A Place For Wonder...

My second read this summer was:

This resource is a good one for teachers beginning to learn about inquiry in the primary classroom.  The book is an easy read and is full of simple and promising ideas.  Ideas are clearly described, student samples are throughout the text and teacher reflections are present.  Here are a few things I really liked in this resource:

*Wonder Boxes- the authors of "A Place for Wonder" gave their students a small box (i.e. recipe box) and cards to record their "wonderings" on.  Each student had their own box and cards were easily accessible to students.  Through mini-lessons, the students learned to write wonderings and determine what kind of wondering it was.  Students drew a heart for those wonderings they could answer from the heart and not find in a book.  They drew a ? on cards for those wonderings that could be explored and researched through books or the internet.  

*One Small Square and Listening Walk- students were encouraged to use a small cut-out square to explore areas outside and describe what they were seeing.  Students were also encouraged to explore and write about other senses on different walks such as what they could hear, what they could smell etc...

*I absolutely loved that the author wrote step-by step how she had students research their ?wonderings and create non-fiction texts with non-fiction elements such as a table of contents, sub-headings, diagrams, procedures, etc...  The student samples are amazing to look at and are really inspiring.  

My Reflection:  I really enjoyed reading this resource.  The teachers have some valuable little tips that I plan on implementing this upcoming school year such as writing partners.  I learned that I need to slow it down even more and have each mini-lesson truly be a mini lesson.  I also need to give students more time to apply the new learning to their work- make it that day's focus in writing.  

For those teachers wishing to learn more about inquiry and how to start it, this resource is a great entry point.  It is a quick read and the process the teachers went through is clearly presented.  Samples of student organizers for writing are provided and they have many little tips that are valuable.  The ideas are easy to implement and through the student samples they really inspire you.