Menu

Lesson plan · Grades K-2 · 35 minutes

Wonder Wall

I can ask a wonder question and choose a way to find the answer: look it up, ask an expert or try it.

▶ Open the tool Download the tool
Standard
AASL.Inquire AASL-2018
Shape
Model, then make
Grouping
Whole class on the carpet, then partners.
You need
The tool on the big screen. Sticky notes. One book, one picture of a person at work, and one simple experiment (a cup of water and a coin) to show the three ways.
Tool
curioclass.org/tools/wonder-wall/
  1. Hook4 min
  2. Model8 min
  3. Make13 min
  4. Share6 min
  5. Exit check4 min

Before class

  • Open Sort.
  • Class wonders typed in Our wonders are saved in this browser only. Avoid names or private details.
  • Plan to actually answer one class wonder this week. That's the point of the wall.

Hook 4 min

  1. "I wonder: will this coin sink or float?" Let children guess. "How could we find out?"
  2. Hold up the book, the picture and the cup. "There are three ways to find out: Look it up, Ask an expert, or Try it."

Model 8 min

  1. In Sort, read the first wonder together: "How many legs does a spider have?" Think aloud: "A book about spiders would know. I'll look it up."
  2. Drag the note to the bin. The note explains why.
  3. Do two more wonders together, letting children choose the bin. Some fit two ways, and the tool says so.

Make 13 min

  1. Switch to Better questions. "Which question helps us learn more?" Usually the what, how or why question beats the yes-or-no one.
  2. Turn a yes-or-no question into a wonder together: "Do frogs eat?" becomes "What do frogs eat?"
  3. Partners think of one wonder each, using the starters Who, What, Where, When, Why and How.
  4. Switch to Our wonders. Type and pin the partners' wonders.

Share 6 min

  1. Sort the class wonders together into the three bins.
  2. Pick one wonder you can try right now, and try it. Pick another to look up in the library this week.

Exit check 4 min

Read three new wonders aloud. Children show the answer with a hand sign: a pretend open book for look it up, a phone to the ear for ask an expert, and wiggling fingers for try it. Ask one or two children why.

Support and stretch

  • Support: start with wonders that fit only one bin.
  • Support: give the question starters as picture cards.
  • Stretch: "Who is an expert you know? What could they teach us?"
  • Stretch: "Where in our library would we look for a book about sharks?"

Short on time

  • Three wonders in Sort (6 min).
  • Pin two class wonders in Our wonders (5 min).

How each button works is in the teacher notes. From Curio Class, free under CC BY 4.0: change it, print it, share it.