Reflections on the Teche

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My students are wild with wonder. They don’t really know it, but when I see their eyes light up and their attention focus, I know it’s there. Inspired by Tara Smith of Two Writing Teachers, this year I instituted a new tradition, Wonder Wednesdays. The process is really very simple.

1. What do you wonder about?  Create a question.
2. What do you already know about this question?
3. Research your question.  (Use Wonderopolis.)
4. Write a paragraph including at least 5 new facts and 2-3 wonder words.
5. Burning question: What more do you want to know?

I give my students the option to turn a Wonder into a Wonder Presentation.  For me, this option works well because I don’t end up with every student in the class having to do a presentation.  Since we blog, presentations can be posted for others to see as well.  This week I had 3 students choose this option, so we had a presentation day.  Presentation requirements vary somewhat from the Wonder response.

1. Main idea: Thesis statement
2. Support with evidence.
3. Graphics support the topic.
4. Your opinion is included.

Emily was inspired by a popular song to research Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii. 

Having Wonder Wednesday as a regular occurrence each week inspires my students to question and wonder all the time.  On Two Writing Teachers today, Tara writes, “I am a true Wonderopolis believer, and I know that our Wednesdays lead my kids to think deeply about science, geography, and the way things work.” Encouraging students to wonder every week makes inquiry a natural ingredient in the ELA classroom.

One of my new students jumped right in to wondering and blogging.  He wondered about cells in the human body.  As Noah (4th grade) and Vannisa (6th grade) walked back to class on Wednesday, they discussed cells.  Really?  The wonder spills out of the classroom all the way down the hall.

If you are wondering and writing about Digital Literacy, please link up.