Allowing Students Time to Wonder #1

Wonder families at Louisville Slugger.

This is a going to be a series of posts about sharing how my students are going to be creating a class wonder calendar. We have celebrated Wonder Wednesday since the first Wed. of the school year. My students LOVE Wednesday because they know after lunch we will look at the day's wonder and then spend time discussing a wonder that connects with our curriculum. Last Wednesday,we shifted our focus, and my class was nervous.  Instead of the Wonder of the Day up on the Smart Board, they found an index card on their desk. I asked my students to write down what they wonder about. One student said, "But Mrs. Caplin, we need to know what the wonder of the day is first before I can wonder."  Wow, how could I have waited so long to reinforce the idea that there is wonder everywhere not just on Wednesdays. They looked a little bewildered, so I shared with them about my Wonder weekend in Louisville and many of the pictures that I took and how my family was encouraged to wonder everywhere we visited. After this conversation, they were feeling a little better, so I asked them to record everything they wonder about in the upcoming week on their index card. I told them we will share their wonders next Wednesday. They were ok with that but still wanted me to pull the wonder of the day up on the Smart Board, so of course we did!