Last year I was inspired by Kristen Ziemke and her book she co-wrote, Comprehension and Technology.  I highly recommend this book because it addresses great ideas to engage students in learning through the use of technology. One of the ideas from the book that I have transferred into my classroom is Wonder Wednesdays. This is a fun way to get students to think and engage themselves in meaningful conversations.

We start off by using our Wonder Wednesday Notebooks. I also included a label with prompts to help the children organize their thinking. 

Every Wednesday we open up the Wonderopolis website. Every day the website adds new wonders.
I start off differently every time. Sometimes I may leave it open ended and ask the children what are they wondering. They will write it on a post-it and partner share there questions. Other times I may start off by showing them the wonder of the day question and ask them if they are wondering anything else. I also start off by showing them a picture from the gallery of wonders and have them generate questions just by looking at the picture and then we will study the site and try to find the answers to our questions. The site also allows video access to enhance the learning experience. Every wonder has a video that correlates to the wonder. Sometimes this generates more learning and wondering! 

Sorry it is sideways!

It's my goal that if the children have unanswered questions that eventually they will independently be able to access the answers to the questions. Maybe when we go to the library we may try to find a book that may answer my questions. Or maybe I can find the answer on the internet. Allow the children to generate their own ideas on where they can access their wonders. I strongly suggest implementing this in your classroom to get your students to engage in higher level thinking that will transcend into all other areas of learning! Next step is introducing a wonder wall! We will then choose a wonder each week to send to Wonderopolis where we wait to get our wonder answered! Pictures to come......

Click Below for Free Wonder Wednesday Notebook Labels (use Avery 15264)

Wonder Wednesday Notebook Cover

Wonder Wednesday Notebook Label (Inside)