June 8, 2012

Wonderopolis

Does anyone else have the problem over the summer where they can't seem to turn off their brain?  Mine just seems to go and go.  Seriously...it's keeping me up at night.  Well, that, and the copious amounts of caffeine I have been drinking lately. Anyway...

One of the things I couldn't stop thinking about was... The Wonder Wall.

I'm sure I saw this idea somewhere (forget where - sorry!) and it has been percolating in my brain for months...adapting and reinventing itself the more I think about it.

Basically, I wanted to create a small bulletin board in my classroom where kids could post things that they wonder about the world.  I was hoping that once a week, we could investigate as a class and answer one question.

I teach at a Title 1 school and many of my students have had very few experiences outside of their neighborhood.  We even had one child tell us this year that she had never been to a movie theater! Ah! Can you imagine?!?  My whole team just wanted to leave school and take her to the movies. Anyway, I wanted some way to help them expand their world and I stumbled upon this fabulous website.

Wonderopolis! 

Now, I'm obsessed and check it daily.

The website is through the National Center for Family Literacy and highlights a different "Wonder of the Day" and explains it. Questions can range from "What is a hybrid?" to "How do you zorb?"  and "Where is Motown?" Explanations include a video, interesting information, and a try it out opportunity! 

So... I have a new plan now.  

I'm going to add the widget to my school homepage for my students and myself to access. We can check the widget daily and learn about all kinds of cool new things in just a few minutes. Hopefully some kids will go home and get back online to learn more and even submit their own wonders.


So, hurry over to Wonderopolis and get answers to questions you didn't even know you had!

5 comments:

  1. I love Wonderopolis too! I have it in my Google reader. I want to figure out how to get it into my student blog so that the kids could see it each day rather than just posting the link. I'm loving your bulletin board idea too! Don't forget to post some pictures once you get it done. I think it is hard to turn my brain off for summer because I keep reading all these great ideas on everyone's blogs and there isn't enough time for me to try them all! Have a wonderful summer!

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    1. Yes, Wonderopolis is amazing! I can't believe that I have just now discovered it, but I'm glad I did. If you go to the website, you can get the widget for your students blog really easily. Just click the ABOUT page and it will link you directly to the html code to embed.

      I will definitely post some pictures of our Wonder Wall when it is finished. My biggest goal is to inspire my students to think big...world big and to know that there is more out there than what they see everyday.

      Thanks for stopping by! :) ~Amanda

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  3. What a WONDERful blog post, Amanda!

    We applaud your enthusiasm and your AWESOME Wonder Wall idea! We are super excited to follow your classroom learning adventures and hear how our new 4th grade Wonder Friends in San Antonio like the Wonderopolis Widget!

    Thank you for being an educator who aspires to engage her students in WONDER!

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    1. Thanks Wonderopolis! My students are going to love checking out the Wonder of the Day next year. Thanks for putting together such a great site and making all the explanations very kid friendly. It's awesome!

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