THE WONDERING

INSTRUCTIONAL
JOURNEY
WHAT DO YOU WONDER?

BY: KATHRYN MCCARTHY,

BRIANNA HEGARTY, AND LINDSEY
FLEURY

What is the Wondering

Student Superpower?
It

emphasizes asking powerful questions at the right

time.
Asking pertinent, or appropriate, questions leads to
competency (more knowledge)!
Students who wonder more will:

Have questions that will probe more deeply,

uncover greater mysteries,
and explore complex relationships.

This

instructional journey encourages students to

examine images, text, websites, and videos from
the media.

Goals of Wondering!
This instructional journey allows students to:
1. Ask critical questions about a concept, topic,
or event.
2. Gather relevant data about a self-posed
question.
3. Determine fact from fiction, even when the
situation is unclear

*Wondering is meant to be a student-driven

exploration, with students exploring ideas over
several class periods.

Wondering and the

Common Core
As

this instructional journey and

superpower are closely linked to critical
literacy, the two focus standards come
from the ELA Common Core.

The 4 Lessons of Wondering

1.

2.
3.
4.

What Is Real; What Is Fake?

How Do We Use Questions to Find Answers
We Need?
Is This Question Any Good?
Asking My Own Questions and Testing Out
My Ideas.

These lessons are defined as related series of

student-driven explorations, not merely what will
fit in a single class period.

SUPER TIP: WORKING IN PAIRS CAN SUPPORT STUDENTS AND

HELP THEM GENERATE BETTER QUESTIONS, REGARDLESS OF
THE LESSON.

#1: What Is Real; What Is Fake?

For

this lesson, students look at several

different examples of believable and
unbelievable media.
As a class, students brainstorm questions
about what theyve seen.
These questions begin an emphasis on
curiosity that continues throughout the
journey.

Padlet.com is a good site to use

when engaging Grades 3, 4,
and 5. It allows students to post
virtual sticky notes on a virtual
board.

#2: How Do We Use Questions

to Find Answers We Need?
After

the class has some ideas about

what to consider when judging if
something is real or fake, they will begin a
personal investigation with a partner in
the class.
Students swap questions with their peers,
and engage with their classmates to find
the answers to others questions.
*ItSUPER
is important
to remember
that the
quality
TIP: ALLOWING
STUDENTS TO CHOOSE
THEIR
OWN
A GREAT WAYwill
TO GENERATE
MOTIVATION
AND
ofTOPIC
theirIS questions
determine
the quality
INTEREST.
of the information
that they receive!*

#3: Is This Question Any

Good?
Students

should now be beginning to see

the importance of asking the right
questions.
In this lesson, students will have more
freedom to explore all types of questions
on many different topics.
Theyll also develop common criteria that
the best questions share.
SUPER TIP: ALLOWING STUDENTS TO LEAD DISCUSSION
PROMOTES EMPOWERMENT.
Wonderopolis.org is a good site to use when engaging Grades 3, 4, and 5. It
helps students to uncover wonderings on many different topics.

#4: Asking My Own Questions

and Testing Out My Ideas.

In this lesson, students will craft questions that

interest them (they will develop their own
questions).
Having the ability to develop questions is a
necessary aspect of all student-driven
classroom environments.
The goal is to provide students with a final
opportunity to explore a concept of
questioning before the transfer task (before
transferring to another lesson).
SUPER TIP: ALWAYS PROVIDE QUIET OR STILL TIME FOR
STUDENTS TO THINK AND REFLECT.

Assessment and Progress

At

the end of each lesson, students should

self-assess their progress (with a provided
rubric).

The students can make notes of why they

gave the assessment they did.

After

self-assessment, the teacher should

then assess the students, also.
*After using this strategy for a time, it is often
found that students are more critical of their
own work than the teacher is!*
SUPER TIP: IDENTIFYING AND SELF-ASSESSING SKILLS HELP
STUDENTS BECOME INDEPENDENT LEARNERS.

Differentiation
Provide

students with question stems.

Question stems could include:

What if
How come...

Give

students examples and nonexamples of good questions.

Allow students to peer coach each other.
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER AS YOU REFLECT ON THIS
CHAPTER: What practices do you currently use that
emphasize questions with a single right answer? Can you
reduce the number of questions with a single right answer
asked by you and your students?

Source(s)
Swanson,

Kristen N. (Nicole); Ferguson,

Hadley J. (2014-04-30). Unleashing Student
Superpowers: Practical Teaching
Strategies for 21st Century Students. SAGE
Publications.

The Wondering Student

Activity
Please

go to the following web address:

http://padlet.com/lindseyfleury/realandfake

As

a class, we will watch the following 2

videos:
Gmail Motion
Waterslide Jump