Philosophical Big Questions
Aims
Goal: climb the Thinking Ladder on life's biggest questions — from gut reaction to reasoned, considered conclusion.
The lesson, stage by stage
- Warm up5 min
Warm-up: The big questions
2 warm-up questions
- Reading10 min
Reading: Questions Without Answers
Read a 228-word text about Questions Without Answers
- Framework6 min
Framework: The Thinking Ladder
Thinking Ladder, 4 steps
- Practice7 min
Practice: Philosophical Vocabulary Practice
Gap-fill exercise, 5 items
- Dialogue10 min
Dialogue: Exploring Big Questions
Role-play: You're having a deep conversation with a friend over coffee. The conversation turns to life's big questions. Use the Thinking Ladder to explore each question thoughtfully — share your gut reaction, apply reasoning, consider implications, and arrive at a conclusion. (4 lines)
- Discussion10 min
Discussion: Big Questions Discussion
6 discussion questions
Open the full lesson
The remaining 5 stages of this lesson, with the procedure, the examples and the exercises, are included with Starter, along with the interactive version you can teach from. Lesson 1 of this course is free: the full plan is on this site, and a free account opens it in the interactive player.
This plan comes from the Hypothetical & Creative Questions course in the Tuton library. Browse all free lesson plans.