I was thinking how simple that question was, "I wonder...".
How easy was it for us to come up with at least 10 quick "I wonders..."? And what was interesting, was that as soon as you think of one, another seems to follow. I immediately thought of this photo that I took late last summer just off De Courcy Island. Our outboard motor had broken down, and we were rowing ourselves back to shore as the sun was setting. We stopped to take a photo of this incredible rock which had been eroded by the ocean. The "I wonder" questions were inevitable. The first being, "I wonder why our boat broke down", then "I wonder if we will get back to shore before the sun sets", and finally, "I wonder how many other people have been able to see the beauty of nature like this". Did I come up with answers? Maybe, maybe not. That wasn't the point. The point was how exciting it was to want to ask these questions. It meant that I must have had some background knowledge to lead me in asking these questions.
It struck me today how easy "I wonder" questions can be. Any student with whatever background knowledge can ask "I wonder" questions. Because they are low-risk questions, it is easy to see that one may grow into a confident critical thinker. My new "I wonder" question is, I wonder how we can use this type of questioning across the curriculum, and in what ways?
8 comments:
I wonder - it is really a universal start to a question that could be used virtually anywhere. It can be used for completely silly questions or it can be used for really deep and meaningful questions. (But who is to say what a meaningful question is when every question we ask holds different meaning for each individual.) Looking at this question across the curriculum makes me think that it can be used for anything. We can use this for a writing lesson, in a science lesson or a social studies lesson. There are endless possibilities. Using this I wonder question like you say can start a new I wonder questions. I think using this across the curriculum offers students a really easy and comfortable way to get their thinking moving forward. Really there is no end to the questions that students can come up with. When we did the I wonder activity in class, one question led to another question and the questions kept getting more meaningful and powerful for me. Overall, it just opens the door of possibilities in a safe fashion for all students no matter where they are at.
When we started the "I wonder" exercise on Monday I thought about the guest speaker we had during our second or third week of Inquiry in September. She explained that she got the kids to start off everyday with an "I wonder" statement. It got the kids minds in the questionning mode. I really liked that idea and was reminded of it from our practice. I agree with Ashley in that we could use this statement to get our students thinking in any ocntent area and in any grade. It is a very powerful way to think about the world around us, our own thoughts, and jsut life in general. I could see myself using this as a daily starter or a unit starter. I really liked the poem idea Leanna gave us and I think students would find it fun. I too think there are endless possibilities for this statement...I wonder if there is anytime we COULDN't use this question?
I absolutely LOVE your photo Erica - wow - my new wonder questions inspired by this photo include: how did those holes form? What kind of rock is that? how did the light create that colour on the rock and water? does this kind of rock only happen in that area of the world?
So my next thought was what about getting students to take photos (anywhere, around the school, in their neighbourhoods, over the summer, etc) and get them to ask science related wonder questions, or math related wonder questions (or socials, or PE/health, or art...etc). They could be posted on a bulletin board later. Perhaps sticky notes could be near by for the students, or maybe anyone in the school to leave more wonder questions or possible answers.
Some socials questions might be -who used to live here? what did they think happened to the rock? did they ever fish in these waters? did they paint or draw a picture of this same scene? ohhhh! I could keep going.
What a wonderful post - thanks Erica. I look forward to other people's suggestions of how to wonder across the curriculum : )
I have watched faye brownling (I always want to say brownie!) do a sample lesson in a grade 2-3 class. she showed the kids a picture in the book without the story and told them to say a I wonder....statement then they were to go back to their desk and write for 5 minutes about what they wondered. They did this twice it was amazing these students really wondered and made deep connections to the photos without knowing the story. She then read the story. it was a great lesson the students were striving to write as fast as they could. Any ways just thought I would share a sample of a lesson idea.
And as someone above mentioned one I wonder, definetaly leads to endless others.
I showed a picture of the coronal loops on the sun (http://www.windows.ucar.edu/sun/images/coronal_loops_trace_6nov99_big.jpg) to my grade 9 math class this year (it was my hook), and I asked: I wonder what causes this? I got the them to talk to a partner about some theories, and it was a really engaging way of starting the lesson, and was appropriate because they were learning about the sun in science at the time (integration of science into math). A 'I wonder' question seems to be a great hook for almost every lesson in any subject area, because it gets them thinking and coming up with guesses or theories.
I was just thinking of a game students could play in science, S.S., or L.A.. In partners, one student asks a "I wonder question', and then the partner has to follow it up with another 'I wonder', but it has to be related in some way. For example: (1st student)- 'I wonder what causes the loops on the sun?', (2nd student)- 'I wonder what the loops are made of', - 'I wonder who took this up close photo of the surface of the sun', -'I wonder how hot it is on the surface of the sun'... and so on. This is a good way to brainstorm ideas about a new concept, or just spark interest in a concept before the start of a lesson.
I must not be a very curious person or I have lost all sense of wonder? Neither is a very pleasant thought...
Anyways, I actually came with nothing at the time and I'm not sure if I can think one now. Thinking off the top of my head, I think I might such questions into either the category of I-can-figure-it-out-later-if-I-want-to category or an unanswerable category. I don't know.
All I know is in four quadrant notes, the section for questions is usually blank... Unquestioning drone reporting to the nearest fascist regime! :)
I've got it. I wonder why 'I wonder' questions are so hard for me.
When I did the "I Wonder" activity...I was very surprised at what I wrote. Every single line started with "if".
IF.
Hmm. What does that mean? Is it significant? I'm not sure.
When I looked at my neighbours' "I Wonder" Poem quickly...I was even more surprised...as they hadn't used "if" once. Not ONCE!
What do you think that means??
I totally think that 'I wonder' statements allow for creativity and the freedom to think what ever you want/ how ever you want. We want our students to be creative and able to foster their own learning in a way that they are encouraged to always further their knowledge. So "I WONDER" if we wanted to make this cross curricular would a good idea be to end each day/class with an " I wonder question" and then start the morning off with making reference back to the end of the day I wonder statement, I think it would be so interesting to see what students come up with and know deeper our learning would go, and how many teachable moments would come from that, and also how many lesson ideas and meanings to life would be evoked. I believe these statements are a great 'addition' to letting students open up the doors to their own learning, and be curious and courageous in finding the answers and presenting them. in the primary grades a classroom job could be appointing a student each day to be the 'I wonder' child.. and by the end of the day have the chance to put their statement out there... I think this is interesting and useful across the curriculum!
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