their ideas, and
justify their answers.
4. Stimulate vital, ongoing rethinking of big ideas, assumptions, or prior lessons.
5. Spark meaningful connections with prior learning and personal experiences.
6. Naturally recur, creating opportunities for transfer to other situations and subjects.
(p. 110)

Standard 1: Reading
Key Understanding or Big Idea (Unpacked)
From the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
(2012). English/Language Arts-Unpacked Content

Career and Workforce Readiness Skills

Skills include:

Fourth grade students should refer to the text when

drawing conclusions as well as when answering directly
stated questions. The central message or lesson is now
referred to as theme (a unifying idea that is a recurrent
element in literary or artistic work). Students are continuing
to determine a theme and expanding this work to other
genres. They are required to refer to the text to describe
various story elements.
Students will continue to tell the meaning of words and
phrases in a text and focus specifically on mythological
characters.
Students must tell the differences between poems, drama,
and prose using structural elements to create an oral or
written response to a text. Students will find the similarities
and differences in the narration between a story written in
first person and a story written in third person point of
view.
Students at this level must link the reading of the text in a
story to listening or viewing the same story. They will make
connections by comparing what they read to what they
visualized and heard. Students will find similarities and
differences in themes, topics, and patterns of events among
culturally diverse stories, myths, and traditional literature.
Students should encounter appropriately complex texts at
each grade level in order to develop the mature language
skills and the conceptual knowledge needed for success in
school and life. Effective scaffolding should allow the
reader to encounter the text with minimal clarifications. It
should not replace the text by translating its contents for
students

The ability to determine central

ideas, themes, textual evidence, POV
and how POV effects textual style and
content.

Essential Question

Complexity

How does determining the texts central

idea, structure, and theme help me to
understanding the meaning?

The complexity of this question comes from the

ability to ask this question of any type of text and
reading level. While the question is very broadnot
only because it asks a general question but also
because it gives the student the option of answering
with three specific areas in mindthis essential
question also offers the student to examine their own
understanding. The student must first figure out what
it is that they understand about the text before
connecting it back to a central idea, structure, or
theme. Then, by making that connection, they can
ask more questions about how and why they were
able to arrive at how the central idea/structure/theme
informs their understanding of meaningand how it
might be different for their classmates.

Relevance and Real Word Application

Collaborative & Original

The ability to analyze the

development of central themes,
events and individuals, textual
structure, multiple texts with similar
themes/topics.
The ability to summarize ideas and
supporting details.
The ability to interpret words and
phrases, specifically as they are used
in a text (North Carolina).
The ability to integrate content that
is presented differentlysuch as
quantitatively or visually.
The ability to delineate an
argument/claims from a text.
The ability to read and comprehend
complex literary and informational
texts independently and proficiently
(North Carolina).

The relevance and real world application of this question

comes from the students ability to make larger connections
from the basis of their own understanding. If the student
can first identify their opinion of what the meaning of the
text is, their ability to connect their opinions back to textual
evidencesuch as structure or a main idea shown in the
textthey will be able to make larger connections in future
studies.

Standard 2: Reading Informational Text

Key Understanding or Big Idea (Unpacked)
Fourth grade students are required to refer to specific
examples when explaining the text and drawing
conclusions. Students must identify the main idea and find
the most important details that strengthen the main idea.
They must also explain the text in their own words. At this
level, students tell how or why historical events, scientific
ideas or how to procedures happened and use the text to
support their answers.
Fourth grade students continue to find the meanings of
general vocabulary words specific to fourth grade topics or
subjects. Students must explain how the events, ideas, or
concepts fit into the overall structure of a text. At this level,
students are required to find the similarities and differences
in perspectives (first and second hand) about the same
event or subject. They will give descriptions about how the
information is presented for each perspective.

The collaborative piece of this question comes from

the student the expectation that students will both
agree and disagree to how their understanding of the
texts meaning is connected back to the main
idea/structure/theme. The disagreement that will
spark conversation can either come from differing
opinions of the texts meaning or how structure/etc
informs it.

Career and Workforce Readiness Skills

Skills include:
The ability to determine explicit use
of the text, and POV and how POV
effects textual style and content.
The ability to analyze how
individuals/events/ideas develop and
interact over the course of a text,
word choice, text structure and the
relationship to smaller portions of the
text within the whole.
The ability to interpret words/phrases
within the context of a text
specifically the connotative, technical,
and figurative meanings.
The ability to integrate content that
is presented differentlysuch as
quantitatively or visually.
The ability to delineate an
argument/claims from a text.
The ability to read and comprehend
complex literary and informational
texts independently and proficiently
(North Carolina).

Essential Question

Complexity

How does understanding the development and relationships

This questions complexity comes from having the

of characters and events help us to analyze the text as a

whole?

students look at how individual pieces of a text can

inform the larger idea or picture. By having the
students deconstruct specific individuals and events,
they are not only reading the text more carefully, but
they are also thinking about their reading critically
and asking more questions about how the smaller
pieces fit into a larger puzzle.

Relevance and Real Word Application

Collaborative & Original

The ability to gather textual evidence to prove a larger

connection in a text is a tool that fourth graders will carry
with them throughout their school education. The relevance
that students can connect back to their own lives is the way
that events and relationships develop. Hopefully, they will
be able to use personal examples to help them follow them
follow the development of characters and events in the text.

The collaborative piece of this question comes from

students comparing how they track the development
of relationships and events and how they use it to
argue a specific point to analyze. For example, it
would be great to split the class and give them each
an apposing analysis of the text and have both sides
prove their point by using just the developments
found within the text.

Standard 3: Writing
Key Understanding or Big Idea (Unpacked)
Fourth grade students should write opinion pieces that
clearly state their preferences and supply the reasoning for
their thinking. In doing so, students need to understand how
their reasoning supports their opinion, search and find facts
to support their viewpoint, and share this thinking. Students
also build their argument by linking their ideas together. At
this level, students are using a variety of sentence structures
and more complex sentences. They are developing the use
of more complex linking phrases like (for instance, in order
to, in addition). Students need to engage in behaviors (turn
and talk, small group discussion, and numerous writing and
speaking activities) that lead to the expression of ideas both
verbally and in writing. Students will also need a
purposeful focus on choice making throughout ELA.
Include both an introduction and a concluding statement or
section in their writing. Students need to use strategies for
introducing concepts (such as beginning with a fact,
dialogue, or question about the topic) and concluding their
thoughts (using summary statements) when writing. They
are learning to further organize their writing by developing
the use of text features (headings, sections, illustrations,
and multimedia). Students also write with complex
sentences to link the parts of their writing together.
Fourth grade students write informative/ explanatory
pieces. They must be able to find and group information
together in a logical way. To do so, students need strategies
for researching a topic (gathering data), selecting relevant
information (note taking), grouping like ideas, and

Career and Workforce Readiness Skills

The ability to write arguments that
support textual analysis or topics/texts
with reasoning and evidence,
The ability to write
informative/explanatory in order to
convey an understanding of complex
ideas through the effective selection,
organization, and analysis of content
(North Carolina).
The ability to write narratives in
order to produce an imagined
experience/event with effective
technique, details, and event
sequences.
The ability to write clearly and
coherently in mind with the proper
style, organization, and purpose for
audience.
The ability to demonstrate strong
writing through a process that shows
planning, revision, editing, rewriting,
etc.

developing a way to present the ideas from beginning to

end (format and organization of written presentation).
Fourth grade students write real and imaginative stories and
students are expected to use description to show characters
thoughts and feelings as well as the details of characters
interactions through dialogue. As students develop
characters and use dialogue, they will need to understand
how to introduce characters and how to engage characters
in conversation in their writing.
Fourthgradestudentsareexpectedtoproducewritingthat
isclearandunderstandabletothereader.Task(typeof
writingassignment)andpurpose(thewritersdesignated
reasonforwriting)shouldbereflectedinthestudents
organizationanddevelopmentofatopic.Withassistance
fromadultsandpeers,studentsshoulddeveloprevisingand
editingskills.Inordertodoso,studentsneedtounderstand
howtochangewordchoiceandsentencestructureintheir
writingtostrengthentheirpiece.Theyneedassistancewith
planningforwritingusinggraphicorganizers(storyframes,
storymountains,storymaps).Theyalsoneedtodevelop
theabilitytorecognizespelling,grammar,andpunctuation
errorsandhavestrategiesforcorrectingtheseerrorswith
assistance(conferences,checksheets,peerediting).Fourth
gradearedevelopingstrategieswithpeersandadultstouse
digitaltools.Atthisgradelevel,theyshouldnotonlyuse
technologyforproducingandpublishingwriting,butalso
tocollaboratewithothers.Fourthgrade
Studentsarerequiredtobeproficientin
Keyboardingskills(typingatleastonepage
Inasinglesetting).

The ability to use technology to

produce publishes, interact, and
collaborate.
The ability to conduct research
projects with focused questions, and
proper demonstration of subject
matter.
The ability to gather information
from multiple sources, determine
creditability/accuracy.
The ability to draw evidence to
provide support for research,
reflection, and analysis.

Essential Question

Complexity

How do details help the reader to create a picture?

This question allows the student to improve their

writing by looking at it from the perspective of the
reader. By thinking about how their writing is directly
informing the reader, they can consider not only their
opinion of their own writing, but also beginning to
develop the necessity of considering their audience.

Relevance and Real Word Application

Collaborative & Original

As noted in the complexity section of this standard, this

question helps the student to develop the importance of
considering an audience before beginning to write. For
example, the way that a student includes details in the
writing can greatly affect the way that they successfully
argue a point or provide enough information to develop a
main idea.

This question is a great lead into many different types

of student collaborative exercises. For example,
students could practice listening to just the textual
descriptions of things and picturing them in their
mind before beginning to provide details in their own
writing. Students could also take turns drawing just
the details of what another student has written, and
then can compare and critic student written based just
on the inclusion of those details.

Standard 4: Speaking and Listening

Key Understanding or Big Idea (Unpacked)

Career and Workforce Readiness Skills

Fourth grade students will engage in

conversations about grade-appropriate
topics and texts. To do so, students will
need ample opportunities to take part in a
variety of rich, structured conversations.
Students actively engage as part of a
whole class, in small groups, and with a
partner, sharing the roles of participant,
leader, and observer.

The ability to converse effectively in

a range of
conversations/collaborations and
partners.

Students at this level should engage in

collaborative conversations and develop
skills in active listening and group
discussion. Fourth grade students should
be able to identify the reasons a speaker
provides to support points. This can be
done through listening, questioning, and
fathering information for a deeper
understanding of a topic.

The ability to evaluate POV,

reasoning, evidence and rhetoric.

While adept at reporting on a topic or

text, telling a story, or recounting an
event, fourth graders will do so in an
organized, logical manner. The
aforementioned items should be done
orally and in coherent, spoken sentences.
Fourth grade students will do so at an
appropriate pace. Attention to details to
support main ideas or themes is important
in fourth grade.

The ability to integrate/evaluate

information from various forms of
presentationsvisually, quantitatively,
orally.

The ability to present information,

findings, evidence for listeners, and
use digital media and visual displays
strategically.
The ability to adapt speech for a
range of contexts and communicative
tasks.

Fourth grade students will combine audio

recordings and visual displays, when
appropriate, to enhance the development
of main ideas or themes.

Essential Question

Complexity

What effect does point of view have on a story?

This questions complexity comes from the ability for

students to look a variety of different point of views

in order to establish how it affects a story. This

question is important for students to consider in both
fiction and nonfiction reading as well as in their own
writing. Students can also think about their own point
of view and how that might effect how they speak
and tell a story.

Relevance and Real Word Application

Collaborative & Original

A beginning understanding of point of view and how it

informs the reader, is a basis for older students determining
credible sources. Not only can students look at point of
view to determine whether or not a research paper source is
giving credible information, but the student can connect
this to a real world scenario of what type of news source
they would trust the most, given that particular outlets
point of view.

The collaborative piece of this question is an exercise

in which students can compare both their own points
of view as well as what they think the best point of
view in a text is and why.

Standard 5: Language
Key Understanding or Big Idea (Unpacked)
Fourth grade students must have a
command of the grammar and usage of
spoken and written standard English.
Standards that are related to conventions
are appropriate to formal spoken English
as they are to formal written English.
Fourth grade students will use what they
know about how language works when
they write, speak, read, and listen.
Students at this level will develop
strategies to convey ideas and highlight
effect. They will be able to choose between
situations calling for information versus
formal English language discourse.
The overall focus of language learning in
regards to vocabulary acquisition is to
guide students as they make purposeful
language choices in writing and speaking,
in order to communicate effectively in a
wide range of print and digital texts.
Students need to understand the diversity
in standard English and the ways authors
use formal and informal voice to craft their

Career and Workforce Readiness Skills

The ability to demonstrate English
grammar and usage, capitalization,
punctuation, word relationships, and
spelling through both writing and
speaking.
The ability to apply knowledge of
language to a range of contexts and
styles.
The ability to determine/clarify word
and phrase meaning.

message for specific purposes. Students

also need strategies for learning to make
these kinds of choices for themselves as
they write and speak in different contexts
and for different purposes.

Essential Question

Complexity

How does formal and informal voice affect meaning?

This essential question is similar to the previous

standard, because it asks the student to look at the
speaker and the intent behind the writing. However,
this question has a different goal because it is asking
the student whether or not the meaning of the text is
affected by information and formal voice, which is
slightly more complex because for the student has to
decide whether or not voice can affect meaning.

Relevance and Real Word Application

Collaborative & Original

The relevance and real world application

behind this question is the students ability
to pick out informal and formal voice in
everyday news and conversation. Students
should be able to establish what
relationships in their lives use both types
of voice, as well as what sources of
information that they read/trust use both
types and how that effects credibility.

A collaborative exercise for this question could be to

split the classroom and have each student highlight
the dialogue of formal and informal voice in a text
and compare meaningonce establishedbased
purely on dialogue.

References
North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (2012). English/Language ArtsUnpacked Content Instructional Support Tools for Achieving New Standards. [pdf]

Retrieved from: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/acre/standards/common-coretools/unpacking/ela/4.pdf