Teachers use the Question Exploration Routine to help students understand a “critical question” and to arrive at a main idea answer. Students learn to break apart a large question into smaller, more manageable questions, answer those questions, arrive at the main idea answer, apply the main idea to the subject area or related issue and generalize the idea.

Every course of study has some key main ideas that are critical to understand. With the Question Exploration Routine as a guide, teachers begin the journey of teaching these main ideas by identifying critical questions for each course. These are not just any old questions, but they are ones that relate to main ideas that make the whole course worthwhile—the main ideas that students will actually apply in their current and future lives. Next, using a special graphic organizer called the Question Exploration Guide, teachers sketch out the key terms and supporting questions necessary to answer each question and eventually build a main idea answer. They also develop ways for students to explore the information further—both within the classroom and the world at large.

Learn More about the research behind The Question Exploration Routine

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