I Wonder...

Today I used the website wonderopolis.org to introduce "Wonder Wednesdays." 

First, I showed my students the "Wonder Jar" (I simply cleaned out a spaghetti sauce jar and attached some stickers) and had them write down on a post-it note any two things that they wondered about.  I had to put a limit at two; otherwise, they would've created a list a mile long!  I gave some examples and we briefly discussed "how?" and "why?" questions.

I then showed today's wonder on Wonderopolis; we watched the video and learned how high humans, animals, and insects can jump.  We learned new vocabulary (ever heard of a bharal?  Me neither; it rhymes with "squirrel" by the way) and read about some games involving jumping (looking forward to trying one out at recess!). 

This site is great!  It offers a "Wonder of the Day" (there are over 700 archived), along with a picture or video, a clear explanation, vocabulary words, activities/experiments to try, and a clue for the next day's wonder.

I told my students to put their "wonders" in our Wonder Jar.  Each Wednesday, I'll pull one out and we can look it up on the site.  If it isn't listed, we can submit it and Wonderopolis will send us an answer!

Today, my students were curious about the following:

• How many flavors of ice cream are there?
• Why do people snore?
• Who can hold their breath the longest?  What is the record?
• How long does it take the average person to read the entire Bible?
• How did the states get their shapes?
• What causes people to forget things?

We wrapped up this activity by reviewing the Habit of Mind "responding with wonderment and awe."

My students really enjoyed this site and are looking forward to Wonder Wednesdays! 

Oh, yeah!  If you're on Twitter, be sure to follow @Wonderopolis, @WonderPhillips, and @WonderLeadMaria...and use #wonderchat to share how you use Wonderopolis in your classroom.

Suggested Reading:  Activating & Engaging (Habits of Mind) by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick