The Importance of Asking Questions

We had a great first day of History class. We focused on the importance of asking questions. We talked about the way that asking questions helps people grow as readers, writers, and thinkers. Asking questions nurtures a person’s curiosity and creativity.

In fact, asking a clever or inspiring question can be more important than answering the question! This is particularly true since many of the questions we will ask and discuss this year do not have a single “right” answer.

The students responded to our discussion by asking some terrific initial questions about Leonardo da Vinci's famous painting, Lady with an Ermine. Here are a few examples:

Zara, Jack V. and Dearing: Who is this woman? Does she have a connection to Leonardo da Vinci? What was so special about this woman that Leonardo wanted to show her to the whole world?

Olivia, James, Elsa, Cole, Matteo and Jack D.: Why is the woman holding an animal? Does the animal symbolize something? What kind of animal is it, and why did Leonardo include the animal in his painting?

Zoe, Ford, John, Nathan and Kendall: What are the lady and the animal looking at? Why are they looking away from the painter?

Gabriel, Kalani and Grace: What is the lady thinking about? What emotions is she feeling? Why does she have an almost hidden smile?

Alexa, Bella Grace and Sam: Why is the background black? Does the black background have to do with the emotions that Leonardo da Vinci was feeling while he made the painting?

Another highlight of the day was Core 2's invention of a new word: dexplicit. They explained to me that a "dexplicit" question is both deep and explicit, and Isabel provided a great example of a dexplicit question: Is the lady in Leonardo's painting smiling?

Jack D. is digging deep with his questions about Leonardo...